Dana Spiotta Quotes

Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed be doing at that moment.

I couldn't understand why my productivity went down when I had deliberately made more time available to write. Then I realized it was because I wasn't flying as much.

Do not spend the day in gathering flowers by the way side, lest night come upon you before you arrive at your journey's end, and then you will not reach it.

The easiest thing to do in the world is to neglect the important and give in to the urgent.

I hear people say they're going to write. I ask, when? They give me vague statements. Indefinite plans get dubious results. When we're concrete about our writing time, it alleviates that thin constant feeling of anxiety that writers have - we're barbecuing hot dogs, riding a bike, sailing out in the bay, shopping for shoes, even helping a sick friend, but somewhere nervously at the periphery of our perception we know we belong somewhere else - at our desk!

If I leave my computer, I'm probably not going to get back for hours. If I take a few minutes to answer questions and go web surfing, then guilt kicks in and I get back to work.

I procrastinate all morning. That's when I get my office work done and answer e-mails and see what's on the Internet and do laundry.

Sometimes I feel like just to get all my own work done would be great. You always feel like you're behind, and they're six other things that you wish you could get to but you can't.

I don't get distracted until the weight of other things left undone finally tips the balance; my mind is flooded with calls, bills, supermarkets, letters, and I have to stop and sort things out.

I'm really not one of these procrastinators who cleans the house in order to put off writing, but life gets in the way.

Also, I'm always learning better and better how to prioritize and how to leave certain things for the next day.

Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.

I need to have something else going on. I'm able to write a lot if I have an episode of 'Friday Night Lights' going on my computer.

Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.

I'm quite good at multitasking, but I have to do things immediately.

When I write, I try to turn my Internet off so I can't procrastinate through the Internet, but then I just get deeply involved in whatever I have just on my computer.

I can multitask very well. But I know exactly when to block off anything coming in from the outside and just stay focused on the film.

He who commences many things finishes but few.

Have more than one idea on the go at any one time. If it's a choice between writing a book and doing nothing I will always choose the latter. It's only if I have an idea for two books that I choose one rather than the other. I ­always have to feel that I'm bunking off from something.

He that pursues two hares at once, does not catch one and lets the other go.

The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves.

Don't confuse activity with productivity. Many people are simply busy being busy.

He who wants to do everything will never do anything.

Person who chases two rabbits catches neither.

Don't think to hunt two hares with one dog.