80 Procrastination Quotes (For Increased Productivity)

By Maxime Lagacé

Maxime is the founder of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.

BestInspiringOvercoming Procrastination – ConsequencesFunnyTakeaways – Further Readings

procrastination quotes wisdom
Are you tired of procrastinating?

I was!

That’s why I created this page for you:

80 Procrastination Quotes (For Increased Productivity).

And you won’t be disappointed.

You’ll learn:

  • What causes procrastination
  • How to overcome procrastination
  • The consequences of procrastination
  • And more!

In today’s modern and distracted world, these quotes will help you focus and get work done.

Moreover, discipline and hard work will put you in the 5% of your field.

So, say goodbye to procrastination, once and for all.

I hope you’ll enjoy the quotes.

The Best Procrastination Quotes

procrastination quotes refusal inability emotions cory muscara wisdom

Procrastination is the refusal or inability to be with difficult emotions. Cory Muscara

Resistance by definition is self-sabotage. Steven Pressfield

Procrastinating on something important is choosing to delay a better future. James Clear

Hurrying and delaying are alike ways of trying to resist the present. Alan Watts

Procrastination is fear disguised as laziness. Jack Butcher

In your actions, don’t procrastinate. In your conversations, don’t confuse. In your thoughts, don’t wander. In your soul, don’t be passive or aggressive. In your life, don’t be all about business. Marcus Aurelius

Procrastination is one of the most misunderstood behaviors on the planet. It has nothing to do with your ability to focus and everything to do with the amount of stress you’re feeling right now. Mel Robbins

procrastination quotes sign wisdom know pain useful wisdom

A sign of wisdom: you know pain is useful. Maxime Lagacé

What may be done at any time will be done at no time. Scottish proverb

Procrastination is a symptom of not caring enough. Jack Butcher

Procrastination isn’t a personality trait. It’s a pattern. And it is a form of stress relief that becomes a habit. Mel Robbins

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. Abraham Lincoln

When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that in itself is a choice. William James

It’s better to fail than procrastinate. Sahil Lavingia

Perfectionism is another word for procrastination. Jack Butcher

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Inspiring Quotes About Procrastination

procrastination quotes faster confront work gets done alex hormozi wisdom

The faster you confront the work the faster it gets done. Alex Hormozi

The work must be done; we cannot escape our responsibility. Theodore Roosevelt

Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work. Stephen King

Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness, but it is greatness. George Bernard Shaw

I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work. Pearl S. Buck

Life always begins with one step outside of your comfort zone. Shannon L. Alder

procrastination quotes right thing without complaining maxime lagace wisdom

Do the right thing, without complaining. Maxime Lagacé

Lay hold of today’s task, and you will not need to depend so much upon tomorrow’s. While we are postponing, life speeds by. Seneca

Imagine what you could accomplish if you weren’t focused on being busy all the time. Shane Parrish

Discipline is doing what needs to be done, even if you don’t want to. Unknown

Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in. Napoleon Bonaparte

Begin while others are procrastinating. Work while others are wishing. William Arthur Ward

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Quotes On Overcoming Procrastination

procrastination quotes start before ready steven pressfield wisdom

Start before you’re ready. Steven Pressfield

Action will destroy your procrastination. Og Mandino

Small steps motivate. Big steps overwhelm. Maxime Lagacé

Procrastination is information. Use it to find what demotivates you, and try to arrange your life to do less of it. Daniel Vassallo

The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action. Alexander Graham Bell

You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. Martin Luther King Jr

Lack of clarity leads to procrastination. Janis Ozolins

Well-being is realized by small steps, but is truly no small thing. Zeno of Citium

Don’t worry about all of the steps. Begin. Bob Goff

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procrastination quotes boxed out order clarity built seneca wisdom

Procrastination is boxed out — by the order and clarity you built. Seneca

Many people procrastinate because they’re waiting for their motivation to rise. They forget that getting started is what leads their motivation to rise. Adam Grant

The professional does not wait for inspiration; he acts in anticipation of it. Steven Pressfield

Easy productivity hack: Instead of spending time “getting in the mood to work”…just start working. Confront the work. People think they need perfect conditions to start, when in reality, starting is the perfect condition. Alex Hormozi

Don’t expect to be motivated every day to get out there and make things happen. You won’t be. Don’t count on motivation. Count on discipline. Jocko Willink

Don’t prepare. Begin. Our enemy is not lack of preparation. The enemy is resistance, our chattering brain producing excuses. Steven Pressfield

The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying. Steven Pressfield

The essence of professionalism is the focus upon the work and its demands, while we are doing it, to the exclusion of all else. Steven Pressfield

Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. Steven Pressfield

Related

procrastination quotes think many things portuguese proverb wisdom

Think of many things; do one. Portuguese proverb

Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. Steven Pressfield

The difference between an amateur and a professional is in their habits. An amateur has amateur habits. A professional has professional habits. We can never free ourselves from habit. But we can replace bad habits with good ones. Steven Pressfield

A sign of wisdom: you don’t care about pain and you do the work. Maxime Lagacé

Those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them. Steven Pressfield

In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do. The worst thing you can do is nothing. Theodore Roosevelt

One of the best escapes from the prison of procrastination is to take even the smallest step toward your goal. Denis Waitley

If you procrastinate when faced with a big difficult problem… break the problem into parts, and handle one part at a time. Robert Collier

It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. Steven Pressfield

Quotes About The Consequences Of Procrastination

procrastination quotes scared being judged look excuse erica jong wisdom

We are so scared of being judged that we look for every excuse to procrastinate. Erica Jong

He who awaits much can expect little. Gabriel García Márquez

If you are careless and lazy now and keep putting things off and always deferring the day after which you will attend to yourself, you will not notice that you are making no progress but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary. Epictetus

We know what needs to be done – all that is missing is the will to do it. Nelson Mandela

Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. Seneca

You don’t procrastinate to avoid work. You do it to avoid negative emotions. Adam Grant

The longer you procrastinate the longer you get to keep the pain. Dan Go

procrastination quotes not short time waste seneca wisdom

It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Seneca

Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes. Buddha

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task. William James

“Learning more” is the most seductive form of procrastination. “Planning more” is the second most. Mark Manson

Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible. George C. Lorimer

The greatest amount of wasted time is the time not getting started. Dawson Trotman

Postpone joy, it will diminish. Postpone a problem, it will grow. Paulo Coelho

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Funny Procrastination Quotes

procrastination quotes put off tomorrow after mark twain wisdom

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow just as well. Mark Twain (Source)

Procrastination. Because every problem deserves a chance to solve itself. Neil Thomas Stacey

I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by. Douglas Adams

If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done. Rita Mae Brown

Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot fun until you get the bill. Christopher Parker

I’m going to stop putting things off, starting tomorrow! Sam Levenson

How soon ‘not now’ becomes ‘never’. Martin Luther

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Cyril Northcote Parkinson

You may delay, but time will not. Benjamin Franklin

Someday is not a day of the week. Janet Dailey

How to stay poor: Start tomorrow. Alex Hormozi

Key Takeaways

  • Take a tiny step. The best way to beat procrastination is to start with the smallest step. Don’t focus on the whole project — just your next easy step.
  • Learn about stoicism. Learn to master your emotions. Learn to count on discipline instead of motivation. If you’re not disciplined, your negative emotions will get in the way and you’ll never start.
  • Avoid perfectionism. Do like Jeff Bezos and make a decision with 70% of the information you wish you had. By taking action faster, you’ll increase your productivity.
  • Imagine. Imagine yourself as someone hyperproductive and efficient. How would you act now? Would you simply start working, or would you put it off until tomorrow?
  • Prioritize tasks. The clearer you are on what’s important and what’s not, the more powerful your actions become. So eliminate distractions and useless tasks, and focus on the essential. You can also use the Eisenhower matrix to guide your decisions.

eisenhower matrix

Further Readings

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Author Bio

maxime lagace

Maxime Lagacé started collecting quotes in 2004 after he lost his girlfriend in a car accident.

In search of meaning, he dived in the self-improvement world, psychology and trail running.

Books, blogs, quotes and nature became his guide.

He started journaling, reflecting, writing his thoughts, feelings and quotes.

His goal was to understand his pain, his depression, his fears, his lack of motivation and inspiration.

He finished his software engineering degree in 2007 at the École de Technologie Supérieure de Montréal.

A few years later, he started his first website to share his love of quotes.

Maxime is a father of two, husband, and INFJ.

Other notable interests of Maxime are health (mental and physical), meditation, bananas, SEO, human potential, and education.

You can find him on X, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube.

Last update

September 26, 2023

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