“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

“Intelligence without focus is like a garden hose with no direction—nothing grows.”

- Sharran Srivatsaa

“If we know our priorities, we can build our routine, scripting out tomorrow today in order to maximize the time and effort spent working towards what matters.”

- Craig Ballantyne, The Perfect Day Formula

“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

“Goal achievement has to do with only two things: Managing where your attention goes, and managing where your effort goes. That’s it. Our job is to continuously reprioritize, reorganize, and optimize those two things.”

- Sharran Srivatsaa

"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

"Clarity Creates Power: When you know your #1 priority, you can channel all your energy toward what matters most."

- Brian Johnson, Areté

"Arguably the single most important factor in your quality of life is what we choose to focus on. This is true both in the short term, in that what you focus on in any given moment determines how you feel in any given moment, and it’s also true in the long term: what you focus on over an extended period of time determines what you do or don’t accomplish and create for your life. So your internal quality of life is based on what you’re focusing on in the moment, and your external quality of life in terms of your circumstances, your relationships, is based on what you focus on consistently over an extended period of time. The single most determining factor in your quality of life, both short term and long term, is what you focus on."

— Hal Elrod, Achieve Your Goals Podcast

“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

"Studies show that bright lines—non-negotiable rules—reduce decision fatigue and strengthen willpower. When the choice is already made, you can focus your energy where it matters most—on taking consistent action."

- Brian Johnson, Areté

"Sometimes it's the first thing you do. Sometimes it's the only thing you do. Regardless, doing the most important thing is always the most important thing."

- Gary Keller & Jay Papasan, The ONE Thing

“You get what you’re looking for.”

- From The Answer by John Assaraf and Murray Smith

“What you notice and what you pay attention to is your experience; it is your life.”

- From The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky

“The clearer you are about what you want to figure out, the better chance you have of actually doing it. Clarity equals power.”

- From Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo

“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

“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

“There are many things we want to accomplish in life, but there can be only one number one priority at a time. Know it, attack it, and focus on it every day.”

- From The Perfect Day Formula by Craig Ballantyne