{"id":719,"date":"2014-09-30T00:47:08","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T00:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.doingwhatmatters.com\/?p=719"},"modified":"2023-01-09T14:24:55","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T19:24:55","slug":"simple-schedule-benjamin-franklin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/simple-schedule-benjamin-franklin\/","title":{"rendered":"Create A Simple Schedule Like Benjamin Franklin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time management and simple scheduling can help you\u00a0accomplish the things that matter most in life.\u00a0I’ve made schedules for every stage in my life, and\u00a0one mistake I consistently made in the early years was to try to shoehorn in too many details. It took me a long time to realize that it\u00a0works better to schedule fewer activities, and allow generous time estimates for each. Doing so\u00a0provides a margin for the unexpected\u00a0(and isn’t there always something unexpected?),\u00a0and can reduce stress in the day.<\/p>\n

Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of.<\/em><\/strong>
\n\u2014Benjamin Franklin\u2014<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Time<\/p>\n

\"Autobiography<\/a>\"\"
\nOne thing that helped me learn more about scheduling\u00a0is reading old autobiographies that include the\u00a0writer’s\u00a0personal schedule. Somehow, it seems that people in earlier times had a better grip on reality (and fewer distractions) when it came to scheduling their days. One of the simplest and most inspiring time management schemes is Benjamin Franklin’s. Here in his own words is how he desired to spend his days:<\/p>\n

The Precept of Order requiring that every Part of my Business should have its allotted Time, one Page in my little Book contain\u2019d the following Scheme of Employment for the Twenty-four Hours of a natural Day, The Morning Question, What Good shall I do this Day? 5 6 7 Rise, wash, and address Powerful Goodness; Contrive Day\u2019s Business and take the Resolution of the Day; prosecute the present Study: and breakfast? 8 9 Work. 10 11 12 1 Read, or overlook my Accounts, and dine. 2 3 Work. 4 5 6 7 Put Things in their Places, Supper, Music, or Diversion, or Conversation, 8 Examination of the Day. Evening Question, What Good have I done to day? 9 10 11 12 1 Sleep. 2 3 4 (from Autobiography<\/em> by Benjamin Franklin, which Excellence in Literature<\/a> students will read in the first module of American Literature \u2014 English 3<\/em><\/a>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The little book that Franklin mentions seems to be a small notebook where he recored quotes he wanted to remember; things he was working on; and so forth. It sounds like\u00a0a cross between a traditional\u00a0commonplace book<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and a modern bullet journal<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a place to record a daily schedule, to-do lists, and personal notes.<\/p>\n

Here is an easier-to-read version of his schedule, with my annotations.<\/p>\n

Ben Franklin’s Schedule, Annotated<\/h2>\n

5-7 a.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Morning Question:\u00a0What Good shall I do this Day?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n