"Here is the formula: Start each day with a list of tasks that you need to complete. Organize the tasks from the most important to the least important. Start work on your most important task, and discipline yourself to work on it nonstop until it is complete."

— Brian Tracy, Time Management

"Every minute that you spend planning your work will save you at least 10 minutes in getting your work done. It takes only 10 to 12 minutes for you to plan your entire day. But you will get back two hours of productive time, 120 minutes, just by planning your work before you begin."

— Brian Tracy, Time Management

"Elite Performers manage their time and stick to a schedule. Others mismanage their time and don’t have a schedule."

— Troy Bassham, Attainment

"Do fewer things. You will never get caught up. You will never be able to do everything on your list. To get control of your life you must stop doing an enormous number of small things. Do more important things. Do the top three tasks that you have identified, and nothing else, until you have no more of those major tasks to do. Do your most important tasks more of the time, preferably all day long. The more time you spend doing the most important things, the more productive you will be on the outside and the happier you will feel on the inside."

— Brian Tracy, Time Management

"Be ruthless about what you ignore. Time, energy, and resources are so precious. You have to be ferocious about cutting your priorities—more than you realize and certainly more than is comfortable. You can only deeply commit to a few things. One or two? Maybe three? Every pretty good, sorta nice, kinda fun thing you abandon is like shedding a weighted vest that lets you move at top speed. You were so busy focusing on how much you could carry, you never realized you could run this fast."

— James Clear

"Time is either invested or spent."

- Sahil Bloom

"Because in reality your time is finite, doing anything requires sacrifice—the sacrifice of all the other things you could have been doing with that stretch of time. If you never stop to ask yourself if the sacrifice is worth it, your days will automatically begin to fill not just with more things, but with more trivial or tedious things. One can waste years this way, systematically postponing precisely the things one cares about the most."

- Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks

"Focus on the process (the way you spend your time) instead of the product (what you want to accomplish)."

- Barbara Oakley

"Every decision to use a portion of time on anything represents the sacrifice of all the other ways in which you could have spent that time, but didn’t—and to willingly make that sacrifice is to take a stand, without reservation, on what matters most to you."

- Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks

"You don’t need more time. You already have it. Right now, your life is exactly what your time allocation produces. If you want a different life, you need to reallocate your time toward what actually matters."

- Paul Mayer

"Each time you start and complete a task, of any size, you get a burst of energy, enthusiasm, and self-esteem. You feel better about yourself. You feel happier. Your brain releases endorphins, nature’s ‘happy drug,’ and you feel more creative, more calm, more confident, and more personable toward others."

- Brian Tracy, Master Your Time, Master Your Life

"Calling something “work” doesn’t make it a more noble use of time than anything else. Work that doesn’t advance you toward the life you want is still wasted time."

- Laura Vanderkam, Off the Clock

"You will never be able to do everything on your list. To get control of your life you must stop doing an enormous number of small things. Do your most important tasks more of the time, preferably all day long. The more time you spend doing the most important things, the more productive you will be on the outside and the happier you will feel on the inside."

— Brian Tracy, Time Management

"By planning your day the night before, you gain clarity and control, allowing you to make the most of your time and energy."

— Laura Vanderkam, Juliet's School of Possibilities

"By establishing a consistent end-of-work routine, we create a clear boundary between our professional and personal lives, fostering work-life balance and preserving our well-being."

- Nir Eyal, Indistractable

"By setting clear boundaries and sticking to a consistent work schedule, you create a sense of stability and control over your time, leading to increased productivity and a greater sense of fulfillment."

- Laura Vanderkam, Off the Clock

"Answering emails, taking phone calls, and sitting in meetings have a way of taking over your schedule and rarely lead to making major improvements in your life. For your own happiness and to protect the time necessary to focus on the deep work, the first few hours of your day must be grabbed by you, for you. Fight for it."

- Mel Robbins, The 5 Second Rule

"Choosing to change your story from “I’m too busy” to “I have time for what matters to me” can make you see possibilities."

- Laura Vanderkam, Off the Clock

"Attention is your most precious asset, and deciding how to invest it is one of the most important decisions you can make. The good news is you can make that decision now, in this moment, and in each moment of your life."

- Robert Waldinger, The Good Life

"Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things. Systems ensure you achieve both."

- Peter Drucker