10 Lessons from Benjamin Franklin's Daily Schedule that will Double Your Productivity
From the Dinar Recaps Archives originally posted on 6/2/2019
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10 lessons from Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule that will double your productivity
Benjamin Franklin is best remembered as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, but he achieved much more in his lifetime.
During Franklin’s 84 years alive, he invented the lightning rod, made significant discoveries in physics and population studies, wrote best-selling books, composed music and played the violin, harp and guitar at a high level, founded many civic organizations, including the University of Pennsylvania, and much more.
How did Franklin achieve so much more than his contemporaries, given he had the same 24 hours each day to get things done? The answer to this question lies in Franklin’s daily schedule.
Here’s how it works, including 10 lessons that will double your productivity this week.
Create a list of values to live by
Before putting pen to paper on his daily schedule, Franklin created a list of virtues to live by.
He referred to these as his 13 virtues: a list of values designed to help guide his daily schedule.
Here’s the list of Benjamin Franklin’s 13 virtues:
1. Temperance: Eat not to dullness and drink not to elevation.
2. Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling conversation.
3. Order: Let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time.
4. Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself: i.e. Waste nothing.
6. Industry: Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit. Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice: Wrong none, by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation: Avoid extremes. Forebear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes or habitation.
11. Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring; Never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
12. Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
13. Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
Even though this saves time upfront, it wastes valuable time, willpower and energy, that could’ve been spent working on important tasks straight away.
To avoid this problem, Franklin made sure to clean up his work space and put things back in order before leaving the office each day.
This ensured that Franklin had enough willpower each morning, to tackle the tedious tasks in the long day ahead.
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