Richard Russo Quotes

Abrams's Advice: When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time.

From a productivity perspective, prioritization is key. And it's very easy to focus on clearing the decks of minutia, especially when one's very busy.

The best way to handle responsibility is to break it down into smaller parts. Take care of one small thing at a time.

To-Do lists help us break life into small steps.

There is no human bliss equal to twelve hours of work with only six hours in which to do it.

In the discharge of the duties of this office, there is one rule of action more important than all others. It consists in never doing anything that someone else can do for you.

I either delegate something, I dump it, or I deal with it.

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.

Anything that is wasted effort represents wasted time. The best management of our time thus becomes linked inseparably with the best utilization of our efforts.

My productivity is overwhelming!

Breaking tasks down into smaller sub-tasks can be very useful.

Slowing down doesn't mean accomplishing less; it means cutting out counterproductive distractions and the perception of being rushed.

As he that lives longest lives but a little while, every man may be certain that he has no time to waste. The duties of life are commensurate to its duration; and every day brings its task, which, if neglected, is doubled on the morrow.

It is possible to be busy-very busy-without being very effective.

You can do only one thing at a time. I simply tackle one problem and concentrate all efforts on what I am doing at the moment.

Success is never getting to the bottom of your to-do list.

Multi-taskers often think they are like gym rats, bulking up their ability to juggle tasks, when in fact they are like alcoholics, degrading their abilities through over-consumption.

Conran's Law of Housework - it expands to fill the time available plus half an hour.

If people would reflect that one can only do one thing at a time and therefore there is never more than one thing to do at a time, there would be less fatigue in the world.

If you want to get something done, give it to a busy man.

You can get control of your tasks and activities only to the degree that you stop doing some things and start spending more time on the few activities that can really make a difference in your life.

The more you have to do, the more you have only NOW to get it done. That's why busy people get the most done.

One’s objective should be to get it right, get it quick, get it out and get it over. Your problem won’t improve with age.

People frequently fail when they try to do everything at once. They approach a massive project and quickly get discouraged. Taking small, but high-value steps takes less time, and you learn more in the long run.

The fact is that you can't do everything that you have to do. You have to procrastinate on something. Therefore, procrastinate on small tasks.