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Learning from Legends (Benjamin Franklin's Top Ten Time Hacks)

Author

Howie Chan
December 03, 2023

Benjamin Franklin was uncommon among the uncommon. Not only was he a Founding Father, he was the only one who signed all three documents that freed America from Britain. He is also credited for drafting the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution.

How did someone born in a middle class family with minimal formal education rise to the highest level of society?

How was he able to work as a public servant, a scientist, a journalist, an entrepreneur, a politician, and even played the harp and guitar proficiently?

Some of his legendary accomplishments outside of being a Founding Father:

  • Invented the famous lightning rod

  • First Postmaster General of the US

  • Invented a new musical instrument

  • Co-created the 1st political cartoon

  • Founded numerous civil institutions

Did Franklin have more than 24 hours everyday? How did he use his time?

Franklin’s Glass Armonica. Listen to it HEREPhoto Credit: BenjaminFranklinHouse.org

BASE PRINCIPLE

“Failure to plan is planning to fail”

Benjamin Franklin

WHAT IF?

What if you got better at your craft every single day? What if you took control of your days, weeks, and years? What if you will never feel like you’ve wasted time?

Here are Benjamin Franklin’s Top Ten Time Hacks:

1/ Keep it simple

He had 6 time blocks each day with no big to-do lists. By blocking time, you take control of your schedule.

2/ Sleep and wake the same time each day

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise” Consistency trains the brain to fall asleep faster, improving your sleep.

3/ Quiet time

Spend quiet time alone shortly after waking up. Daily time of solitude allowed Franklin to “address powerful goodness” provided focus and clarity to plan the day.

4/ Set your intentions

Ask yourself a question: “What good shall I do today?” Focus on one thing each day. “Contrive day’s business, and take the resolution of the day.” is a way to stay focused.

5/ Dedicate time to learning

“Prosecute the present study” aka spend time on a personal project or skill acquisition outside of work. This can be anything that improves yourself.

6/ Split between deep and shallow work

Deep work in the morning so you tackle the hardest things first. (it might not be the morning for you, just make sure to block it out) Shallow work later in the day such as reviewing things.

7/ Put things back in order

Keeping a tidy workspace after work saves valuable, constructive time in the morning. By doing less tedious task (clean up) after work, it’s actually more efficient.

8/ Schedule down time

Down time isn’t wasted time. It increases productivity for the other times in the day. Your mind needs rest.

9/ Reflect in the evenings

Ask yourself “What good have I done today?” This comes full circle at the end of the day. Did you meet your intentions for the day, what needs to change to make it more effective the next day?

10/ Don’t aim for perfection

Franklin was not naturally inclined to keep everything organized and it wasn’t easy for him. So don’t think it would be easy for you too. Instead of trying to be perfect, just do what you can and be kind to yourself. What’s important is the decision to plan not the execution.

“Though I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and happier man than I otherwise should have been had I not attempted it”

Benjamin Franklin

BONUS: Franklin’s 13 Virtues

Benjamin Franklin lived his life by a set of virtues and he ranked them in order of importance. With his ranked list, he would track faults each day and reviewed them at the end of every week. When no faults are committed, he moved on to the next. The cycle then repeats.

1/ Temperance 2/ Silence 3/ Order 4/ Resolution 5/ Frugality 6/ Industry 7/ Sincerity 8/ Justice 9/ Moderation 10/ Cleanliness 11/ Chastity 12/ Tranquility 13/ Humility

Legendary Cheat Sheets

NEW: I’ve put together a cheat sheet for this issue

And for now, you can get access to my entire growing library of cheat sheets for free by subscribing to my newsletter HERE

Enjoy!

​Live your legend,

Howie Chan

Creator of Legend Letters

Sources:

  1. Who was Ben Franklin?, Benjamin Franklin Historical Society - LINK

  2. Benjamin Franklin and the Glass Armonica, Benjamin Franklin House - LINK

  3. Hornberger, Theodore et al., Benjamin Franklin, Britannica, November 2, 2023 - LINK

  4. 10 Secrets From Benjamin Franklin’s Daily Schedule that Will Double Your Productivity, The Art of Improvement, YouTube - LINK