Let’s face it. It’s easy to set resolutions and draw up a list of goals for our writing projects, but it’s much more difficult putting in the hard work to achieve them.
At first you might make significant progress towards your goals, but as the weeks pass, your schedule seems to become busier than you expected, your motivation begins to ebb, and those goals begin to look further and further out of reach.
How do you maintain that original interest and energy that motivated you during those initial stages? How do you ensure that you are working productively each day?
Here’s Benjamin Franklin’s solution to this problem: a simple daily schedule that can help you establish an effective writing routine and reach your writing goals.
Benjamin Franklin’s Method to Success
Benjamin Franklin was a master of the art of productivity. As a polymath, he wore many different hats during his lifetime: author, printer, entrepreneur, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, and diplomat to name a few.
What was his secret to becoming so successful?
Undoubtedly, a lot of it was down to his own hard work and determination.
In his autobiography, however, he shares a technique that helped him stay focused on his goals: a daily schedule.
Below is a copy of this schedule.
Drawing up a schedule like Franklin’s is a fantastic way to evaluate your day and figure out how you can take advantage of every available hour.
At first glance, Franklin’s schedule seems quite rigorous.
He woke at five in the morning and immediately began planning his day. By eight o’ clock he was busy at work on his different projects. He’d work for about four hours straight before allowing himself a pause for lunch or leisure time.
However, Franklin did admit the difficulties of following such a tight schedule. Sometimes his days didn’t always go as planned. He wrote,
I found that, tho’ it might be practicable where a man’s business was such as to leave him the disposition of his time, that of a journeyman printer, for instance, it was not possible to be exactly observed by a master, who must mix with the world, and often receive people of business at their own hours.
Obviously, it is important to be realistic when creating such a schedule. Often we will be unable to follow it to the letter. However, by having such a schedule in place, it will be much easier to develop a daily writing routine.
By working at the same time each day, Franklin trained himself to be ready to work during those hours. Whenever he had a day that was free of distractions and unexpected interruptions, he would be able to work as productively as possible.
But there’s one more element of Franklin’s schedule that makes it quite unique.
How Benjamin Franklin Took His Schedule to the Next Level
First thing each morning, Franklin decided on his goals for the day and determined what his most pressing priorities were.
At the top of the schedule, he printed: “Morning Question, What good shall I do this day?”
Before he went to sleep at night, he would look over his list, examine his day, and ask, “What good have I done today?”
This simple practice of evaluating his day every morning and evening helped Franklin put everything into perspective.
Even if he hadn’t accomplished everything that he wanted to, he was able to spend time celebrating his victories. He could also reevaluate his schedule and see what things he needed to keep working on.
Essentially, it was a way for him to measure his progress. If his method for achieving a goal wasn’t working, he could tweak it and attempt a different approach.
How to Make Your Own Daily Schedule
In today’s Internet age, there are many fantastic apps that make it incredibly easy to create a daily schedule.
Currently, I write up mine on Evernote. Every night, I look over my daily schedule and tweak it depending on whether I have any appointments or other events that might interfere with my usual writing routine.
Todoist is another excellent app for writing up a daily schedule. I have recently signed-up for an account there and plan to start using it in addition to Evernote.
The Todoist app lets you create to-do lists with recurring dates and times. This is perfect for customizing a daily schedule. For example, you can schedule “writing every day at 8am” or you can create tasks that only recur on specific days, e.g., “research every Friday”. This allows you to create a custom schedule for every single day.
Take Time to Review Your Progress
Of course, it’s also important to review our schedules every morning and evening like Benjamin Franklin did. I’ve even taken this one step further.
Not only do I review my schedule every morning and evening, but also on the first of every month I write up an entry in my journal outlining a list of goals for the month.
At the end of the month, I review these goals and evaluate my progress. I can see whether my goals were realistic, whether I met them successfully, and what I need to work on in the next month.
Ultimately, by monitoring your progress as often as you can, you help keep the momentum alive. Your brain is thinking about your goals constantly and becomes excited about achieving them. This helps you establish a daily habit of working towards them.
The Takeaway
Benjamin Franklin once observed, “Lost time is never found again.”
By implementing a daily schedule like Franklin’s, you are able to evaluate whether you are using your time effectively, and you help guard yourself against slipping into the quagmire of procrastination.
At the end of the day, each box on your daily schedule might not be neatly checked off. And that’s fine.
However, the schedule will give you the motivation to continue pressing forward. As you look over the schedule, you will be able to see what times of the day you were most productive, and you will be able to tweak your schedule to best fit your life so you can successfully reach your writing goals.
What goals will Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule help you accomplish? What does your daily schedule look like? If you found this post helpful, leave a comment below and share with someone you’d like to inspire.
Dave Thibeault says
Hi Nicole, I’m glad your move to Raleigh is working out! Except for the desk:) I find myself needing even more desktop space to sort stuff out (maybe I should be filing it or something, huh?!) In any case, thank you for including an actual pic of one of Franklin’s sheets. I think it’s awesome he has a couple of time spans identified as nothing but “WORK.” I think this might drive some of today’s organizational experts crazy, since his “plan” is so general. But I do find that writing, especially, sometimes comes down to “get your butt at your keyboard,” since I have a fairly defined attack plan, with resources, once I fire up my computer. If I can just get to my content, and the processes I follow to develop it, I’ll develop momentum and things start rolling. To me, that equates to an appointment I could put on my calendar simply entitled “WORK.” Providing the actual form Franklin used helped me tons. I appreciate you sharing the original “tool” Franklin used, along with your insightful explanation of it, and your additional elaboration. Take care, and keep up the good work. Dave in San Diego
Dolores says
Thank you for another interesting post! I am always learning with your writing lessons. There is always room for improvement and I believe it could help me to follow Franklin’s approach.
Nicole Bianchi says
Hi, Dolores! I hope Franklin’s approach helps you. It has made me so much more productive. I find that when I write things down on my list, I am so much more intentional about getting them done. Thanks for reading! 🙂
Sean says
I use Bullet Journaling to manage my schedule and track my daily task list. What gets measured gets managed and I can quickly see where I am making good progress and where I need work.
Like you said, it’s important to not beat yourself up about not hitting all your marks every day. Ben Franklin also had a list where he tracked his compliance with 13 virtues that he tried to live by. He found that while he concentrated on one thing, another would falter. But his conclusion was that he was living a better life for the attempt even if he couldn’t perfectly meet his target
Nicole Bianchi says
Hi, Sean! Thanks for your comment. I’ve heard of Bullet Journaling but never tried it. It sounds very effective — I’ll have to check it out.
Great story about Ben Franklin. It’s so true. As long as we’re making progress every day, we will be improving and leading better lives even if we don’t meet our goals perfectly.
Thanks again for adding your thoughts!
Barry Joyce says
Wow, a great read Nicole.
As a qualified teacher here in the UK I think my learners would be inspired by this
All the best
Barry
Nicole Bianchi says
Hi, Barry! Thanks so much! I hope your learners find it helpful. Thanks again for your kind comment. I am glad to hear you enjoyed the post.
Terri Webster Schrandt says
Hi Nicole, saw this post on the Ultimate Blogging Challenge. I thought this was really well-written and very useful! I’m impressed that Ben started his version of an Editorial calendar.
Nicole Bianchi says
Hi, Terri! Thanks for reading and commenting! 🙂 I am so glad you found it useful. Yes, I’m impressed too! 😀 It just goes to show how effective an editorial calendar can be.
Doug says
Hi Nicole
I like your writing style. With these methods in place, you could become as well known as Benjamin.
I like the daily pattern, and would like to point out that if your evening review repeatedly show up some particular thing you are not getting done, it is probably the exact thing to have someone else do for you.
Thanks,
Write on.
Nicole Bianchi says
Thanks so much for your kind words, Doug! 🙂 And, yes, great point about finding someone else to complete a task that’s not getting done. I had not thought of that. Sometimes we do need to ask for help or at least figure out why our own approach is not working. Thanks again!
Amy Young Miller says
This is such a timely post for me. I am always looking for ways to boost my productivity, and studying Ben Franklin’s schedule is inspiring and helpful. Life is short–it is so easy to waste time. Being a student of tips on how to be more accountable to the time we are blessed with is so important. Thanks for this!
Nicole Bianchi says
Hi, Amy! Thank you for your comment! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the post. I love how you put it – that time is a blessing. So true. Hope these tips work for you! 🙂
Keesha says
Now I know why Benjamin Franklin was able to make such a great impact on the world. He planned his days down to the very minute! But not only that, he executed those plans. I find that sometimes I am good on planning but not so great on the execution part. Planning is good but without execution it is worthless. Thanks for sharing this great article Nicole 🙂
Nicole Bianchi says
Hi, Keesha! Thanks so much for your comment! 🙂 Yes, it’s true. It’s easy to plan but much harder to put those plans into practice. Franklin’s work ethic was quite remarkable and very inspiring. Thanks again for adding your thoughts!
Martha says
Very interesting and has so many great pointers. I try to keep my routine on schedule but I can’t always follow through. I really need to try to follow your guidelines.
Nicole Bianchi says
Thanks so much, Martha! Hope these tips work for you!
Jeanine @ The Storybook Healing Blog says
Great suggestions, and I am inspired by his schedule. Also, by his morning question and evening reflection. Though I have always been a night owl, I am finding as I get older, that my best writing time is in the morning. Go figure!!
Nicole Bianchi says
Hi, Jeanine! 🙂 Thanks for your adding your thoughts! It’s so true. Mornings really are best for writing. I’m a night owl too, but I’ve been trying to turn myself into an early bird.
lisa says
Love this post! I read parts of his autobiography when I was at school, and always admired his resolve and productivity. It’s great to have this reminder of how he operated. And I especially love his prioritizIng of doing good for others. Because you’re right, it’s easy to get hung up on taking off the little boxes and to lose sight of our overall goals. I really enjoyed reading this!
Nicole Bianchi says
Thank you so much, Lisa! I really appreciate you taking the time to read and comment. I am so glad you enjoyed the post. Benjamin Franklin’s work ethic really was remarkable. And I absolutely agree – I love that he included those questions in his daily schedule. Starting and ending the day with those questions really helps remind us of the true purpose of all that work. Thanks again for reading! 🙂
Charissa says
Thanks for this post, Nicole! I had read Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography awhile back and had forgotten about his schedule. Love the morning & evening questions he asks, and will adopt them as part of my personal daily practice, too.
Nicole Bianchi says
Hi, Charissa! Thanks so much for commenting. 🙂 It’s so fascinating reading his autobiography. I love his morning and evening questions too. They really help me put my day in perspective and remind me of what my overall goal should be.
Prisqua says
I have a daily routine but I know that in the morning I have yo write a 1000 words and read at least one chapter before 7.30. So I chose to wake at 4.30 am. I don’t try to find excuses, I just do it no matter what. I’m finally reading On Writing by Stephen King who says if you want to call yourself a writer you have to write and read every single day. He says 2000 words a day and you have a novel every three months lol I don’t do 2000 words though I try to do at least 1000.
Nicole Bianchi says
Hi, Prisqua! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your daily writing routine. Wow, I admire you for waking up so early in the morning. I’ve been a night owl most of my life but am trying to change now. It’s a difficult process. On Writing is a great book. I found it very inspiring. Yes, I too found 2,000 words a bit too much for me; 1,000 is more manageable, but I am trying to work my way to writing more. Thanks again for commenting!
Joseyphina says
Thanks for sharing.
Nicole Bianchi says
Thank you for reading, Joseyphina! 🙂
Nerdy Creator says
I have daily routine and goals, but I’m not that strict with them. I have it to prevent myself for wondering what to do next.
I usually write in the morning and I give tuition in the afternoon or night. If I have some free time, I will read or watch videos to increase my knowledge. But I also have a weekly schedule – I have a different theme each day, for e.g Friday is a day where I do all the admin stuff and Saturday is for relaxation etc.
Nicole Bianchi says
Thanks so much for commenting! 🙂 I like how you approach your daily routine and goals. I often get annoyed when my daily writing routine is interrupted, but I need to remember that it is impossible to be strict about it every day. I also like how you have a different theme each day – it’s so important to be intentional about setting aside time for relaxation. Since I do a lot of my work from home on the computer, I can find myself working all the time if I’m not careful. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!
Nadia King says
Hi Nicole, thank you for this interesting and thought provoking post. In the past, I always used to write down my goals, although I’m recent years this has been something that has fallen on the wayside. Thanks for reminding me to resurrect this powerful tool. On a side note, Franklin’s daily routine reminded me of Gatsby and his self-improvement schedule.
Nicole Bianchi says
Hi, Nadia! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 😀 Yes, it is very similar to Gatsby’s! How cool. Fitzgerald probably had Benjamin Franklin’s in mind when he wrote up Gatsby’s, although Gatsby seems to have been more athletically minded than Franklin. His has time set aside for weightlifting as well as baseball and sports. 🙂
Ellen Read says
A very interesting post, as usual, Nicole. What a brilliant and amazing man Benjamin Franklin was! I believe in a schedule – a flexible schedule, depending on appointments. I always bought a page-a-day diary, and I wrote appointments next to the allotted times, while I wrote tasks and goals on the right hand side of the page. I have changed this slightly as I now keep my appointments in my phone calendar. Reminders are great! However, I still write my daily tasks in a notebook. A monthly task goes into my phone calendar with a reminder set for one week before I need to do the task. Then I transfer it to the notebook. This works for me. Cheers, Ellen
Nicole Bianchi says
Hi, Ellen! So glad you enjoyed it and found it interesting. 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment!
Yes, the amount of things Franklin was able to accomplish in his lifetime is truly astounding.
Definitely agree with you about a flexible schedule — it’s important to realize that every day is different and comes with its own set of challenges and interruptions. I used to have a planner but have since switched completely to apps on my computer and iPhone. And I agree – reminders are a wonderful feature.
I like that you still write down your daily tasks in a notebook. It seems like the act of writing them down by hand would make them more concrete and would give you a stronger feeling of a commitment to accomplish them. I might have to get back to keeping a planner. 🙂 Thanks again for your comment!
Cynthia P. says
Fantastic post Nicole. So many good ideas. I have just started with Evernote. The todoist sounds great too. I have a to do list for certain things, but not others. I certainly don’t evaluate it often enough or on a schedule. Usually the things that miss out are things for me, this is common I think for mothers with young children. I am realising that needing time for myself is critical too. At the moment I’m trying to work out where I can have some desk space at home, and I thinking if I can’t get it at home I might need to get a notebook and go out to a cafe to get away. No wonder B Franklin achieved so much. He was so rigorous. Thanks for another great post, full of information. Cynthia
Nicole Bianchi says
Thanks so much, Cynthia! 😀 I really appreciate you taking the time to read and comment.
I hope you are enjoying using Evernote! I use it for so many different tasks now; I don’t think I could live without it. 😉 Yes, it’s so easy to forget to prioritize personal time (I can imagine how difficult it is with young children). Hope you are able to find a way to fit it into your schedule! Writing at a cafe sounds like a lovely idea.
Franklin really was incredible. His work ethic was so impressive. Thanks again for reading! 🙂