Michael Crichton Quotes

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.

A lot of people don't feel like doing very much. Or one project is really all they can do at one time. I can have five or six things going at the same time. It doesn't bother me or tire me, but sometimes it does rattle me.

The whole thing is, do as much as you can, when you possibly can, and don't stress.

I am most drawn to writing when I have something else urgent to do.

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

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.

I don't need time, I need a deadline.

Dreaming about a thing in order to do it properly is right; but dreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong.

The ultimate inspiration is the deadline.

I am a great procrastinator. When the writing is going really well, the laundry piles up.

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

You can spend your time daydreaming or make use of it in other ways.

One can either work or meet. One cannot do both at the same time.

When I work, I work very fast, but preparing to work can take any length of time.

Remove the temptation of idleness and Cupid's bow is useless.

You have to keep busy. After all, no dog's ever pissed on a moving car.

If we didn't have deadlines, we'd stagnate.

Never again clutter your days or nights with so many menial and unimportant things that you have no time to accept a real challenge when it comes along. This applies to play as well as work. A day merely survived is no cause for celebration. You are not here to fritter away your precious hours when you have the ability to accomplish so much by making a slight change in your routine. No more busy work. No more hiding from success. Leave time, leave space, to grow. Now. Now! Not tomorrow!

Delegate - work smarter not harder; do what you do best and drop the rest; get control of your calendar; do what you love because it will give you energy; work with people you like so your energy isn't depleted.

The busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The truth is, they are afraid to fight the good fight.

Devoting a little of yourself to everything means committing a great deal of yourself to nothing.

The real key is time management and being able to focus on what you need to, on using every available minute to accomplish something that needs to be done.

Momentum is a fragile force. Its worst enemy: procrastination. Its best friend: a deadline (think Election Day). Implication no. 1 (and there is no no. 2): Get to work! NOW!

Hard work's a good distraction.

It's incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it's leaning against the wrong wall. It is possible to be busy - very busy - without being very effective.