80 Procrastination Quotes to Motivate And Inspire Actions

Do you ever find yourself reaching for the refrigerator door or meticulously organizing your bookshelf when you really should be working?

You’re not alone. Procrastination is a common hurdle, and it often strikes just when the stakes are highest.

To help you break free from this cycle, I’ve assembled a comprehensive collection of 80 procrastination quotes, thoughtfully categorized to cater to different situations and emotional states. These quotes act as powerful tools, reshaping our thoughts and injecting a dose of optimism and hope into our goals.

Think of these motivational quotes as advice from a wise friend, there to inspire you when you need it most. As you delve into this list, choose the ones that truly resonate and lift your spirits. They can serve as your energetic boost, motivating you to give your best and accomplish your objectives.

Let these words guide you through moments of hesitation and fuel your journey towards productivity and success.

80 Procrastination Quotes to Get You Back on Track

Instant Procrastination Busting Quotes

Here’re some immediate action quotes designed to instantly motivate and disrupt habitual procrastination. These powerful messages will encourage you to start tasks right away, helping you overcome inertia and get moving.

“Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows.” – Michael Landon

“Do first what you don’t want to do most.” – Clifford Cohen

“Begin while others are procrastinating. Work while others are wishing.” – William Arthur Ward

“Stop killing and wasting time. Get something done today.” – Sunday Adelaja

“On ACTION: ‘Stop talking; start DO-ing.” – Nanci McGraw

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” – Abraham Lincoln3

“If you want to get ahead in life, I’ve found that perhaps the most useless word in the world is ‘tomorrow’.” – José N. Harris

“The man who waits to know everything is the man who never does anything.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough

“You, as a person who wants to be successful, need to make ‘I’m doing it now’ a part of your daily vocabulary.” – Jacob Reimer

“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, The Secret of Getting Started: Strategies to Triumph over Procrastination

Also check out How to Get Motivated Every Day When You Wake Up!

Mental Block Procrastination Quotes

These are some inspirational quotes that address the mental obstacles and fears that often lead to procrastination. These sayings provide insight and encouragement to push past doubts and anxieties, empowering you to take the first step.

“Thinking too much leads to paralysis by analysis. It’s important to think things through, but many use thinking as a means of avoiding action.”― Robert Herjavec, The Will To Win: Leading, Competing, Succeeding

“Procrastination is the lazy cousin of fear. When we feel anxiety around an activity, we postpone it.”― Noelle Hancock, My Year with Eleanor

“Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the ‘someday I’ll’ philosophy.”― Denis Waitley

“Doubt increases with inaction. Clarity reveals itself in momentum. Growth comes from progress. For all these reasons, BEGIN.” – Brendon Burchard

“It is only by working the rituals, that any significant degree of understanding can develop. If you wait until you are positive you understand all aspects of the ceremony before beginning to work, you will never begin to work.”― Lon Milo DuQuette, The Magick of Aleister Crowley: A Handbook of the Rituals of Thelema

Learn how to break through your mental blocks in order to stop procrastinating: What Is Avoidance Coping & How to Break the Avoidance Cycle.

Insights into Procrastination Quotes

Explore the underlying causes of procrastination through insightful quotes that delve into why we delay tasks. You will get inspired on how to for recognize and change procrastination habits, fostering a more productive mindset.

“If you procrastinate when faced with a big difficult problem… break the problem into parts, and handle one part at a time.” – Robert Collier

“If we wait until we’ve satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.” – Lee Iacocca

“Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait. The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count.”― Robert Anthony

“Following-through is the only thing that separates dreamers from people that accomplish great things.”― Gene Hayden

“If you always do what is easy and choose the path of least resistance, you never step outside your comfort zone. Great things don’t come from comfort zones.”― Roy Bennett

“The man who waits to know everything is the man who never does anything.”― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Procrastination is like going to a fancy restaurant and filling up on bread and not leaving enough room for dinner.”― Richie Norton, The Power of Starting Something Stupid: How to Crush Fear, Make Dreams Happen, and Live without Regret

“Procrastination is the thief of dreams.” – Richard Paul Evans

“Procrastination and excuses are sour spices that spoil the sweet taste of an effective work. They must hence, not be prompted under desire, partly because they are strictly time-stripping and also because they have no known essence.”― Israelmore Ayivor

“A day can really slip by when you’re deliberately avoiding what you’re supposed to do.” – Bill Watterson

“Doing things at the last minute reminds us of the importance of doing things at the first minute.”― Matshona Dhliwayo

“Someday is not a day of the week.”― Janet Dailey

There’re actually different types of procrastinators, understanding which type you are can help you end procrastination: 5 Types of Procrastinators

The Perils of Procrastination Quotes

These are motivational quotes that illuminate the long-term effects of procrastination and stress the importance of taking action now. These quotes are designed to make you think about the future consequences of delay, motivating you to prioritize and act.

“Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.”― Wayne Gretzky

“Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in instalments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day’s success.”― Israelmore Ayivor

“Your ideas have legs and just as they run through your head, they could be running through someone else’s head and it’s just a matter of who gets to the finish line first. Nothing is new under the sun so act on your ideas.” ― Sanjo Jendayi

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb

“It was my fear of failure that first kept me from attempting the masterwork. Now, I’m beginning what I could have started ten years ago. But I’m happy at least that I didn’t wait twenty years.” – Paul Coehlo

“The real difference between those who want to write and those that do, is that those that do get up every day and do it.” – Leonard Wolf

The assumption of time is one of humanity’s greatest follies. We tell ourselves that there’s always tomorrow, when we can no more predict tomorrow than we can the weather.” – Richard Paul Evans

“How soon not now, becomes never.” – Martin Luther

“By what right do I, who have wasted this day, make claims on tomorrow?”― Alain-Fournier, Le Grand Meaulnes

Procrastination can hold you back from achieving what you want. Here’re the Effects of Procrastination That Can Destroy Your Life.

Practical Anti-Procrastination Quotes

Focused on offering straightforward, actionable advice, these quotes give you clear steps to effectively combat procrastination. They are ideal for those seeking direct, implementable strategies to improve productivity and reduce time wasted.

“If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don’t just stick there scowling at the problem. But don’t make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people’s words will pour in where your lost words should be. Open a gap for them, create a space. Be patient.”― Hilary Mantel

“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

“Chances are there are some things that trigger your tendencies to procrastinate. It is important you identify these things. And if possible, get rid of them.”― John Morgan, 100% Active and Productive

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”― Alexander Graham Bell

“How to stop procrastinating starts with believing you can overcome procrastination.”― Robert Moment, How to Stop Procrastinating

“If I had to sum up in a word what makes a good manager, I’d say decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers to gather the numbers, but in the end you have to set a timetable and act.”― Lee Iacocca

“During a very busy life I have often been asked, “How did you manage to do it all?” The answer is very simple. It is because I did everything promptly.”― Richard Tangye

Don’t miss these Practical Ways to Stop Procrastinating.

Philosophical Procrastination Quotes

These are deep, thoughtful quotes that provide philosophical insights into procrastination. It encourages reflection on how procrastination affects life and work, giving you perspectives that can lead to meaningful behavioral changes.

“He who thinks too much about every step he takes will always stay on one leg.”― Chinese Proverb

“Procrastination is illogical from every viewpoint. It is like the man who wanted to cross the stream, so he sat on the bank to wait for all the water to run by.”― Vernon Howard

“Do something instead of killing time. Because time is killing you.”― Paulo Coelho, Aleph

“It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.” – Leonardo da Vinci

“You may not be punished for your procrastination, but for sure you will be punished by your procrastination.” – Debasish Mridha

“Procrastinating does nothing more than add to your do list. Do it, be done with it!” – Catherine Pulsifer

“Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.” – Mark Twain

“In delay there lies no plenty.” – William Shakespeare

“If you take too long in deciding what to do with your life, you’ll find you’ve done it.” – George Bernard Shaw

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” – Pablo Picasso

“What is deferred is not avoided.” – Thomas More

“If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never plant anything and never harvest anything.” – Bible

Light-Hearted Procrastination Quotes

Combining humor with wisdom, these quotes tackle the often stressful nature of procrastination by lightening the mood. They provide a refreshing take on procrastination, helping you laugh at the quirks of human nature while encouraging positive change.

“How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time.”― Fred Brooks

“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.”― Denis Waitley

“Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.” – Christopher Parker

“Warning: dates on this calendar are closer than they appear.” – Unknown

When there is a hill to climb, don’t think that waiting will make it smaller.” – H. Jackson Brown

“Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.” – Spanish Proverb

“The worst form of procrastination is reading a procrastination quote, feeling the guilt, and not doing anything about it.” – Unknown

Procrastination Change Catalyst Quotes

Dynamic and powerful, these quotes are chosen to act as catalysts for profound change. They inspire you to rethink your approach to procrastination, motivating significant shifts in habits and mindset that lead to lasting productivity improvements.

“Whatever you want to achieve, you have to keep on working on it continuously, setting and achieving targets. There should be no procrastination for whatever reason.”― Chitesh Bhat, Everybody is Genius

“If you put off everything till you’re sure of it, you’ll never get anything done.” – Norman Vincent Peale

“A man who procrastinates in his choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance.” – Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway

“Neither a wise nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Daily Motivation Against Procrastination Quotes

These quotes are perfect for daily inspiration, providing a steady stream of motivational quotes to keep you energized and focused each day. These quotes are designed to maintain your momentum, helping you to consistently combat procrastination and stay on track.

“The problem with tomorrow is that I have never seen a tomorrow. Tomorrow does not exist. Tomorrow only exist in the mind of dreamers and losers.”― Robert Kiyosaki

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”― Abraham Lincoln

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work”― Chuck Close

“You must not procrastinate. Rather, you should make preparations so that even if you did die tonight, you would have no regrets. If you develop an appreciation for the uncertainty and imminence of death, your sense of the importance of using your time wisely will get stronger and stronger.”― Dalai Lama

“Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends.” – William Shakespeare

“Yesterday is a cancelled check; Tomorrow is a promissory note; Today is the only cash you have, so spend it wisely.” – Kim Lyons

“The forces of procrastination, self-doubt, worry, cultural expectations, even family and friends, can hold your life in place, like Gravity.” – Matt Gersper

“Great matter-days remain on the day stone balance, affecting your life on the day the occur and every day thereafter. So the earlier they happen, the better; waiting means potentially sacrificing years or even decades of benefit.”― Ron Lizzi

“The time to begin most things is ten years ago.” – Mignon McLaughlin

“What may be done at any time will be done at no time.” – Scottish Proverb

“In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“Don’t procrastinate, life is way too short. Do things as they come to you, live your life like a high-speed sport.”― Julie Hebert, How To Live To One Hundred

“You may delay, but time will not, and lost time is never found again.” – Damon Zahariades

Final Thoughts

Print these quotes out, stick them on the wall in front of your desk – do whatever it takes to remember why you shouldn’t be putting your work off, or getting distracted by a desire to rearrange your socks into colour order.

It won’t be easy, but being aware of how detrimental procrastination is to your longer-term goals is the first step towards overcoming it.

If you’re looking for more resources to help you tackle procrastination, dive into this comprehensive guide on procrastination: What Is Procrastination And How To End It.

Make sure to also check out LifeHack’s Time-Smart Toolkit, which is a toolkit with a collection of exclusive time management hacks and tools to help you get things done faster and smarter.