Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book DONE!
Chapter 1: Why Do More?
“You’ll at last be able to keep you output up with your imagination! You won’t be carrying around twenty pages of things “to do someday” anymore, because a great many of them will be done! Think of that.”
Chapter 2: Ordinary Me: Do More?
“The biggest inhibitor of “more” is waiting for an outside force to do it for us, to drag us up by our bootstraps–the company, the government, or our parents. Some don’t doubt that they can and should do more but they feel they need someone or something to step into their lives and lift them up to the effort.”
Chapter 3: A Little Subtraction. . .Adds a Lot of Production
“If you can feel anything gnawing, then you better degnaw. It’s like having something in your eye. If it’s in there you have to get it out, even the smallest hair or tiniest bit of sand. If you leave it there, it will do damage. There are enough unpreventable ruinations around without setting yourself up for anymore.”
“Recreation is productive and great for a change, as are vacations. But our kids are raised learning more about time-off activities than how to achieve or produce.”
Chapter 4: The Mainspring: Direction
“My first reaction to any project is anticipation of the satisfaction and pleasure of the end result. I never think about how much work, money, time or pain it’ll take. It just look at what things will be like when I get done, how good I’ll feel, how famous, rich or loved I’ll be. After I relish and bask in that for a while I look at the list again. Okay, to have a prettier smile and better bite, I’ll go see my dentist.”
Chapter 5: The Magic of Early
“High producers don’t have backlogs. When you work from behind you never really catch up. Producers maintain a “frontlog,” a list of things to do ahead. When you’re always working ahead of yourself, pushing things ahead of you rather than pulling them behind you, you have twice the control.”
Chapter 6: How About Some Help?
“We all have an immediate attraction to well-directed people. We join with them in spirit and build a loyalty to them without even realizing it. This is because doers have a definite direction, a destination. They are going somewhere, moving and any progress or action is exciting.”
Chapter 7: Timepiece Tuners
“Once you’re started, you are indeed half done. All producers live that motto. You own your moods and make your own convence–”ideal” is, for the most part, manufactured, it’s not a gift from nature. Just make a move and your mood will change.”
Chapter 8: The Healthy Stretch (Will It Hurt?)
“The modern fear of “overload” or “burnout” is almost humorous. There might be some “bore outs,” “bum outs,” or fade outs,” but burnouts? Most people’s flames aren’t even lit yet, how can they burn out?”
Chapter 9: The Rewards of Getting More Done Everyday
“What would you do if you could get tons more done? Share more, serve more, lift yourself, be more selfish or unselfish? Once you have more time you could even waste a little time if you wanted–get out of survival and into savoring!”
I do think that Don is a workaholic, though he would not call himself that. He is just extremely motivated by producing things. Still, overall, an inspiring and useful book.




