What good will I do today?
A Day Framed by Two Questions
Benjamin Franklin started every morning with this question.
In his small notebook, he wrote down the order in which he would spend his day.
Franklin woke, washed, considered the day's work, studied, and ate breakfast.
He then worked until noon. Around lunch he read or reviewed his accounts, then returned to work.
In the evening, he put things back in their place and made time for music or conversation.
Before sleep, he looked back on the day.
Franklin didn't just write things down.
Not only work and study, but also meals, rest, conversation, and sleep are all combined in one day.
The Habit Behind the Schedule
This schedule had two questions linking morning and evening.
The question in the morning was, ‘What good will I do today?’
The question for the evening was, ‘What good did I do today?’
The morning question set an intention. The evening question compared it with how the day was actually spent.
There was a reason why Franklin created this schedule.
He wrote down in his notebook the lifestyle habits he wanted to keep.
Among them, there was an item about setting a place for each item and setting a time for each task.
The daily schedule was a way to put that intention into practice.
So did Franklin follow the schedule every day?
Days That Did Not Go to Plan
He honestly wrote in his autobiography that he did not.
When Franklin worked alone, he could divide his time as he wished. Working with other people changed that.
The people he met for work did not come according to Franklin's plans. The other person came when he was available, and the order of the day changed each time.
Keeping things and documents in their proper place was not as easy as it seemed.
Reviewing the Day Without Perfecting It
When the plan fell apart, Franklin felt he had failed. At times he found the practice difficult enough to want to stop.
Still, he returned to the practice. Even after breaks, he carried a notebook and continued observing how he lived.
The planner didn't make Franklin's day perfect.
It gave him a question for the morning and a way to review the actual day at night.
Our days never go as planned.
A call can arrive without warning and work can take longer than expected. Some tasks written down in the morning will still be unfinished at night.
Still, writing down what you need to do before you start your day will help you know where to start.
When you open it again in the evening, you can see what was completed and what needs to be moved to the next day.
Between Franklin's two questions, it was not a perfect day, but a day of planning and reflection.
What will be the answer to the plan you made this morning in the evening?
ILJI TIME STORIES · 03
