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How do you manage the 24 hours of each day?
In the workplace, knowing how to manage your time well helps you get more things done. This, in turn, translates to higher productivity, which most likely leads to a more successful career.
However, it’s not only your career that can benefit from good time management. When you get more stuff done in less time, you’re freeing up a larger portion of your day to focus on your personal life. You’ll have more time for focusing on your hobbies, hanging out with friends, or bonding with your family.
Successfully managing your time can lead to a better quality of life. To accomplish this requires being mindful of your goals and priorities, most especially of how you’re spending the hours allocated to you each day.
With that said, today’s post is a collection of time management quotes that will inspire you to use every moment wisely.
First, here are some quotes on time management for productivity to motivate you to reach those goals before the end of the workday.
Quotes on Time Management for Productivity
- “Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late.” – William Shakespeare
- “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?” – Henry David Thoreau
- “What may be done at any time will be done at no time.” – Scottish Proverb
- “To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.” – Eva Young
- “Never leave ’till tomorrow which you can do today.” – Benjamin Franklin
- “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln
- “Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much can be done if we are always doing.” – Thomas Jefferson
- “Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” – Earl Nightingale
- “The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day.” – Henry Ward Beecher
- “He who every morning plans the transactions of that day and follows that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life.” – Victor Hugo
- “Time management is an oxymoron. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have.” – John C. Maxwell
- “To do two things at once is to do neither.” – Publius Syrus
- “If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got.” – Lee Iacocca
If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got.” – Lee Iacocca
- “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Samuel Levenson
- “As the old saying goes, a man with one watch always knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never sure.” – Daniel J. Levitin
According to Dr. Valerie Jackson of the Indiana University School of Medicine, using a realistic approach makes time management effective and long-lasting. She identified five key elements to effectively manage our time:
There is a tendency to ignore the fourth and fifth elements. This is especially true if you have a family to take care of, if you have an eight-hour workday, or if you are an entrepreneur.
Nevertheless, it is important to identify your priorities so the most important things in your life are not left by the wayside. You can check out this post about The Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand Analogy for Time Management for further info on setting the right priorities.
May the following quotes for entrepreneurs inspire you to manage your time well so you can spend more time with those who matter the most.
Time Management Quotes for Entrepreneurs
- “The supply of time is a daily miracle. You wake up in the morning and lo! Your purse is magnificently filled with 24 hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of life. It is yours! The most precious of your possessions.” – Arnold Bennet
- “The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.” – Stephen Covey
The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.” – Stephen Covey
- “Time is like money, the less we have of it to spare the further we make it go.” – Josh Billings
- “We must use time creatively — and forever realize that the time is always hope to do great things.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
- “The great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: I did not have time.” – Franklin Field
- “Your greatest asset is your earning ability. Your greatest resource is your time.” – Brian Tracy
- “A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.” – Baltasar Gracian
- “Why kill time when one can employ it.” – Proverb
- “Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time.” – Arnold H. Glasgow
- “Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can’t afford to lose.” – Thomas Edison
Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can’t afford to lose.” – Thomas Edison
- “Time is the scarcest resource of the manager; If it is not managed, nothing else can be managed.” – Peter F. Drucker
- “In such seconds of decision entire futures are made.” – Dan Simmons
- “Time is money.” – Benjamin Franklin
- “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey
- “The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.” – Mike Murdock
- “The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone.” – Lady Stella Reading
The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone.” – Lady Stella Reading
Knowing how to manage your time well is not only good for the workplace or in business—it is also applicable to and ideal for school.
These days, students (and professionals) have a host of to-do list apps to help them get things done. However, one should not discount the benefits of having an old-fashioned, pen-and-paper academic planner to help manage school work and extracurricular activities.
To get those book reports and term papers done, it’s also a good idea to use time on the Internet wisely, as well as learn how to curb procrastination.
Time Management Quotes for Students
- “Histories make men wise.” – Francis Bacon
- “Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.” – Zig Ziglar
- “Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.” – Anonymous
Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.” – Anonymous
- “The shorter way to do many things is to only do one thing at a time.” – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- “Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well.” – Louisa May Alcott
- “Where your attention goes, your time goes.” – Idowu Koyenikan
- “Procrastination is the foundation of all disasters.” – Pandora Poikilos
- “Have you heard the story of the man who wasted his life taking drugs and playing Sudoku, and when he realized that he could do something meaningful, he worked hard and even got his time back? There isn’t one because you can’t get your time back.” – Neeraj Agnihotri
- “We all have 1440 minutes of life today. How, what or who will you spend it on? Choose wisely. You have 1439 left.” – Sotero M. Lopez II
- “I guarantee that if you just buckle down, and focus, you can get twice as much done today as you got done in the last two days combined.” – Monroe Mann
I guarantee that if you just buckle down, and focus, you can get twice as much done today as you got done in the last two days combined.” – Monroe Mann
- “Do you invest your time or spend it?” – Frank Sonnenberg
- “Each day, wake up with a plan. Don’t just approach your days in an unfocused void. That state of mind leaves too much room for discontent, opposition, unhappiness and hopelessness.” – Carlos Wallace
- “Sacrifice now. Party later.” – Monroe Mann
Sometimes, habits that we think are helping us become more productive are actually derailing our progress. One example is our tendency to overestimate the time we need to finish a certain task, known as the planning fallacy.
There are ways to overcome productivity-killing habits. One way is to adopt more effective time management habits, such as time blocking and the Pomodoro Technique. (You can check out more info about the Pomodoro Technique here and here).
Perhaps you’ve come across the quote: “Time and tide wait for no man.”
These words attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer are sometimes the only thing I need to get me on my feet when I need to accomplish something.
The following motivational time management quotes can energize you to get moving and finish those pending tasks before closing time.
Motivational Time Management Quotes
- “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
- “One worthwhile task carried to a successful conclusion is worth half-a-hundred half-finished tasks.” – Malcolm S. Forbes
- “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs
- “A better present makes for a good past and future.” – Kazi Shams
- “To get all there is out of living, we must employ our time wisely, never being in too much of a hurry to stop and sip life, but never losing our sense of the enormous value of a minute.” – Robert Updefraff
- “No, my entire life is planned. It's called time management.” – Sean Hayes
- “Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade!” – Anthony Robbins
- “The more business a man has to do, the more he is able to accomplish, for he learns to economize his time.” – Sir Matthew Hale
- “Time management is life management.” – Robin Sharma
Time management is life management.” – Robin Sharma
- “Start by doing what’s necessary; then what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” St. Francis of Assisi
- “Either run the day or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn
- “Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great.” – Orison Swett Marden
- “It's how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it.” – Marcia Wieder
“It's how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it.” – Marcia Wieder
- “Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity.” – Jean De La Bruyère
- “You don’t get time. You create time.” – Sanhita Baruah
- “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” – Mother Teresa
- “One who daily puts the finishing touches on his life is never in want of time.” – Seneca
Some people are skilled at using time constraints to their advantage.
For many of us, however, time management can be a challenge, especially if we are applying it in our lives for the first time. Using a time management worksheet and reading inspiring quotes on time management can help us stay motivated to use our time wisely.
Furthermore, learning some techniques to get the most out of our day can also be helpful. You might want to check out our tips on how to manage your time well and become more productive here, as well as over 25 books about productivity and time management here.
Meanwhile, here are some sayings about the importance of time management.
Quotes About the Importance of Time Management
- “Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life.” – Alan Lakein
- “A man who dares to waste one hour of life has not discovered the value of life.” – Charles Darwin
A man who dares to waste one hour of life has not discovered the value of life.” – Charles Darwin
- “Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” – M. Scott Peck
- “Time is the most valuable coin in your life. You and you alone will determine how that coin will be spent. Be careful that you do not let other people spend it for you.” – Carl Sandburg
- “Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.” – Lao Tzu
- “All my possessions for a moment of time.” – Queen Elizabeth I
- “You cannot kill time without injuring eternity.” – Henry David Thoreau
- “Time is the school in which we learn, time is the fire in which we burn.” – Delmore Schwartz
- “There’s only one thing more precious than our time and that’s who we spend it on.” – Leo Christopher
- “If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” – Bruce Lee
- “Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.” – Earl Nightingale
- “Time can be an ally or an enemy. What it becomes depends entirely upon you, your goals, and your determination to use every available minute.” – Zig Ziglar
Time can be an ally or an enemy. What it becomes depends entirely upon you, your goals, and your determination to use every available minute.” – Zig Ziglar
- “We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.” – John F. Kennedy
- “We give our time away all day long, to emotions that gain us no advantages, to people who do not value our time, to inefficient habits. If you want to take back this time, you need to cut to the chase.” – Stuart R. Levine
- “Always in motion is the future.” – Yoda
- “Nothing keeps. There is one law in the universe: NOW.” – Alfred Sutro
Final Thoughts: Time is Precious
Do you have a favorite among the quotes above? Please let us know in the comments below.
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If you need an effective time management strategy to stay on top of everything, here's a list of effective time management activities to try. You can also learn more about the Pomodoro Technique in this post.
If you're looking for more guidance, here are some SMART goals examples for time management and productivity.
Lastly, as these quotes have told us, time is precious.
What is it that you need to accomplish but have been putting off for another day? Finish it now.
What have you got to lose by finishing that task earlier than expected? Do it today.
This does not only apply in the workplace. Getting the important things done is crucial in your personal life as well.
Make every moment count.
And if you want more eye-opening quotes, be sure to check out these blog posts:
- 79 Productivity Quotes for Getting Things Done at Work
- 35 Work Smarter, Not Harder Quotes for 2023
- 115 Work Ethic Quotes to Motivate Your Efforts
Finally, if you want to level up your productivity and time management skills, then watch this free video about the 9 productivity habits you can build at work.
