150 Quotes About Time and Priorities to Help You Focus

I used to think that being busy was the same thing as being productive. I would fill my calendar with endless tasks, saying “yes” to every request, and then wonder why I felt so drained at the end of the day despite not making much progress on my actual goals. It took a major burnout for me to realize that time isn’t something we just “have”—it’s something we choose how to spend.

That realization changed everything for me. I stopped looking at my watch and started looking at my priorities. I found that when I treated my time as my most precious resource, my life began to align with my values. These quotes about time and priorities have been my guiding lights during that transition, helping me stay focused when the world tried to pull me in a dozen different directions.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or like your days are slipping through your fingers, you’re not alone. We all have the same 24 hours, but how we use them defines the quality of our lives. Here are 150 powerful quotes to help you reclaim your schedule and focus on what truly matters.

Mastering Your Schedule: Time Management Quotes for Productivity

Efficiently managing your day is about more than just checking boxes; it’s about creating space for what’s important. I’ve found that when I use my morning to tackle the hardest tasks, the rest of the day flows much more smoothly. These productivity quotes remind us that starting now is often the most critical step toward success. If you’re looking for practical frameworks, exploring a time management guide can provide additional structure. By focusing on high-impact activities, we can transform our relationship with the clock.

“Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves.” — Lord Chesterfield

This is a classic reminder that small habits lead to big results. If you manage the small moments, the big goals fall into place.

“Never leave ‘till tomorrow which you can do today.” — Benjamin Franklin

Procrastination is often just a way of stealing from your future self. Doing it now is a gift to the person you’ll be tomorrow.

“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it.” — Earl Nightingale

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” — H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

This quote always humbles me. It’s not about the quantity of time, but the quality of our commitment.

“You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.” — Charles Buxton

“The time for action is now. It’s never too late to do something.” — Carl Sandburg

“We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.” — John F. Kennedy

A powerful metaphor—time should support our efforts, not be a place where we sit idle and watch life pass by.

“Time is what we want most but what we use worst.” — William Penn

“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.” — William Shakespeare

“Time is money.” — Benjamin Franklin

“Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much can be done if we are always doing.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” — Walt Disney

Sometimes we spend more time discussing our plans than actually executing them. Action is the best remedy for indecision.

“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” — Sam Levenson

“The shorter way to do many things is to only do one thing at a time.” — Mozart

Multitasking is often a myth that leads to half-finished work. Deep focus on a single task is the hallmark of true mastery.

“Do first things first, and second things not at all.” — Peter Drucker

“There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.” — Brian Tracy

“Your greatest asset is your earning ability. Your greatest resource is your time.” — Brian Tracy

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” — Abraham Lincoln

Preparation is never wasted time. It makes the actual work faster and more effective.

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

Focusing your energy is the only way to achieve a breakthrough. For more on this, our collection of focus quotes to eliminate distractions offers deeper insights.

“The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.” — Mike Murdock

“Lost time is never found again.” — Benjamin Franklin

The Art of Setting Priorities: Quotes on What Matters Most

Knowing what to say “no” to is just as important as knowing what to say “yes” to. In my own life, I’ve found that the things that scream the loudest are rarely the things that matter most. Learning to differentiate between the urgent and the truly important is a skill that takes constant practice. These priority quotes highlight the wisdom of focusing on the essentials and letting go of the trivial distractions.

“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists of the elimination of nonessentials.” — Lin Yutang

This is one of my favorites. We often feel guilty for leaving things undone, but true wisdom is knowing what isn’t worth doing.

“The reason most goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first.” — Robert J. McKain

“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” — William James

“He is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; and he is wiser still who from among the things he can do well, chooses and resolutely follows the best.” — William Gladstone

“Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A vital reminder to keep our values at the forefront of our daily decisions.

“Wise are those who learn that the bottom line doesn’t always have to be their top priority.” — William Arthur Ward

“If it’s a priority you’ll find a way. If it isn’t, you’ll find an excuse.” — Jim Rohn

Jim Rohn had a way of cutting through the nonsense. Our actions always reveal our true priorities.

“To change your life, you need to change your priorities.” — Mark Twain

“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.” — Stephen Covey

The “Covey Matrix” is a great tool for this. To dive deeper into these principles, I recommend checking out FranklinCovey on Habit 3: Put First Things First.

“If you continually ask yourself, ‘What’s important now’ you won’t waste time on the trivial.” — Lou Holtz

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” — Albert Einstein

We often prioritize what we can measure (like money or likes) over what truly matters (like peace or relationships).

“The things which are most important don’t always scream the loudest.” — Unknown

“The Principle of Priority states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what’s important first.” — Robert Fritz

“Until you value yourself, you will not value your time.” — M. Scott Peck

Self-worth and time management are deeply linked. If you don’t value yourself, you’ll let others dictate your schedule.

“It’s not about having enough time, it’s about making enough time.” — Rachael Bermingham

“Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of.” — Charles Richards

“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.” — Bruce Lee

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Removing the clutter allows the core to shine.

“Make your own recovery the first priority in your life.” — Robin Norwood

“The first step to success is knowing your priorities.” — Aspesh

“Our greatest danger in life is in permitting the urgent things to crowd out the important.” — Charles E. Hummel

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” — Stephen Covey

Priceless Moments: Quotes on the Value and Beauty of Time

Time is the one thing we can never get more of, yet we often treat it as if it were infinite. I’ve found that the most beautiful moments in life are the ones where time seems to stand still—when we are fully present and engaged with the world around us. These quotes celebrate the priceless nature of every second and encourage us to cherish the “now.” Treating each day as a gift transforms how we experience our lives.

“Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life.” — Alan Lakein

Lakein’s equation is stark but true. Our time is literally our life force.

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

From The Fellowship of the Ring, this quote reminds us that while we can’t control the time we have, we control our choices.

“Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” — J.K. Rowling

“Time is the most undefinable yet paradoxical of things; the past is gone, the future is not come, and the present becomes the past even while we attempt to define it.” — Charles Caleb Colton

“Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.” — Theophrastus

“Every second is of infinite value.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

If we truly believed this, we would be much more careful about what we allow into our consciousness.

“There’s only one thing more precious than our time and that’s who we spend it on.” — Leo Christopher

Relationships are the ultimate use of our time. Who are you giving your hours to today?

“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” — Marthe Troly-Curtin

This is a great perspective. Rest and joy are productive in their own right.

“Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” — Bil Keane

“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” — Harvey Mackay

“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” — Bruce Lee

“The way we spend our time defines who we are.” — Jonathan Estrin

“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” — Charles Darwin

“If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.” — Maria Edgeworth

Focus on the “now,” and the big picture will resolve itself over time.

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” — Mother Teresa

“Time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart.” — Michael Ende

“Some moments last forever in the memory, even if they last only a second in time.” — Jill Santopolo

“I think the hardest part of aging really is recognizing the time that you wasted and the things that you worried about that really didn’t matter.” — Oprah Winfrey

“You can have it all. Just not all at once.” — Oprah Winfrey

Time and Life Wisdom: Reflective Sayings on the Passage of Time

Looking back on our lives, we often see that the pace of time changes with our perspective. When we are young, the days seem endless, but as we grow older, the years seem to accelerate. These reflective quotes offer wisdom on how to navigate the inevitable passage of time with grace and intention. I’ve often found that studying the philosophy of Seneca provides a grounded way to view our mortal limitations. These quotes remind us that while we cannot stop the clock, we can find meaning in the rhythm of our lives.

“Time is a slippery thing: lose hold of it once, and its string might sail out of your hands forever.” — Anthony Doerr

In All the Light We Cannot See, Doerr captures the fragile nature of our hold on the present moment.

“It is the hour of pearl—the interval between day and night when time stops and examines itself.” — John Steinbeck

“Time is an illusion.” — Albert Einstein

Einstein’s physics remind us that our perception of time is often subjective and shaped by our circumstances.

“Time is a created thing.” — Lao Tzu

“The long unmeasured pulse of time moves everything.” — Sophocles

“Life, if well lived, is long enough.” — Seneca

The quality of life is more important than the quantity of years. For more timeless perspective, see our life quotes that teach wisdom.

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” — Leo Tolstoy

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” — Steve Jobs

A legendary reminder from Jobs to be authentic and bold with the time we have.

“The past always looks better than it was. It’s only pleasant because it isn’t here.” — Finley Peter Dunne

“Time is a cruel thief to rob us of our former selves. We lose as much to life as we do to death.” — Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey

“Time brings all things to pass.” — Aeschylus

“Time takes it all, whether you want it to or not.” — Stephen King

“Time is a storm in which we are all lost.” — William Carlos Williams

“Time waits for no one.” — Folklore

“Time is the wisest counselor of all.” — Pericles

“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” — Dr. Seuss

Seuss perfectly captures the bewilderment we feel when we realize how much time has passed without us noticing.

“Time slips away like grains of sand never to return again.” — Robin Sharma

“Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity.” — Jean De La Bruyere

“It’s not that we have little time, but more that we waste a good deal of it.” — Seneca

“The common man is not concerned about the passage of time, the man of talent is driven by it.” — Schopenhauer

“Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.” — Thomas Hardy

“The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.” — C.S. Lewis

“Old Time, that greatest and longest established spinner of all!…. his factory is a secret place, his work is noiseless, and his hands are mutes.” — Charles Dickens

“Time is the longest distance between two places.” — Tennessee Williams

“Time moves slowly but passes quickly.” — Alice Walker

“Time expands, then contracts, all in tune with the stirrings of the heart.” — Haruki Murakami

“Time passes, and yet little changes.” — Virginia Woolf

“Time is the most merciless thing in the world.” — Donna Tartt

“Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away.” — Ben Hecht

“Time is a great storyteller.” — Margaret Atwood

“Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations.” — Faith Baldwin

“The future is uncertain but the end is always near.” — Jim Morrison

Overcoming Procrastination: Quotes for Taking Action and Moving Forward

We all have those tasks we’ve been putting off for “someday.” But as I’ve learned the hard way, “someday” isn’t a day of the week. Procrastination is often a mask for fear—fear of failure, fear of judgment, or even fear of success. These quotes are designed to kickstart your momentum and help you break through the paralysis of waiting. Every great achievement starts with the decision to try, and the best time to try is right now.

“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it.” — Earl Nightingale

The time will pass anyway. You might as well spend it becoming the person you want to be.

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” — C.S. Lewis

This is so incredibly hopeful. Your past doesn’t define your future if you start making different choices today.

“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” — Robert H. Schuller

“‘Someday’ is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you.” — Timothy Ferriss

Ferriss is right to be blunt. If you’re waiting for the “perfect time,” you’ll be waiting forever.

“The trouble is, you think you have time.” — Jack Kornfield

This realization is the key to mindfulness and urgency. Life is happening now, not in some distant future.

“You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.” — Charles F. Kettering

“You can’t make up for lost time. You can only do better in the future.” — Ashley Ormon

“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” — Jim Rohn

Taking ownership of your morning is the best way to ensure you stay in the driver’s seat. For more on this, check out our discipline quotes to stay consistent.

“Change your 24 hours and you will change your life.” — Eric Thomas

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” — Andy Warhol

“We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.” — Nelson Mandela

“Don’t waste your time in anger, regrets, worries, and grudges. Life is too short to be unhappy.” — Roy T. Bennett

“Don’t waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.” — Paulo Coelho

“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday and avoiding today.” — Wayne Dyer

When we procrastinate, we are essentially living in the stress of what we haven’t done, rather than the peace of the present.

“Time doesn’t heal emotional pain; you need to learn how to let go.” — Roy T. Bennett

“We are always getting away from the present moment.” — H. G. Wells

“Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present.” — Seneca

Seneca’s wisdom from 2,000 years ago is still perfectly applicable to our modern world of notifications and endless scrolls.

“We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.” — Confucius

“If you don’t write when you don’t have time for it, you won’t write when you do have time for it.” — Katerina Stoykova Klemer

“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” — Ralph Marston

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.” — Sean Patrick Flanery

Purpose and Focus: Quotes on Living with Intent and Priorities

When your time is aligned with your purpose, every hour feels meaningful. I’ve found that the most satisfied people aren’t the ones with the most free time, but the ones who use their time for things that align with their core values. These quotes explore the intersection of intent, focus, and priorities. If you’re looking for even more perspectives, the time tag on Goodreads is a treasure trove of wisdom. They challenge us to look inward and ensure that our daily actions are reflecting the person we truly want to be.

“Time will not slow down when something unpleasant lies ahead.” — Harry Potter

A fictional but relatable sentiment. Facing the hard things head-on is the only way through them.

“We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they’re called memories. Some take us forward, they’re called dreams.” — Jeremy Irons

“It’s a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up.” — J.K. Rowling

“There comes a time when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your own heart. So you’d better learn the sound of it. Otherwise you’ll never understand what it’s saying.” — Sarah Dessen

Silence is necessary to hear our true priorities. Without it, we just follow the loudest voices in the room.

“Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.” — Cormac McCarthy

“When you’ve been told over and over you’re not going to have a long life, it gives you a different perspective on time.” — Kazuo Ishiguro

“Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” — George Orwell

“We’ve been granted the mental capacities to make almost infinitely ambitious plans, yet practically no time at all to put them into action.” — Oliver Burkeman

From Four Thousand Weeks, this quote reminds us of the inherent limitation of our mortality and the need to choose wisely.

“A precondition for reading good books is not reading bad ones: for life is short.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

“The most important thing anyone can do is raise their kids well.” — Unknown

“First we must accomplish the task at hand. An officer who looks too far ahead stumbles over his own boots.” — Unknown

“We no longer have time to atomize principles and beg the question. We fill too many gutters while we argue unimportant points and confuse issues.” — Unknown

“Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year – and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade!” — Anthony Robbins

Consistency is the superpower of the long-term thinker. Small daily actions compound into massive results over time.

“The time is always right to do what is right.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

“Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom, and power.” — Stephen Covey

Centering your life on your purpose makes your priorities clear. For more on this, our guide on goal-setting quotes to achieve is a great resource.

“The necessary has never been man’s top priority. The passionate pursuit of the nonessential and the extravagant is one of the chief traits of human uniqueness.” — Eric Hoffer

“Books have a unique way of stopping time in a particular moment and saying: Let’s not forget this.” — Unknown

“I’d rather be pretty than clever.” — L. M. Montgomery

“Clocks slay time… time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.” — William Faulkner

“There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.” — Napoleon I

“The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.” — C.S. Lewis

Regret and Wasted Time: Quotes on Valuing Every Hour

One of the most painful feelings is looking back and wishing you’d done something differently with your time. While we can’t change the past, we can use the lessons of regret to fuel our future intentions. These quotes serve as a sobering reminder of the finality of lost time and the importance of acting before the opportunity passes. If you’ve been putting something off, let these words be the nudge you need to take that first step today.

“Regret for wasted time is more wasted time.” — Mason Cooley

The fastest way to stop wasting time is to stop dwelling on the time you’ve already lost. Forfeit the past and embrace the now.

“Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.” — Dion Boucicault

A stark reminder that we don’t “kill” time; we are the ones whose time is running out.

“Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings.” — John Updike

“There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.” — Bill Watterson

From Calvin and Hobbes, this quote humorously touches on the struggle of wanting to rest in a world that demands action.

“There are two days in my calendar: This day and that Day.” — Martin Luther

“It has been said, ‘time heals all wounds.’ I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.” — Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

“Punctuality is the thief of time.” — Oscar Wilde

“You can only manage time if you track it right.” — Spica’s Team

“If time travel is possible, where are the tourists from the future?” — Stephen Hawking

“Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” — Anthony G. Oettinger

“The time I kill is killing me.” — Mason Cooley

When we “kill time,” we are literally throwing away the minutes of our existence. It’s a habit that drains our vitality.

“Time is a thief, stealing moments we can never regain.” — J.R. Ward

“Lost time is like a run in a stocking. It always gets worse.” — Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Regretting the past can be useful if it prevents future mistakes, but don’t let the regret itself become another way to lose time.

“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” — John Wooden

This is a classic reminder of the efficiency of quality. Doing it right the first time is the ultimate time-saver.

“The most important thing in life is knowing the most important things in life.” — David F. Jakielo

“The time is always right to do what is right.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

I’ve learned that mastering your time isn’t about being more “productive” in the corporate sense; it’s about being more present in the human sense. When we align our schedules with our priorities, we stop feeling like victims of our calendars and start feeling like the architects of our lives.

Take a moment today to look at your to-do list. Is there something on there that doesn’t belong? Is there something missing that truly matters?

Remember, you have enough time for what is truly important. You just have to be brave enough to choose it. Your time is your life—spend it well.