Why Franklin loved lists, or how to make to-do work

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Culture gave birth to lists. Everywhere you look, lists are everywhere. Umberto Eco

Recently, at Lifehacker, we found out why to-do-lists do not always work. Today we will get acquainted with Benjamin Franklin's system of using lists, as well as learn 4 secrets of how to make to-do work.

The Italian philosopher and writer Umberto Eco is very fond of lists. And that's why:

“Culture gave birth to lists. They are part of the history of art and literature. What does culture want? Comprehend the incomprehensible … How can humanity do this? How to touch infinity? Through the lists”.

In one of his interviews, Eco noted that lists are often mistakenly perceived as rudiments characteristic of "primitive" peoples, and not of modern cultural civilizations. Nevertheless, lists do not die, they come back to everyday life of people over and over again.

Whenever we want to express ourselves, we use lists. According to Eco, they help us understand ourselves and the world around us. After all, we make lists of places where we dream to visit, defining our cultural interests; We make shopping lists, thus highlighting the products we love.

But most importantly, we make lists of tasks, prioritizing life. This is how we put our chaotic life in order. And so to-do is a great way to be happier. After all, one of the components of happiness is awareness.

Lists are the hallmarks of a highly cultured society because they allow fundamental values to be questioned.

Benjamin Franklin - the forefather of to-do planning

Since you are not sure of even one minute, do not waste one hour.

Franklin is not only the founding father of American democracy, but also one of the early adopters of to-do lists. He is a great example of how lists can help you organize yourself.

In 1726, during an 80-day voyage from London to Philadelphia, Franklin drew up a written plan for the "13 virtues." He planned to develop 13 positive qualities in himself in 13 weeks - silence, hard work, cleanliness and others.

Since my intention was to make all these virtues habitual, I decided not to scatter my attention, trying to master them all at once, but to focus it on only one at a time; having mastered it, move on to the next and so on up to the thirteenth.

To do this, Franklin compiled a detailed to-do-list with a rigid daily routine.

I made a little book with a page for each virtue. I lined each page in red ink into seven columns, marking them with the initial letters of the days of the week. And across these columns, I drew thirteen red lines, placing at the beginning of each of them the first letter of one of the virtues, in order to mark in the necessary cell with a black dot all cases when, when checking it, it turns out that on such and such a day I sinned against such and such virtue.

This list has long helped Franklin maintain self-discipline and effectively plan his affairs.

I began to carry out my plan of self-examination and did it for quite a long time, with occasional interruptions. I was surprised that I have much more sins than I thought; but I was pleased to note that there were fewer of them. To save myself the trouble of starting a new booklet to replace the old one, which was all perforating when I erased and scraped off the marks of old offenses from the paper, making room for new marks, I transferred my tables and instructions to ivory plates lined with strong red ink, and he made notes with black pencil, and they were easily erased with a wet sponge as needed.

How to make a to-do list work

Unfortunately, not all of us have Benjamin Franklin's sense of purpose. Making a list is easy. It is much more difficult to follow the plan.

Here are 4 "secrets" that will help you create effective to-do lists:

1. Zeigarnik effect. This is what psychology calls the phenomenon discovered by Bluma Zeigarnik. The bottom line is that the beginning of any task creates a stress in memory that does not go away until the task is done. Man instinctively constantly strives for self-realization. This desire affects his memory and behavior. Hence our satisfaction with the completed (deleted from the list) task. Thus, "secret" number 1 - always see it through to the end. If this is not possible at a time, then break down a large task into smaller ones.
2. Ruthless priority. Once, at a time management seminar, a psychologist asked participants to make a strategic plan for their life using no more than 25 words. Few coped with the task. But when one of the "excellent pupils" was asked how she did it, she replied: "I just wrote a list, and then put the items in it in order of priority - 1, 2, 3 … and so on up to 25". The second "secret" of effective to-do planning is the ability to prioritize and sweep away unnecessary things.
3. Providence. Charles Michael Schwab, once the president of Bethlehem Steel, was very fond of order. Therefore, he invited Ivy Lee (a well-known journalist, and at that time also a specialist in the field of labor management) to improve his business. One of Lee's recommendations is to make a six-point to-do list each night to get done for the next day. Three months later, Schwab sent Lee a check for $ 25,000 - his company had never been more effective. Secret # 3 is planning ahead. Make a to-do list long BEFORE you start acting.
4. Realism. Franklin adhered to his 13 Virtues plan until one day he caught himself thinking that the pursuit of frugality (“Allow yourself only those expenses that will benefit others or yourself; do not waste anything”) did not allow him to live like this, as you want. He spends a lot of time cooking, but he could be engaged in important matters of the state. Franklin was forced to adjust this point. Be realistic too - adapt your tasks to the circumstances. This is "secret" number 4.

What "secrets" do you have? What helps you follow the to-do list?