Best Procrastination Quotes to Motivate and Inspire You

Why do we wait to do the things that matter most?

You know the task. It’s on your list. It’s been there for days. Maybe weeks. But somehow, everything else takes priority—scrolling, snacking, overthinking. If you’re looking for words that push you into action or make you laugh at your own delay, you’re not alone.

People turn to procrastination quotes because they want a spark—something short and sharp that cuts through the excuses. You’re not just looking for motivation. You’re looking for a reminder that action beats overthinking every time.

Powerful Words That Can Help You Stop Procrastinating

Quotes are tools.

A few well-placed words can shift your mindset, challenge your habits, and wake you up. The best procrastination quotes are clear and relatable. They hold up a mirror. They nudge you forward when you're stuck.

When you keep these quotes around—on your wall, your phone, your planner—you create quick access to focus and self-awareness. They become a way to reset, without needing a lecture or a pep talk.

But without that nudge? You stay stuck. You justify the delay. The days slip by. Momentum fades. You feel the weight of what’s left undone.

That’s the real cost of procrastination—not just time lost, but confidence. So the right words at the right time? They matter more than you think.

Short and Powerful Procrastination Quotes

1. “Procrastination is the thief of time.” — Edward Young
2. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe
3. “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” — William Faulkner
4. “A year from now, you may wish you had started today.” — Karen Lamb
5. “Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.” — William James
6. “Thinking will not overcome fear, but action will.” — W. Clement Stone
7. “Procrastination makes easy things hard and hard things harder.” — Mason Cooley
8. “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” — Ralph Marston
9. “Someday is not a day of the week.” — Janet Dailey
10. “The habit of always putting off an experience until you can afford it… is one of the greatest burglars of joy.” — Charles R. Swindoll
11. “Action will destroy your procrastination.” — Og Mandino
12. “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” — Dale Carnegie
13. “A task left undone remains undone in two places—at the actual location of the task and inside your head.” — David Allen
14. “If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.” — Olin Miller
15. “Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin.” — Victor Kiam
16. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” — Wayne Gretzky
17. “Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” — Napoleon Bonaparte
18. “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” — Thomas Jefferson
19. “The cost of procrastination is the life you could have lived.” — Shannon L. Alder
20. “Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.” — Don Marquis
21. “There is nothing so fatal to character as half-finished tasks.” — David Lloyd George
22. “Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.” — Spanish Proverb
23. “He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.” — Horace
24. “When there is a hill to climb, don’t think that waiting will make it smaller.” — Unknown
25. “A year from now, you may wish you had started today.” — Karen Lamb

Motivational and Positive Procrastination Quotes

26. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe
27. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” — Mark Twain
28. “Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.” — Peter Marshall
29. “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” — Napoleon Hill
30. “Action is the foundational key to all success.” — Pablo Picasso
31. “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” — Jim Rohn
32. “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” — George S. Patton
33. “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution.” — Aristotle
34. “The future depends on what we do in the present.” — Mahatma Gandhi
35. “You may delay, but time will not.” — Benjamin Franklin
36. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” — Walt Disney
37. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
38. “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain
39. “An inch of movement will bring you closer to your goals than a mile of intention.” — Steve Maraboli
40. “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” — Margaret Thatcher
41. “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” — Theodore Roosevelt
42. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” — Lao Tzu
43. “A year from now you’ll wish you had started today.” — Karen Lamb
44. “He who has begun has half done.” — Horace
45. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” — Jim Ryun
46. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” — William James
47. “Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” — Sun Tzu
48. “Nothing will work unless you do.” — Maya Angelou
49. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” — John D. Rockefeller
50. “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” — Suzy Kassem

Procrastination Quotes for Students and Professionals

51. “The expert in anything was once a beginner.” — Helen Hayes
52. “Never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time.” — Charles Dickens
53. “Lost time is never found again.” — Benjamin Franklin
54. “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” — Stephen King
55. “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” — Jim Rohn
56. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius
57. “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” — Bruce Lee
58. “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” — Conrad Hilton
59. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe
60. “Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” — Henry Ford
61. “There is no substitute for hard work.” — Thomas Edison
62. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X
63. “Nothing will work unless you do.” — Maya Angelou
64. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt
65. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.” — Steve Jobs
66. “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” — Henry Ford
67. “If you don’t pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves.” — David Allen
68. “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” — Plutarch
69. “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” — Thomas Jefferson
70. “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” — Henry Ford
71. “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” — Margaret Thatcher
72. “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” — Napoleon Hill
73. “Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.” — Dale Carnegie
74. “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” — Ralph Marston
75. “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” — Benjamin Franklin

Applying These Procrastination Quotes to Your Daily Life

Think about the quote that hits you the hardest.

 Is it the one that makes you laugh at how often you delay things? Or maybe it’s the one that reminds you what you lose every time you put something off. Take a moment to reflect. How does procrastination show up in your life? What is it quietly costing you—time, progress, confidence? 

These quotes aren’t just clever phrases. They hold up a mirror. They bring awareness to habits that slow you down. When you read them regularly, they start to shift your thinking. You become more honest with yourself. You catch those small moments when you're about to delay and choose action instead. Over time, this builds momentum—and with that, real change.

What These Procrastination Quotes Teach Us About Success

Procrastination quotes can make you laugh, challenge your thinking, or push you into action. But their real power is in what they reveal.

They cut through the noise and help you reset. Make them part of your routine. Save the ones that stick with you. Post them where you’ll see them. Use them as reminders of what matters most and how you want to show up. You don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. You just need to keep moving. 

Let each quote be a step forward. One that keeps you focused, grounded, and moving toward what matters.