The secret to being productive is to work on the right thing—even if it's at a slow pace.

Productivity is often a distraction. Don’t aim for better ways to get through your tasks as quickly as possible. Instead aim for better tasks that you never want to stop doing.

The most productive people work at a pace somewhere between the monk and the stock trader — fast enough to get everything done, and slowly enough so they can identify what’s important and then work deliberately and with intention.

Productivity isn’t about doing more, faster — it’s about doing the right things, deliberately and with intention.

productivity is the act of bringing a company closer to its goal. Every action that brings a company closer to its goal is productive. Every action that does not bring a company closer to its goal is not productive.

The problem with working slowly is not just that technical innovation happens slowly. It’s that it tends not to happen at all. It’s only when you’re deliberately looking for hard problems, as a way to use speed to the greatest advantage, that you take on this kind of project. Developing new technology is a pain in the ass. It is, as Edison said, one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Without the incentive of wealth, no one wants to do it.

Productivity isn’t about being a workhorse, keeping busy or burning the midnight oil... . It’s more about priorities, planning, and fiercely protecting your time.” — Margarita Tartakovsky

Startup productivity is not about cranking out more widgets or features. It is about aligning our efforts with a business and product that are working to create value and drive growth. In other words, successful pivots put us on a path toward growing a sustainable business.

In a society based on speed and productivity, moving slowly is a radical act.

Your net productivity is the balance of the productive and unproductive forces in your life.

A great deal of time and energy is spent thinking about how to increase effort, but there is a lot to be gained by reducing friction.

A car will travel faster not only if you press the accelerator, but also if you remove the speed bumps.

Productivity is most important for things you don't want to be doing. Most people want to increase productivity so they can spend less time on the task.

But before you worry about being more productive, think about being more selective. Rather than focusing on increasing productivity, it may be worth asking, "What would I be delighted to spend time on, even if it went slowly?"

Direct your energy toward figuring out how to start what you want to do rather than thinking about how to shorten what you don't want to do.

Productivity is about how much you accomplish.

Productivity isn’t about how busy or efficient you are — it’s about how much you accomplish

I’m talking about a production employee who is idle because there is no product to be worked on.” “Yes, that’s always bad,” I say. “Why?” I chuckle. “Isn’t it obvious? Because it’s a waste of money! What are we supposed to do, pay people to do nothing? We can’t afford to have idle time. Our costs are too high to tolerate it. It’s inefficiency, it’s low productivity — no matter how you measure it.” He leans forward as if he’s going to whisper a big secret to me. “Let me tell you something,” he says. “A plant in which everyone is working all the time is very inefficient.