Procrastination Quotes

“The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit. We don't just put off our lives today; we put them off till our deathbed.

Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny. This second we can turn the tables on Resistance.

This second, we can sit down and do our work.”
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

“Nothing says work efficiency like panic mode.”
― Don Roff

“Q: When is the perfect time? A: Who can say, but probably somewhere between haste and delay - and it's usually most wise to start today.”
― Rasheed Ogunlaru

“This idea comes to you, you can see it, but to accomplish it you need what I call a "setup." For example, you may need a working shop or a working painting studio. You may beed a working music studio. Or a computer room where you can write something. It's crucial to have a setup, so that, at any given moment, when you get an idea, you have the place and the tools to make it happen. If you don't have a setup, there are many times when you get the inspiration, the idea, but you have no tools, no place to put it together. And the idea just sits there and festers. Overtime, it will go away. You didn't filfill it--and that's just a heartache.”
― David Lynch, Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity

“If and perhaps.... The language of procrastination and uncertainty. That's just people looking to justify their own lack of action.”
― John Flanagan, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

“Let's make progress, not excuses.”
― Justin Cotillard

“If you ask me, reincarnation is just another way to procrastinate.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby

“How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world.”
― Anne Frank

“I know love is begun by time,
And that I see, in passages of proof,
Time qualifies the spark and fire of it.
There lives within the very flame of love
A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it.
And nothing is at a like goodness still.
For goodness, growing to a pleurisy,
Dies in his own too-much. That we would do,
We should do when we would, for this “would” changes
And hath abatements and delays as many
As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents.
And then this “should” is like a spendthrift sigh
That hurts by easing.”
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

“We must remember balance and moderation. Patience can be spiritually enriching and virtuous… but when taken in excess, it turns to procrastination, the poison of inaction.”
― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

“I'd sit at my kitchen table and start scanning help-wanted ads on my laptop, but then a browser tab would blink and I'd get distracted and follow a link to a long magazine article about genetically modified wine grapes. Too long, actually, so I'd add it to my reading list. Then I'd follow another link to a book review. I'd add the review to my reading list, too, then download the first chapter of the book—third in a series about vampire police. Then, help-wanted ads forgotten, I'd retreat to the living room, put my laptop on my belly, and read all day. I had a lot of free time.”
― Robin Sloan, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

“The web is a dangerous place for a mind begging to slack off and be distracted by nonsense.”
― Michelle M. Pillow

“Let's take care of the little things while they're still little.”
― John G. Miller, QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability in Work and in Life

“Whatever actions you take, keep in mind that over the course of life, you will fail far more from timidity, procrastination, and carefulness than you will from just stepping up to the plate and, as we say in Australia, giving it a bloody go!”
― Margie Warrell, Find Your Courage!: Unleash Your Full Potential and Live the Life You Really Want

“Don't try to leave for there's so very much to do, and you still have over eight hundred years to go on the first job.' 'But why do only unimportant things?' 'Think of all the trouble it saves. If you only do the easy and useless jobs, you'll never have to worry about the important ones which are so difficult. You just won't have the time. For there's always something to do to keep you from what you really should be doing.”
― Norton Juster

“Mr Mowett,' called Stephen in the pause while the table was clearing to make room for the pudding, and pudding-wine—in this case Frontignan and Canary—was handing about, 'you were telling me about your publishers.'

   'Yes, sir: I was about to say that they were the most hellish procrastinators—'

   'Oh how dreadful,' cried Fanny. 'Do they go to—to special houses, or do they ...'

   'He means they delay,' said Babbington.

   'Oh.”
― Patrick O'Brian, The Letter of Marque

“No more excuses or procrastination! Stop allowing your days to be stolen by busy nothingness and take calculated steps towards your goals.”
― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

“If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.”
― Olin Miller

“With no sums to keep his conscience at bay, the black book loomed large, creeping into his line of sight.
He scanned the room for something else to do. The harness still needed work. And he'd been meaning to fix that rickety shelf since last month. The pipe on his potbellied stove was dented. The windowsill needed dusting.
Dusting?
J.T. braced his arms on the desk and pressed his forehead into the heels of his hands.”
― Karen Witemeyer, A Tailor-Made Bride

“Charity knew she had to begin looking for a job soon. Definitely tomorrow, or the next day. Or perhaps the day after that. Charity didn't believe in procrastination. She just needed to plan her strategy. She was sound asleep on the sofa when Lady Margaret got back from London.”
― Elizabeth Jane Howard

“Do what you know needs to be done.”
― Lynda A. Calder, The Enigma Diaries: Hidden History

“It's time to stop following your dreams and time to start chasing them!”
― Habeeb Akande

“To procrastinate obedience is to disobey God.”
― Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions, and Eternity: A Comprehensive Guide to What the Bible Says about Financial Stewardship, Generosity, Materialism, Retirement, Financial Planning, Gambling, Debt, and More

“If you have goals and procrastination, you have nothing. If you have goals and you take action, you will have anything you want.”
― Thomas J. Vilord