10 Quotes That Will Catapult Your Productivity in 2019
With the new year comes new ideas, resolutions, and lots of motivation! The key to maintaining that motivation all year is to create to-do lists that are full of actionable goals that are genuinely achievable (because you’ve noted every step required to achieve each one).
You can create your lists on paper, on the back of your hand, or wherever you please, but we’d like you to do it in Buckets. Why? We’ve spent all of 2018 upgrading our features so that you can be as productive as possible in 2019 and start all of the awesome Projects you have in mind. Plus, there are even bigger and better Buckets updates to come, so you won’t be alone in catapulting your productivity this year.
These productivity quotes will give your motivation a quick boost whenever necessary. We’ve included 10 of our favorites so give it a quick read and you’re bound to find one or two that you can really relate to.
1. If you want momentum, you’ll have to create it yourself, right now, by getting up and getting started — Ryan Holiday
Taking action is the only way to get out of a rut and achieve the results you want. And it won’t happen tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. You have to start now. If you find yourself stuck in “vague” tasks and ideas, try adding Checklists to your Cards in Buckets that outline the steps required to complete each task you’re working on. It’s important to have a visual breakdown of how to bring your thoughts from ideation to completion.
2. Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own — Bruce Lee
Distractions are everywhere so it’s important to be selective with what you choose to devote your time and energy to. Take the time to consider what information is truly useful to you and use it to develop your preexisting knowledge and experience. For more info on avoiding distractions, you can check out our blog post on deep work and how conducive it is to optimal productivity.
3. It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer — Albert Einstein
Never underestimate the power of brainstorming. This is something that we do a lot using Buckets as our digital brainstorming space, whether it’s alone or with other team members. Creating a Buckets brainstorming Project is a great idea as it gives your Project members the opportunity to note their ideas whenever they think of them and share them with the rest of the team.
4. The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings — Thomas Sowell
People spend up to 4 hours a week preparing for status update meetings in the US, and those meetings aren’t usually very productive. Using a collaborative project manager to manage your tasks is a much more effective way of tracking the progress of each project. Your team can communicate and collaborate in real-time without wasting hours each week on meeting prep and attendance.
We recently introduced new Project Permissions in Buckets that make it even more feasible to cut down on in-person meetings by offering varying degrees of digital access to each Project member.
5. What looks like multitasking is really switching back and forth between multiple tasks, which reduces productivity and increases mistakes by up to 50% — Susan Cain
Susan is right. “Multitasking” doesn’t actually exist. The term is used to describe a process called “task switching” that takes place when your brain moves rapidly from one task to another. Sounds like hard work, right? That’s because it is. And whilst it sometimes has its place, it’s definitely not optimal. Check out our post on The Myth of Multitasking to learn more.
6. I value self-discipline, but creating systems that make it next to impossible to misbehave is more reliable than self-control — Tim Ferriss
We’re with Tim on this one. As much as you may want to be motivated 24/7, it’s just not going to happen. And that’s okay! With the right systems in place, you can make sure that you still get your work done even when you’re just not feeling it.
In Buckets, you can set up a Project workflow that ensures that you know exactly what you have to do and when you have to do it, so procrastination becomes a thing of the past and you can work on autopilot when your motivation dwindles.
7. Don’t worry about breaks every 20 minutes ruining your focus on a task […] taking regular breaks from mental tasks actually improves your creativity and productivity. Skipping breaks, on the other hand, leads to stress and fatigue — Tom Rath
There’s a lot of truth in this. It aligns with the Pomodoro Technique which a widely used time management method that involves working in 25 minute intervals before taking a short 5 minute break. It’s also recommended to take a longer break of 15–20 minutes to rest and reboot your brain after every four intervals.
8. The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities — Stephen Covey
Take a look at your to-do list each day and highlight (or Label, in Buckets) your top 3 priorities. The idea here is to schedule these first and deal with everything else after that. This helps to increase your focus and avoid overwhelm as you can work on one task at a time.
9. In the absence of clear indicators of what it means to be productive and valuable in their jobs, many knowledge workers turn back toward an industrial indicator of productivity: doing lots of stuff in a visible manner — Cal Newport
Being busy doesn’t equate to being productive. Once you learn how to successfully manage your time, you’ll get more done in less of it.
10. You don’t need a new plan for next year. You need a commitment — Seth Godin
Making plans is a pointless endeavor if you don’t put a plan in place to achieve them. Why not create a Buckets Project right now for your goals in 2019 to make sure you achieve everything that’ you have planned for this year. It’s not so easy to ignore those to-do list items when we’re sending you Notifications! But it IS easier to manage and commit to them using our pretty nifty features such as Labels, Checklists, Notes, Filters, and Public Sharing options.
Over To You!
What inspires you to be more productive? We’d love to hear your own personal insights or favorite quotes in the comments section below!
Thanks For Reading!
Buckets helps to supercharge collaboration and organization needs across the world. If you enjoyed reading this post, please let us know by clicking and holding down the 👏 button!
To sign up for Buckets, just click here.
For regular updates from the Buckets team, you can also catch us on Twitter @bucketsdotco.
