“Minimizing distractions is an important part of curbing our online procrastination. To stay really connected to our goal pursuit, we need to disconnect from potential distractions like social-networking tools. This means that we should not have Facebook, Twitter, email, or whatever your favorite suite of tools is running in the background on your computer or smartphone while you are working. Shut them off.”

- Timothy Pychyl, Solving the Procrastination Puzzle

“Here is a trick that will give you an extra month of efficiency each year. It’s easy to implement, immediately effective, and doesn’t cost a cent. First, go to your e-mail program. Second, disable all the audio alerts and mailbox pop-ups… That’s it, there is no third step. Banishing e-mail notifications will make you about 10 percent more efficient and over a year that translates into one more month of productivity.”

- Piers Steel, The Procrastination Equation

"Focus is about saying no. No to distractions. No to interruptions."

- Steve Jobs

“Eliminate temptations and destroy distractions.”

- Craig Ballantyne

"Don't waste the rest of your time here worrying about other people — unless it affects the common good. It will keep you from doing anything useful. You'll be too preoccupied with what so-and-so is doing, and why, and what they're saying, and what they're thinking, and what they're up to, and all the other things that throw you off and keep you from focusing on your own mind."

- Marcus Aurelius

“An example of your amazing, but possibly underutilized, ability to control your motivation, not to mention your efficiency, is how you feel right before a vacation. In the time prior to taking a vacation, you're super organized. You edit the things on your to-do list to only the most necessary. You're awesome at managing your time and getting things done. It's almost miraculous how efficient you become. What would happen if you treated each workday as if you had that plane to catch for your vacation?”

- Tim and Julie Harris, Harris Rules

“Focus is a matter of deciding what things you’re not going to do.”

- John Carmack

“When you review your notifications, you’re actually reviewing a list of distractions you have chosen to accept.”

- From Time Management Essentials by Anna Dearmon Kornick

“What’s more important to your legacy, checking CNN headline news and ESPN sports scores or writing your first book, securing your dream job, and providing for your family?”

- From The Perfect Day Formula by Craig Ballantyne

“This is the secret to self-control. Make the cues of your good habits obvious and the cues of your bad habits invisible.”

- From Atomic Habits by James Clear

“The people with the best self-control are typically the ones who need to use it the least. It’s easier to practice self-restraint when you don’t have to use it very often.”

- From Atomic Habits by James Clear

“The moment you check email, read the news or surf social media, someone else’s priorities jump in front of yours.”

- From The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins

“The ability to focus in the moment, foregoing all other stimuli and distractions, separates high achievers from the rest.”

- From Success Habits For Dummies by Dirk Zeller

“The secret is to focus on the things that matter and let the other things go.”

- From Harris Rules by Tim and Julie Harris

“The central idea is to create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.”

- From Atomic Habits by James Clear

“Mental toughness is staying in inspired action despite the circumstances surrounding you.”

- From Mindset, Model and Marketing! by Tom Ferry

“People don’t multitask because they’re good at multitasking. They multitask because they’re bad at focusing.”

- From Time Management Essentials by Anna Dearmon Kornick

“Every choice has a price. Everything you say yes to means you’re saying no to something else.”

- From Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo

“Focus always comes before success. Very little is accomplished without removing what we don’t want so that we focus on what we truly do.”

- From Success Habits For Dummies by Dirk Zeller

“Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.”

- From Atomic Habits by James Clear