Systems and methods are disclosed herein to provide software clock boosting techniques. For example in one embodiment, a method of configuring a programmable logic device includes receiving routed data; performing a software clock boost operation on the routed data to determine and include one or more desired clock delays for circuit elements. The software clock boost operation may include performing a static timing analysis on the routed data; determining a list of the desired clock delays; and modifying the routed data to insert the desired clock delays.