Procrastinating Quotes & Sayings

PROCRASTINATION means you know what you need to do and you don't do it. If you don't know what to do, you aren't procrastinating. You're thinking. — Lynn Lively

If we accept and internalize the fact of our own mortality, then, by definition, we have to deal with the essential questions of how we live and spend our allotted time. We have to stop procrastinating, pretending that we have forever to do what we want to do and be what we long to be. — Surya Das

Procrastinating, fighting and avoiding will only make it more difficult. The way out is to get it done. — Ralph Marston

To-morrow I will begin, thought Katy, as she dropped asleep that night. How often we all do so! And what a pity it is that when morning comes and to-morrow is to-day, we so frequently wake up feeling quite differently; careless or impatient, and not a bit inclined to do the fine things we planned overnight. — Susan Coolidge

Live now. Procrastinate later. — Karen Salmansohn

We become our own opposition when we accept the following: procrastinating, lying to ourselves, comparing ourselves to others, and having self-doubts - in short, anything that gets in the way of our becoming who we were created to be. — Steve Harvey

Generally, I've observed, we seek changes that fall into the "Essential Seven." People - including me - most want to foster the habits that will allow them to: 1. Eat and drink more healthfully (give up sugar, eat more vegetables, drink less alcohol) 2. Exercise regularly 3. Save, spend, and earn wisely (save regularly, pay down debt, donate to worthy causes, stick to a budget) 4. Rest, relax, and enjoy (stop watching TV in bed, turn off a cell phone, spend time in nature, cultivate silence, get enough sleep, spend less time in the car) 5. Accomplish more, stop procrastinating (practice an instrument, work without interruption, learn a language, maintain a blog) 6. Simplify, clear, clean, and organize (make the bed, file regularly, put keys away in the same place, recycle) 7. Engage more deeply in relationships - with other people, with God, with the world (call friends, volunteer, have more sex, spend more time with family, attend religious services) — Gretchen Rubin

When you have the urge to run away, you are feeding into fearful thoughts that keep you stuck. What benefit are you gaining by escaping? Is there a payoff to procrastinating? — Scott Allan

Procrastination is something you do yourself. You know: "I gotta sharpen these pencils before I start. I got 20 pencils, they're looking kinda dull." Well, the pencils aren't calling you and alluring you and inviting you and offering you anything. They're just sitting there. You're the one who's procrastinating. — Michael Chabon

Don't waste your time with procrastinating, because that time you won't get back. Be productive, even if it means sitting in your bed and reading :D — Anonymous

Occasionally when I'm procrastinating writing, I'll while away the hours on iTunes. You can just keep going forever and find these bands you'd never normally hear of. — Marisha Pessl

The problem with procrastination is it's been around since the beginning of time it seems. — Stephen Richards

Improvement is always on the schedule for tomorrow. Change is always taking place some time in the future. It's human nature. — Dan Pearce

The maid in the lime-color panties ... She had a plain broad face and was the most virtuous woman alive: she laid for EVERYBODY, regardless of race, creed, color or place of national origin, donating herself sociably as an act of hospitality, procrastinating not even for the moment it might take to discard the cloth or broom or dust mop she was clutching at the time she was grabbed. Her allure stemmed from her accessibility; like Mt. Everest, she was there, and the men climbed on top of her each time they felt the urge. — Joseph Heller

Find your way early, on the road of life. For the way is too long to be struggling, and far too short to be waiting. — Anthony Liccione

How can you attain satisfaction if you have more excuses than action? — Stanley Victor Paskavich

There's lots to do; we have a very busy schedule - "At 8 o'clock we get up, and then we spend "From 8 to 9 daydreaming. "From 9 to 9:30 we take our early midmorning nap. "From 9:30 to 10:30 we dawdle and delay. "From 10:30 to 11:30 we take our late early morning nap. "From 11:30 to 12:00 we bide our time and then eat lunch. "From 1:00 to 2:00 we linger and loiter. "From 2:00 to 2:30 we take our early afternoon nap. "From 2:30 to 3:30 we put off for tomorrow what we could have done today. "From 3:30 to 4:00 we take our early late afternoon nap. "From 4:00 to 5:00 we loaf and lounge until dinner. "From 6:00 to 7:00 we dillydally. "From 7:00 to 8:00 we take our early evening nap, and then for an hour before we go to bed at 9:00 we waste time. "As you can see, that leaves almost no time for brooding, lagging, plodding, or procrastinating, and if we stopped to think or laugh, we'd never get nothing done. — Norton Juster

The choice is not working or not working, but which type of work; even feeling guilty because of procrastinating takes some effort. When you commit to a goal, you're committing to a form of work that brings ongoing rewards. When you procrastinate, you're choosing a self-punishing form of work. — Neil A. Fiore

I have no point in procrastinating any longer.. — Flora Rheta Schreiber

Do it now! can affect every phase of your life. It can help you do the things you should do but don't feel like doing. It can keep you from procrastinating when an unpleasant duty faces you. But it can also help you do those things that you want to do. It helps you seize those precious moments that, if lost, may never be retrieved. — Napoleon Hill

Live life like you mean it! Stop procrastinating! Do all that you can ... with all that you have ... in the place that you are ... right now! Life is too unpredictable to put things off and not take it seriously. — Les Brown

Inertia is so easy - don't fix what's not broken. Leave well enough alone. So we end up accepting what is broken, mistaking complaining for action, procrastinating for deliberation. — Justina Chen Headley

Both positive and negative thinking are contagious. — Stephen Richards

One of the very worst uses of time is to do something very well that need not to be done at all. — Brian Tracy

Zealous statesmen perhaps did more mischief than anything in the Galaxy--with the possible exception of procrastinating soldiers. That could indicate the fundamental difference between statecraft and war. — H. Beam Piper

Procrastinating to embark on your passion is a risky business, because tomorrow may never come! — Alex Zar

Tomorrow, the busiest day of the week. I'm a big believer in putting things off, In fact, I even put off procrastinating. — Elle Varner

How often do you find yourself saying, "In a minute", "I'll get to it" or "Tomorrow's good enough" and every other possible excuse in the book? Compare it with how often you decide it's got to be done, so let's get on and do it! That should tell you just how serious your procrastinating problem really is. — Stephen Richards

I was planning on procrastinating today ... but never got around to it. — Quentin R. Bufogle

Everything that we enjoy is a result of someone's hard work. Some work is visible and other work goes unseen, but both are equally important. Some people stop working as soon as they find a job. Regardless of the unemployment statistics, it is hard to find good people to work. Many people don't understand the difference between idle time and leisure time. Idle time amounts to wasting or stealing time; leisure time is earned. Procrastinating amounts to not working.
Excellence is not luck; it is the result of a lot of hard work and practice. Hard work and practice make a person better at whatever he is doing. — Shiv Khera

My writing process, such as it is, consists of a lot of noodling, procrastinating, dawdling, and avoiding. — Amy Bloom

I'm learning real skills that I can apply throughout the rest of my life ... procrastinating and rationalizing. — Bill Watterson

I tell my students they can procrastinate as long as they follow three rules: 1. No going onto the computer during their procrastination time. It's just too engrossing. 2. Before procrastinating, identify the easiest homework problem. (No solving is necessary at this point.) 3. Copy the equation or equations that are needed to solve the problem onto a small piece of paper and carry the paper around until they are ready to quit procrastinating and get back to work. "I have found this approach to be helpful because it allows the problem to linger in diffuse mode - students are working on it even while they are procrastinating." - Elizabeth Ploughman, Lecturer of Physics, Camosun College, Victoria, British Columbia — Barbara Oakley

Task triage is the habit of making a realistic assessment of what degree of perfection is required for a task at the point of accepting it, so one doesn't need to rely on one's habit of procrastinating to lower the bar. — John Perry

We need to strive to keep things in proper balance. Good balance comes in doing things in a timely way and in not procrastinating our preparation or waiting to fulfill our responsibilities until the last minute. — M. Russell Ballard

Get up with the alarm, shower, get dressed, and have breakfast. Without much effort, you've already put yourself in a good position for the rest of the day. If you have to struggle to get out of bed and decide every single day about showering and breakfast and what to wear, you've put yourself in a depleted state before the day has really started. The person who's taking care of herself without thinking about it, getting to work on time without procrastinating, has much more will power left in reserve when important decisions come up. This is why people with high self-control consistently report less stress in their lives; they use their will power to take care of business semiautomatically, so they have fewer crises and calamities. When there is a real crisis, they have plenty of discipline left in reserve. — Richard O'Connor

TOP TEN RESOLUTION PITFALLS 1. Being vague about what you want 2. Not making a serious commitment 3. Procrastinating and excuse making - no time, wrong time, dog ate my homework 4. Being unwilling to go through the awkward phase 5. Not setting up a tracking and reminder system 6. Expecting perfection, falling into guilt, shame, regret 7. Trying to go it alone 8. Telling yourself self-limiting rut stories 9. Not having backup plans 10. Turning slip-ups to give-ups — M.J. Ryan

Believe while others are doubting. Plan while others are playing. Study while others are sleeping. Decide while others are delaying. Prepare while others are daydreaming. Begin while others are procrastinating. Work while others are wishing. Save while others are wasting. Listen while others are talking. Smile while others are frowning. Commend while others are criticizing. Persist while others are quitting. — John C. Maxwell

I get the most work done when I'm procrastinating. While avoiding an unpleasant task, I find several other tasks twice as unpleasant, and get those out of the way first. — Marcia K. Matthews

I was a very good student. Procrastinating gives me anxiety, and getting a B really ticked me off. Sure, I didn't always want to do my homework, but I actually really liked school. As nerdy as it sounds, I love learning. — Josie Loren

I'm learning skills I will use for the rest of my life by doing homework ... procrastinating and negotiation. — Bill Watterson

As you can see, that leaves almost no time for brooding, lagging, plodding, or procrastinating, and if we stopped to think or laugh, we'd never get nothing done." "You mean you'd never get anything done," corrected Milo. "We don't want to get anything done," snapped another angrily; "we want to get nothing done, and we can do that without your help. — Norton Juster

But thanks to my rapidly dividing cells, I no longer have that feeling - although I remember it very well - that if I just buckled down to the great work at hand, lived more authentically, stopped procrastinating, cut out sugar, then my best self was just there right around the corner. Yeah, no. I'm done with all that. I — David Rakoff

Procrastinating is number one of my Stupid List. You still end up exactly where you didn't want to be, doing exactly what you didn't want to do, with the only difference being you lost all that time in between, during which you could have been doing something fun. Even worse, you probably stayed in a stressed-out, scrappy mood the whole time you were avoiding it. — Karen Marie Moning

You'll sometimes hear from people that they actually do a better job of getting their work done when they have a lot of other obligations - in effect, it removes the possibility of procrastinating. — James Surowiecki

I hate procrastinating, so much so that I often do my homework on Friday so it won't be hanging over my head all weekend long. The good
thing is, my (nonexistent) social life doesn't usually interfere with this quirk of mine. — Kim Harrington

You can become good at procrastinating your opportunities by giving flimsy excuses. But never forget that it is rather your success that you are skipping away. — Israelmore Ayivor

I'm so good at procrastinating. — Seth Rogen

A habit as simple as arriving late or constantly procrastinating can show what you rank at the bottom of your scale of priorities - and also what you rank at the top. What do you hold as important and unimportant in this life? Just take a look at your habits. They will speak for themselves - and most likely, they will speak to others as well. — Jarrid Wilson

Instead of procrastinating to accomplish your tasks, do them as soon as you need to. — Vanessa Pagan

We're our own hardest critics and it's easy to let ourselves down. Sleeping too late. Procrastinating. — Marina Keegan

When you make a choice, there is always a cost, remind yourself of this when you find yourself procrastinating. — Jeff Boyer

Pause and remember - Stop procrastinating! Wishing is wonderful but action is what it takes to make it happen. — Jennifer Young

The reason why you'll never be successful, is because you procrastinate. — Eric Thomas

I observed that the successful farmer worked at his job. He would do his plowing, disking, harrowing, seeding, and harvesting in the proper season and at the proper time, while his neighbor was procrastinating, or off hunting and fishing while the work was still to be done. We must learn to set our priorities straight. No one can be successful in his line of work unless he works at it in the proper season and plays in the proper season. — Nathan Eldon Tanner

Habitual procrastinators will readily testify to all the lost opportunities, missed deadlines, failed relationships and even monetary losses incurred just because of one nasty habit of putting things off until it is often too late. — Stephen Richards

There are few sources of energy so powerful as a procrastinating college student. — Paul Graham

Think about the work you already do. Is it meaningful & challenging? Are you appreciated & recognized for what you're doing? — Mani S. Sivasubramanian

I found the sections on aging, relationships, and procrastinating especially helpful. I really found the tips and suggestions very helpful, inspiring, positive, and motivating. Yes, I would definitely recommend it. — Karen Lewis

Dreams, unlike eggs, don't hatch from sitting on them. — Frank Sonnenberg

Procrastination threatens to rob us of those things that are most important in our lives. — Richie Norton

Take care of difficult calls or emails as quickly as possible. Procrastinating just makes it harder; getting them done gives a big boost of relieved energy. — Gretchen Rubin

I'm a big believer in putting things off, In fact, I even put off procrastinating.
-Ella Varner — Lisa Kleypas

Nothing says work efficiency like panic mode. — Don Roff

The sooner you finish procrastinating, the sooner you can get back to your art. — Stephanie Lennox

One of the things I'm really good at is procrastinating. — Camilla Lackberg

Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. The few tasks on his list will be, by definition, the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to become a couch potato, not an effective human being. — John Perry

It is my greatest misfortune to be too lazy, and by the few mortifications I have already set with on that account I predict many evils in my future life. I have always the inclination to do what I ought; but by continually procrastinating for tomorrow the business of today, I insensibly delay, until at the end of one month I find myself in the same place as when I began it. — Washington Allston

To procrastinate seems inherent in man, for if you do to-day that you may enjoy to-morrow it is but deferring the enjoyment; so that to be idle or industrious, vicious or virtuous, is but with a view of procrastinating the one or the other. — Benjamin Haydon

If you have a story to tell, put it out there. Get the thing done. No excuses. No procrastinating. No apologies. It will never be as good as you want it to be, so forget about perfection. Just be satisfied that you've done the best work you can do at this stage in your life as an author. Then roll the rocket onto the launch pad and fire it off. After that, write another story. Always keep going. Move fast. Stay one step ahead of the forces of distraction and self-doubt. Love your characters enough to give them a good home. Love your readers enough to give them a place of refuge from life's tragedies, big and small. And love the world you live in enough to make it the world of your dreams. — James Hampton

Procrastinating is number three on my Stupid List. You still end up exactly where you didn't want to be, doing exactly what you didn't want to do, withe the only difference being that you lost all that time in between, during which you could have been doing something fun. Even worse, you probably stayed in a stressed-out, crappy mood the whole time you were avoiding it. If you know something is inevitable, do it and get it over with. Move on. Life is short. — Karen Marie Moning

When you focus on just one thing at a time, without rushing or procrastinating, you cultivate a sense of timeless awareness that creates feelings of calm and well-being. — Deepak Chopra

You've got to realize that the world's a test,
You can only do your best and let Him do the rest.
You've got your life, and got your health,
So quit procrastinating and push it yourself. — Cee Lo Green

While procrastinating is not a flaw, being a structured procrastinator is actually one way of being pretty productive. — John Perry

In life one has a choice to take one of two paths: to wait for some special day - or to celebrate each special day. — Rasheed Ogunlaru

The less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in. — Lord Chesterfield

I tend to write three to four hours a day, depending - oftentimes very late at night. When I write on Twitter, I do other things: I'm working, grading, or reading, and I'm procrastinating, and I'll pop on Twitter and be like, 'Hey, what's up? Yogurt's delicious.' — Roxane Gay

The whole thing of working in all these different mediums, it's just so that I can always be playing hooky from one of them. I can always be rebelling against my boss. Like, I'm supposed to be writing this book, but - heh heh heh - I'm writing a movie, secretly. I'm procrastinating, and in my off-hours I'm working on this movie that I'm not allowed to do, because I'm supposed to be writing a book! — Miranda July

If you need five minutes every hour to look at tweets or to just surf the Internet, you need to schedule that into your schedule, allow yourself to do that. Because when people start procrastinating, what they've done is, they've tried to ignore that urge. They try to deny themselves time on Facebook or time surfing the web. — Charles Duhigg

I highly doubt anyone would see anything," he said, replying to my thoughts. "We're on the 30th floor. Stop procrastinating; take off your fucking clothes. — Lilly Wilde

Apparently, despite my awareness of its pejorative connotation, procrastinating is something I fall victim to quite frequently. I'm not proud of it; I'm just being honest. — Rachel Nichols

I can procrastinate thinking about my procrastination problem. I can procrastinate dealing with my problem of procrastinating thinking about my procrastination problem. — Anonymous

My biggest mistake: not wanting to help myself into thinking I am happy, that change would come about without really trying to change, or wanting to change. Procrastinating about changing. I do want to change. — Beatrice Sparks

If you have ever procrastinated and then found yourself energized to complete a task at the last minute, then you have used the beneficial aspect of the fight or flight response (not the procrastinating part, but the energizing part). You see, with all its negative long term effects, the fight or flight response still gives us energy, and if we know how to use that energy, then stress is potentially good, at least in the short term. — Gudjon Bergmann

Who says you need to wait until you 'feel like' doing something in order to start doing it? The problem, from this perspective, isn't that you don't feel motivated; it's that you imagine you need to feel motivated. If you can regard your thoughts and emotions about whatever you're procrastinating on as passing weather, you'll realise that your reluctance about working isn't something that needs to be eradicated or transformed into positivity. You can coexist with it. You can note the procrastinatory feelings and act anyway. — Oliver Burkeman

I got myself a really nice nib pen, with like 15 kinds of India Ink, and tons of different nibs; I think I was just procrastinating, like, once I have the right nib, the book is just going to jump right out of my fingertips ... but then it just ended up looking like the shitty drawings that I usually do. — Demetri Martin

How to stop procrastinating starts with believing you can overcome procrastination. — Robert Moment

For me, writing is 75 percent procrastinating and 25 percent actually sitting down and working. — Zooey Deschanel

We live in a world in which everything seems to needed now and working quickly is normally viewed as a positive attribute in the workplace...Do not let yourself become too frazzled and stressed by doing everything at high speed.

As I have coached hundreds of individuals in the workplace, I have discovered that we waste precious time by delaying and procrastinating. We might know that the work is very urgent and important but we still might find ourselves being slow to start the task. — Nigel Cumberland

It's very important to enjoy what you're doing or else you are always going to procrastinate. — James Altucher

Don't throw away another day! No more procrastinating! Only YOU can make it happen. So, UN-ASS the couch and make it happen! — Steve Maraboli

I think a lot of the basis of the open source movement comes from procrastinating students ... — Andrew Tridgell

[A] partial repeal, or, as the bon ton of the court then was, a modification, would have satisfied a timid, unsystematic, procrastinating Ministry, as such a measure has since done such a Ministry. A modificatio is the constant resource of weak, undeciding minds. — Edmund Burke

It is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in. One yawns, one procrastinates, one can do it when one will, and therefore one seldom does it at all. — Lord Chesterfield