Quotes About Productivity

What would happen if the autism gene was eliminated from the gene pool? You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socializing and not getting anything done.

If you're making a bunch of little decisions - like, do I read this email now or later? Do I file it? Do I forward it? Do I have to get more information? Do I put it in the spam folder? - that's a handful of decisions right there, and you haven't done anything meaningful. It puts us into a brain state of decision fatigue.

I have the attention span of a mosquito from multitasking and all the things that have affected my poor little brain.

Pat Moynihan could write books with one hand and legislate with the other. I can't; I have a short attention span. The slightest distraction would take me away from writing.

I feel very short-attention span for like accomplishment. It's like 'oh that felt really good' and then it's kind of like an immediate emptiness of I need to make something else - I don't like to dwell on things too long.

To spend more money, you have to have more money, but time is fixed and we all have the same amount to spare. How we choose to spend it can make a significant difference on the impact we have in our careers or in the world.

We play short songs and short sets for people who don't have a lot of spare time.

When I have spare time, I catch up on things I've had to postpone due to lack of time.

I like to be able to work quickly, to capture the spark of an idea before it goes out.

I'm quite discreet. I think I'd rather focus on my work. So, I only speak when I have something to say. 'Live hidden, and live happy.' Is that the same in English as it is in French?

Your conscious brain cannot multitask. If I'm speaking to you and checking my I-Phone at the same time, I'm doing neither. This is why our society is frazzled; this misconception that we can consciously do more than one thing at a time effectively.

I was speaking to Ridley Scott the other day and he makes a film every 18 months. He's amazing really.

What Facebook wants to create an association with is every time you're bored, every time you have a few minutes. We know that, psychologically speaking, boredom is painful. Whenever you're feeling bored, whenever you have a few extra minutes, this is a salve for that itch.

My success rate speaks for itself.

The gains from specialization go all the way back to Adam Smith. He talked about the advantage of a bigger market being that we could have a finer division of labor and be more specialized.

In most companies people make a specific contribution to the company in their function. But it is not expressed in terms of profit, only in terms of performing their function better.

I don't have specific music for when I'm writing. I'm usually listening to the same playlist or 'artist' before I arrive at the computer as when I'm walking somewhere after leaving the computer.

I do not set specific work hours as some writers do. I generally stay with a chapter until I am satisfied, do very little rewriting, and if a scene is going well, I've been known to keep night owl hours.

I think the Internet was invented specifically to stop people finishing their books. And it does quite a good job. I don't have blocking software, though I could easily imagine needing it. I just don't do that stuff until I've got the words done for the day.

I really get my best work done in the morning, so if I have to edit speeches or comments, that all happens before I get to work.

I think any time you increase focus, increase speed, all those are going to help any business.

I learned early that you only have so much energy to give. You have to spend it correctly.

I get a lot done considering I spend half my day sleeping.

I spend as much time as I can in my garden, and if I'm not writing songs or gardening, I'm painting.