“Much of the stress that people feel doesn't come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they've started.”

— David Allen

Last update Oct. 27, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Much of the stress that people feel doesn't come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they've s…" by David Allen?

David Allen photo

David Allen119

American productivity consultant and author 1945

Related quotes

“People talk too much. Humans aren't descended from monkeys. They come from parrots.”

Carlos Ruiz Zafón book The Shadow of the Wind

Source: The Shadow of the Wind

“I just rely on natural talent," said Adrian, strolling up to the start of the Dragon's Lair. "When you have such a wealth of it to draw from, the danger comes from having too much.”

Richelle Mead Bloodlines

Source: Bloodlines

“The truth is that art does not teach; it makes you feel, and any teaching that may arise from the feeling is an extra, and must not be stressed too much.”

Robertson Davies (1913–1995) Canadian journalist, playwright, professor, critic, and novelist

Introduction to Fortune, My Foe and Eros at Breakfast (c. 1993).
Context: The truth is that art does not teach; it makes you feel, and any teaching that may arise from the feeling is an extra, and must not be stressed too much. In the modern world, and in Canada as much as anywhere, we are obsessed with the notion that to think is the highest achievement of mankind, but we neglect the fact that thought untouched by feeling is thin, delusive, treacherous stuff.

“the hopelessness that comes from knowing too little and feeling too much (so brittle, so dry he is in danger of the reverse: feeling nothing and knowing everything)”

Toni Morrison book Jazz

Source: Jazz

“I feel like a tree. A tree doesn't feel a duty to start doing something about the earth from which it comes. A tree just has to bear fruit, and leaves and blossoms. It doesn't feel grateful to the earth.”

Abbas Kiarostami (1940–2016) Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/95ecdfa2-4be8-11de-b827-00144feabdc0.html

“You don’t have much time. If you think too long or too much, sometimes that is wrong. If you have one idea and know it from the first minute, do it. Shoot. I had so little space in the box. Think too much, the defender comes to block you.”

Robert Lewandowski (1988) Polish association football player

“[On handling stress] When you start projecting on the future—"Oh my God, I gotta do this and I’m not there yet"—well, of course you’re not there yet because you’re here now. That time will come…I try to stay in the moment as much as I can and find whatever joy I can in that moment, no matter what it is. Then it doesn’t feel as stressful.”

Jennifer Beals (1963) American actress and a former teen model

Interview in First for Women (8 February 2010, p. 46) http://jennifer-beals.com/media/press/first.html.

“As people do better, they start voting like Republicans…unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing.”

Karl Rove (1950) American political consultant and policy advisor

The New Yorker (February 19, 2001)

“If you start [in book] with telling people what they are supposed to feel and what they are supposed to experience it simply doesn’t work. Because it really has to come from the reader…”

Katherine Paterson (1932) American children's writer born and mainly raised in China

“Many of us feel stress and get overwhelmed not because we're taking on too much, but because we're taking on too little of what really strengthens us.”

Marcus Buckingham (1966) British writer

Marcus Buckingham, cited in: Mohamed Tohami, Perk Up Your Profits, 2013. p. 38

Related topics