--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Well over half of the time you spend…" description: "\"Well over half of the time you spend working on a project (on the order of 70 percent) is spent thinking, and no tool, no matter how advanced, can thin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ada/fred-brooks-11366_boxes_well-over-half-of-the-time-you-spend-wor_2715517.jpg" --- # Well over half of the time you spend working on a project… ![“Well over half of the time you spend working on a project (on the order of 70 percent) is spent thinking, and no tool, no matter how advanced, can think for you. Consequently, even if a tool did everything except the thinking for you - if it wrote 100 percent of the code, wrote 100 percent of the…” quote by Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ada/fred-brooks-11366_boxes_well-over-half-of-the-time-you-spend-wor_2715517.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ada/fred-brooks-11366_boxes_well-over-half-of-the-time-you-spend-wor_2715517.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ada/fred-brooks-11366_boxes_well-over-half-of-the-time-you-spend-wor_2715517.jpg) > “Well over half of the time you spend working on a project (on the order of 70 percent) is spent thinking, and no tool, no matter how advanced, can think for you. Consequently, even if a tool did everything except the thinking for you - if it wrote 100 percent of the code, wrote 100 percent of the documentation, did 100 percent of the testing, burned the CD-ROMs, put them in boxes, and mailed them to your customers - the best you could hope for would be a 30 percent improvement in productivity. In order to do better than that, you have to change the way you think.” [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Most project time is spent thinking; tools cannot replace human thought, limiting productivity gains to about 30% unless thinking changes. **In simple terms:** Thinking dominates work; tools can’t think for you. Key Takeaway Change your thinking to improve productivity. Themes productivity thinking tool limitation Mood analytical pragmatic Type technical motivational When to use this quote - process redesign - skill development - team training Key Concepts software development project management Questions to Reflect On - How can we enhance collective thinking? - What habits hinder deep thought? A Different Perspective May underestimate tool advancements. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cds/) [Code](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/code/) [Improvement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improvement/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Productivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productivity/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Tools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tools/) ## Related quotes > [“1.9% had agricultural jobs, more than a 20-fold improvement in productivity per person. So if all people wanted was to be fed, the average…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-berleant/1-9-had-agricultural-jobs-more-than-a-20-fold-improvement-in/) Daniel Berleant > [Television is a formidable thinking tool. You are like an analyst to whom society's subconscious would be offered wide open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serge-daney/television-is-a-formidable-thinking-tool-you-are-like-an-analyst-to/) [Serge Daney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serge-daney/) > [One percent improvement in 1,000 things is better than 1,000% improvement in one thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/one-percent-improvement-in-1-000-things-is-better-than-1-000/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [“You don't need to be 100 percent better to see a 100 percent improvement. You just need to be a little better. There's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-seip/you-don-t-need-to-be-100-percent-better-to-see-a-100-percent/) Roger Seip > [Whenever I see someone with a hat, I'm thinking 'You're a tool. What're you gonna prove?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-griffin/whenever-i-see-someone-with-a-hat-i-m-thinking-you-re-a-tool-what-re/) [Kathy Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-griffin/) > [I've always written songs to use music as a form of therapy or as a way to look at my obstacles or my memories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-ragan/i-ve-always-written-songs-to-use-music-as-a-form-of-therapy-or-as-a/) [Chuck Ragan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-ragan/) > [“There were waves of genocide that overcame indigenous populations of Oceania and do we have a library of books or films to tell our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-b-dallocchio/there-were-waves-of-genocide-that-overcame-indigenous-populations-of/) [M.B. Dallocchio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-b-dallocchio/) > [It is deeply shocking and incomprehensible to me that despite volumes of documentation and living witnesses who can attest to the horrors of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-udall/it-is-deeply-shocking-and-incomprehensible-to-me-that-despite-volumes/) [Mark Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-udall/) > [Our reasons for believing Jesus existed and also that He was who He claimed to be - the God who came down - are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-koukl/our-reasons-for-believing-jesus-existed-and-also-that-he-was-who-he/) [Greg Koukl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-koukl/) > [Nowhere are prejudices more mistaken for truth, passion for reason and invective for documentation than in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mason-brown/nowhere-are-prejudices-more-mistaken-for-truth-passion-for-reason-and/) [John Mason Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mason-brown/) > [I think that people are constantly thinking about capturing things that they're not actually present for the moment they're trying to capture. I'm quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mackaye/i-think-that-people-are-constantly-thinking-about-capturing-things/) [Ian MacKaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mackaye/) > [There is a book called San Francisco Tape Music Centre:1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde and this book describes everything that you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/there-is-a-book-called-san-francisco-tape-music-centre-1960s/) [Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/) > [The obsessive documentation is itself adjacent to hyper-consumption in our society. The desire to just have everything all the time and adjacent to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-leo/the-obsessive-documentation-is-itself-adjacent-to-hyper-consumption/) [Ted Leo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-leo/) > [Developing fewer features allows you to conserve development resources and spend more time refining those features that users really need. Fewer features mean fewer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-nielsen/developing-fewer-features-allows-you-to-conserve-development/) [Jakob Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-nielsen/) > [Once you realize that documentation should be laughed at, peed upon, put on fire, and just ridiculed in general, then, and only then, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/once-you-realize-that-documentation-should-be-laughed-at-peed-upon/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) ## More by Fred Brooks > [Predictability and great design are not friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/predictability-and-great-design-are-not-friends/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [More software projects have gone awry for lack of calendar time than for all other causes combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/more-software-projects-have-gone-awry-for-lack-of-calendar-time-than/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [The first step toward the management of disease was replacement of demon theories and humours theories by the germ theory. That very step, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/the-first-step-toward-the-management-of-disease-was-replacement-of/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [An ancient adage warns, "Never go to sea with two chronometers; take one or three."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/an-ancient-adage-warns-never-go-to-sea-with-two-chronometers-take-one/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [Nine people can't make a baby in a month.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/nine-people-can-t-make-a-baby-in-a-month/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [Software work is the most complex that humanity has ever undertaken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/software-work-is-the-most-complex-that-humanity-has-ever-undertaken/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [A computer program is a message from a man to a machine. The rigidly marshaled syntax and the scrupulous definitions all exist to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/a-computer-program-is-a-message-from-a-man-to-a-machine-the-rigidly/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [The magic of myth and legend has come true in our time. One types the correct incantation on a keyboard, and a display screen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/the-magic-of-myth-and-legend-has-come-true-in-our-time-one-types-the/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [Improving your process won't move you from good to great design. It'll move you from bad to average.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/improving-your-process-won-t-move-you-from-good-to-great-design-it-ll/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [Present to inform, not to impress. If you inform, you will impress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/present-to-inform-not-to-impress-if-you-inform-you-will-impress/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [We tend to blame the physical media for most of our implementation difficulties; for the media are not "ours" in the way the ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/we-tend-to-blame-the-physical-media-for-most-of-our-implementation/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [Product procedure...must securely protect the crown jewels, but, equally important, it must eschew building high fences around the garbage cans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/product-procedure-must-securely-protect-the-crown-jewels-but-equally/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [The hardest single part of building a software system is deciding precisely what to build.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/the-hardest-single-part-of-building-a-software-system-is-deciding/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [Job Control Language is the worst programming language ever designed anywhere by anybody for any purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/job-control-language-is-the-worst-programming-language-ever-designed/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/how-does-a-project-get-to-be-a-year-behind-schedule-one-day-at-a-time/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) [Explore all 60 Fred Brooks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) ## More Boxes quotes > [ The best way to marginalize the Muslim Brotherhood \[in Egypt\] is in the ballot box, not through arrests and killing people. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ayotte/the-best-way-to-marginalize-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-egypt-is-in-the/) [Kelly Ayotte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ayotte/) > [When I step into the batters box. The fans, the noise, the cheers, they all disappear. For that moment, the world is just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/when-i-step-into-the-batters-box-the-fans-the-noise-the-cheers-they/) [Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/) > [I separated the joints, the arm joints, the leg joints, and had to do two boilings. I think I used four boxes of Soilex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-dahmer/i-separated-the-joints-the-arm-joints-the-leg-joints-and-had-to-do/) [Jeffrey Dahmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-dahmer/) > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He decided then that he would love her forever no matter what came to pass. It was not so much a matter of deciding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/he-decided-then-that-he-would-love-her-forever-no-matter-what-came-to/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [I think if you keep the box closed long enough you do kill the cat, actually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-think-if-you-keep-the-box-closed-long-enough-you-do-kill-the-cat/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I have nothing but praise for the boy. He is easily the best player in the world. His contribution as a goal threat is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-ferguson/i-have-nothing-but-praise-for-the-boy-he-is-easily-the-best-player-in/) [Alex Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-ferguson/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The library is the biggest cracker box factory in the world. The more you eat, the more you want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-library-is-the-biggest-cracker-box-factory-in-the-world-the-more/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [3 people get stranded on a remote Island A Banker, a Daily Mail reader & an Asylum seeker All they have to eat is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-brookmyre/3-people-get-stranded-on-a-remote-island-a-banker-a-daily-mail-reader/) [Christopher Brookmyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-brookmyre/) > [Unpleasant questions are being raised about Mother's Day. Is this day necessary? . . . Isn't it bad public policy? . . . No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-baker/unpleasant-questions-are-being-raised-about-mother-s-day-is-this-day/) [Russell Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-baker/) > [I could party in a cardboard box with people who are funny and don't care. For me, it's really about who I surround myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kesha/i-could-party-in-a-cardboard-box-with-people-who-are-funny-and-don-t/) [Kesha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kesha/) > [The minister's brain is often the "poor-box" of the church.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-percy-whipple/the-minister-s-brain-is-often-the-poor-box-of-the-church/) [Edwin Percy Whipple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-percy-whipple/) > [A token of love comes in a box because love itself cannot be contained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/binnie-kirshenbaum/a-token-of-love-comes-in-a-box-because-love-itself-cannot-be-contained/) [Binnie Kirshenbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/binnie-kirshenbaum/) > [I'd just like to see athletes awake. And aware. There's so much going on and so much to know... We stay in our little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-teter/i-d-just-like-to-see-athletes-awake-and-aware-there-s-so-much-going/) [Hannah Teter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-teter/) Browse all 2,146 Boxes quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Well over half of the time you spend working on a project (on the order of 70 percent) is spent thinking, and no tool, no matter how advanced, can think for you. Consequently, even if a tool did everything except the thinking for you - if it wrote 100 percent of the code, wrote 100 percent of the documentation, did 100 percent of the testing, burned the CD-ROMs, put them in boxes, and mailed them to your customers - the best you could hope for would be a 30 percent improvement in productivity. In order to do better than that, you have to change the way you think.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Fred Brooks" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/well-over-half-of-the-time-you-spend-working-on-a-project-on-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boxes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/well-over-half-of-the-time-you-spend-working-on-a-project-on-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ada/fred-brooks-11366_boxes_well-over-half-of-the-time-you-spend-wor_2715517.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ada/fred-brooks-11366_boxes_well-over-half-of-the-time-you-spend-wor_2715517.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ada/fred-brooks-11366_boxes_well-over-half-of-the-time-you-spend-wor_2715517.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Well over half of the time you spend working on a project (on the order of 70 percent) is spent thinking…” — Fred Brooks", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Fred Brooks", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Well over half of the time...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/well-over-half-of-the-time-you-spend-working-on-a-project-on-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/well-over-half-of-the-time-you-spend-working-on-a-project-on-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```