GB cultural insights and productivity tips

June 25, 2024

18 min read

58+ inestimable time management quotes from GB

This article has been prepared by WorkTime employee monitoring, the only non-invasive employee monitoring software on the market.

British definition of time management

As was accurately mentioned by the Guardian, many of us have felt this gradual sensation of being engulfed and quite frustrated. Not just because of the realization that our lives are bustling with activity which can be invigorating, but the sense that time is slipping away beyond our grasp.
British time management is a unique dimension with meticulous order fueled by past-oriented culture.
Very important is that British culture values its rich history and upholds the significance of tradition. In the United Kingdom time management approaches typically highlight traditional values and methods of operation. Management styles lean towards conservatism, and the rate of change or reform is often sluggish. People in the UK often struggle with controlling their impulses and seek to fulfill their desires without much restraint. Individuals in the UK may act on their immediate wants or needs without considering long-term consequences. Additionally, a low level of indulgence among the working class indicates a restrained and conservative approach to indulging in pleasures or luxuries among the majority of the country. Sometimes perception of time can be pretty rough. As one great british mention: “The Theatre of the Absurd ... can be seen as the reflection of what seems to be the attitude most genuinely representative of our own time. The hallmark of this attitude is its sense that the certitudes and unshakable basic assumptions of former ages have been swept away, that they have been tested and found wanting, that they have been discredited as cheap and somewhat childish illusions.” © Martin Esslin – Hungarian-born British producer, dramatist, journalist, adaptor and translator, critic, academic scholar and professor of drama, known for coining the term "theatre of the absurd" in his 1961 book The Theatre of the Absurd. Moreover, we have one important detail in the modern-day world. According to National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER, 2023) workers who were randomly selected to work from home full time were 18% less productive than in-house office employees, either taking longer to complete tasks or getting less done.
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Blockquotes: Shakespeare's method of estimating time

William Shakespeare was one of the most outstanding persons of his era. This famous English playwright, poet, and actor was very familiar with the value and taste of time and this is the reason why we know him as an absolute king of drama. What is certain is that this man's sense of time was extremely acute. Therefore, we invite you to familiarize yourself with his expressions about the power of time and its influence into human nature. 1. "Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.” © William Shakespeare 2. "Make use of time, let not advantage slip." © William Shakespeare 3. “Life's uncertain voyage.” © William Shakespeare 4. “You undergo too strict a paradox, Striving to make an ugly deed look fair.” © William Shakespeare 5. “The wheel is come full circle.” © William Shakespeare 6. “We are time's subjects, and time bids be gone.” © William Shakespeare In WorkTime we believe that time is the most valuable resource. One of the key components of successful time management is how an employee approaches work. That's why we developed the employee attendance tracker feature.
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Great time management quotes from England

On average, people in the UK "waste" 1 and a 1/2 hours (91 minutes) each day on tasks and meetings that aren't important to their role. According to time management statistics, the average employee in England spends 71 minutes procrastinating every day. But, regardless of the nuances, it is an absolute fact that UK workers are known for their efficiency in completing tasks and meeting deadlines promptly. To better understand how the British think and manage their time, let's look at quotes from prominent people in England. 1. “The British do not expect happiness. I had the impression, all the time that I lived there, that they do not want to be happy; they want to be right.” © Quentin Crisp – English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of his most famous work The Naked Civil Servant. 2. “When you're 20 you care what everyone thinks, when you're 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks, when you're 60 you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place. You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” © Winston Churchill – British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. 3. “When one begins to turn in bed, it is time to get up.” © Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington – Anglo-Irish military officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, serving twice as British Prime Minister. 4. “People who leave their own time out of their work cannot be surprised if their time fails to find them interesting.” © John Masefield – English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967. 5. “My advice is to never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time.” © Charles Dickens – English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. 6. “Any fool can carry on, but a wise man knows how to shorten sail in time.” © Joseph Conrad – Polish-British novelist and story writer. 7. “Time is more nimble than memory, is the reason which induces me to keep a journal.” © Fanny Burney – later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. 8. “Discipline strengthens the mind so that it becomes impervious to the corroding influence of fear.” © Bernard Law Montgomery – senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the Second World War. 9. Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time which every day produces, and which most men throw away.” © Charles Caleb Colton – English cleric, writer and collector, well known for his eccentricities. 10. “On every level of life, from housework to heights of prayer, in all judgment and efforts to get things done, hurry and impatience are sure marks of the amateur.” © Evelyn Underhill – English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist known for her numerous works on religion and spiritual practice, in particular Christian mysticism. Her best-known work is Mysticism, published in 1911. 11. “Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.” © Thomas Hardy – English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wordsworth. 12. “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” © Charles Darwin – English naturalist, geologist and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. 13. “There never is any such thing as one truth to be found in dramatic art. There are many. These truths challenge each other, recoil from each other, reflect each other, ignore each other, tease each other, are blind to each other. Sometimes you feel you have the truth of a moment in your hand, then it slips through your fingers and is lost.” © Harold Pinter – British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years. If you prefer to boost productivity instead of wasting a lot of money and resources – WorkTime is what you are looking for. We are non-invasive, green employee monitoring software which can serve as a powerful time-management tool. Just look at our software usage feature.
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Richard Koch quotes about time management

When it comes to British time management and its exclusive features with all the non-standard and extremely effective solutions, you should study the opinion of a professional who is engaged in a deep analysis of this phenomenon. Let’s take a quick look into Richard John Koch blockquotes about time management through the United Kingdom citizen view. He is a British management consultant, venture capital investor and author of books on management, marketing and lifestyle. 1. Our current use of time is not rational. There is therefore no point in seeking marginal improvements in how we spend our time. We need to go back to the drawing board and overturn all our assumptions about time. 2. It is not that we are short of time. It is the way that we treat time, even the way that we think about it. A time revolution is the fastest way to make a giant leap in both happiness and effectiveness. 3. There is no shortage of time. In fact, we are positively awash with it. We only make good use of 20 percent of our time. The 80/20 principle says that if we doubled our time on the top 20% of activities, we could work a two-day week and achieve 60 per cent more than now. 4. It is not shortage of time that should worry us, but the tendency for the majority of time to be spent in low-quality ways. It is impossible not to agree with the facts that the expert operates in his theses. In WorkTime we are deeply concerned about productivity and one of our main goals is to transform your time management into the most effective way.

Lord Chesterfield quotes about time management

As we maintained earlier, the UK is a country with a culture oriented towards the past. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the thesis of Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. He was a British statesman, diplomat, man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time. So let’s check this out and explore how the art of time management was implemented in the XVII century. 1. Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. 2. I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves. 3. The less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in. 4. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Our team shares the opinion of Lord Chesterfield and believe that it is never too late to increase your productivity. Minutes are passing and transform to hours, then a lot of ours become weeks. Remember that procrastination can ruin your entire life.

Walsh quotes about time management

1. "I came from Wales, and it's a strong, butch society. We were in the war and all that. People didn't waste time feeling sorry for themselves." © Anthony Hopkins – Welsh actor. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors. 2. “Life always offers you a second chance. It is called tomorrow.” © Dylan Marlais Thomas – Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" Under Milk Wood. 3. “Too many of the artists of Wales spend too much time talking about the position of the artists of Wales. There is only one position for an artist anywhere: and that is, upright.” © Dylan Marlais Thomas The best time to act is now. Improve your employees efficiency without going too far – WorkTime is the best solution! Just look how useful our 50+ non-invasive reports are. WorkTime monitors attendance, active time, productivity, internet use, in-office or remote work, department performance, leaderboards for employee engagement, and more, all in a non-invasive manner.
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4. “The old men ask for more time; the young waste it. And the philosopher simply smiles, knowing there is none there. © Ronald Stuart Thomas, published as R. S. Thomas – Welsh poet and Anglican priest noted for nationalism, spirituality and dislike of the anglicisation of Wales.” 5. “The meaning is in the waiting.” © R.S. Thomas 6. “You have to imagine a waiting that is not impatient because it is timeless.” © R.S. Thomas 7. “Everything you have in this world is just borrowed for a short time.” Welsh proverb 8. “Don't be late. Learn your lines. Be good to people. Treat people nice.” © Rhys Ifans – Welsh actor. He is best known for his roles in Notting Hill, Kevin & Perry Go Large, and Enduring Love.

Scottish quotes about time management

1. "What may be done at any time will be done at no time." Scottish Proverb 2. “There's that horrible-beautiful moment, that bitter-sweet impasse where you know that somebody is bullshitting you but they're doing it with such panache and conviction. No, it's because they say exactly what you want to hear, at that point in time.” ©Irvine Welsh – Scottish novelist and short story writer. 3. "A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last." Scottish Proverb 4. “I fancy mankind may come, in time, to write all aphoristically.” © James Boswell – Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. 5. “The less one does, as I long ago observed, the less one can find time to do.” © Jane Welsh Carlyle – Scottish writer and the wife of Thomas Carlyle. 6. “All griefs, when there is no bitterness in them, are soothed down by time.” © Jane Welsh Carlyle 7. “Nae man can tether time or tide.” © Robert Burns – Scottish poet and lyricist. 8. “You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time.” © John Knox – Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. 9. “Nae man can tether time or tide.” © Hugh MacDiarmid – Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish Renaissance and has had a lasting impact on Scottish culture and politics. 10. “The minute you start to strategize too much, the more you start to think you're in control of your own fate. And you're not, really.” © James McAvoy – Scottish actor. 11. “You cannot run away from weakness; you must some time fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?” © Robert Louis Stevenson – Scottish novelist and essayist. 12. “I did not myself set a high estimation on wealth, and had the affectation of most young men of lively imagination, who suppose that they can better dispense with the possession of money, than resign their time and faculties to the labour necessary to acquire it.” © Walter Scott – Scottish novelist and historian.

Influenced on British culture Irish quotes about time management

1. “I think it's dangerous to have lots of time on your hands as a writer. Time to pursue every little alleyway, to follow every single whim. I feel I've done my best writing when I'm stretched for time, when you're most pressured.” © Maggie O'Farrell – novelist from Northern Ireland. 2. “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well. If it is worth having, it is worth waiting for. If it is worth attaining, it is worth fighting for. If it is worth experiencing, it is worth putting aside time for.” © Oscar Wilde – Irish poet and playwright. 3. “With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.” © Oscar Wilde 4. "Punctuality is the thief of time.” © Oscar Wilde 5. “I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.” ©James Joyce – Irish novelist and poet. 6. “Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” © George Bernard Shaw – Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. 7. “Write your sad times in sand. Write your good times in stone.” © George Bernard Shaw
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Use WorkTime to increase productivity and reduce stress among your employees. Are you running out of time, deadlines are constantly being missed and you are desperate? We understand, that is why we have been working regularly since 1998 to this day to help you manage your schedule. 8. “If you don't know where you are currently standing, you're dead.” © Samuel Beckett – Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. 9. “Do what is beyond your strength even should you fail sometimes.” Charles Stewart Parnell – Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882, and then of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1882 to 1891, who held the balance of power in the House of Commons during the Home Rule debates of 1885–1886. 10. “What the heart knows today the head will understand tomorrow.” ©Padraic Colum – Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer, playwright, children's author and collector of folklore.

Peculiarities of time perception on the Isle of Man

One cannot help but remember the pearl of crown possession of the British Crown. Since ancient times, the Isle of Men has been a special place where time itself flows differently. Famous Welsh actor John Rhys-Davies rightly noted once upon a time that it’s a great place to make your mind clear:
"I'd love to spend more time on the Isle of Man. I love the anonymity of putting on a boiler suit and going down to buy parts for the compressor."
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Effective people identify patterns with WorkTime

WorkTime is the sole non-invasive solution available. While most vendors focus on cramming their products with numerous invasive features, our core strategy remains unchanged: we prioritize maintenance WorkTime as non-invasive. Every aspect of our product is meticulously crafted to monitor employee performance effectively while respecting and safeguarding employee privacy. Nowadays time management has transformed into individual mandatory complex systems factors underlying a successful personality. Compared to the early 00s, in 2024 it’s much more complicated to build your own simple, clear, understandable and, most importantly, working like a Swiss watch, time management system which will run nice and smooth. The whole reason lies in the fact that over the past two decades, the number of patterns that influence the formation of information architecture has significantly increased. In WorkTime we understand time patterns better than anyone else in the market, because every day, for more than 20 years we have been trying to help our clients increase their productivity and save money by investing in their own time management ecosystem using our product. By tracking your time with WorkTime, you can identify patterns in your employees' work habits and make necessary changes for better time management. Plus, WorkTime is green monitoring software – we do not collect any data. Every report is completely non-invasive, totally safe and protected due to AES-256 encryption. For us security is top-priority, so first of all WorkTime is monitoring without going too far. WorkTime is also a well-known unique tool which will highly boost your productivity and optimize time management.

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