Advice from Benjamin Franklin

I read a great article today in LDS Living Magazine - advice from Benjamin Franklin about time and money.

Four Ways to Convert Time into Money

Ben Franklin believed that time is money, so it may come as a surprise that he also thought it's important to set aside time for leisure activities. He wrote, "Employ thy time well if thou meanest to gain leisure." Erin Barret and Jack Mingo, authors of Ben Franklin's Guide to Wealth (Conari Press) encourage busy people to practice what Franklin preached long ago.

Here are four ways you can save time for leisure enjoyment:

• How much time do you devote to watching television, playing computer games, and surfing the Internet, all of which drain your time and energy? Take back your time and value it for the precious thing that it is, employing it for things that really matter.


• Use your commuting time wisely. If you are within bicycle or walking distance of your work, get out of your car and exercise your way to work. Use carpooling or public transportation instead of sitting in mind-numbing traffic with your hands gripping the steering wheel, using the time to read for pleasure, meditate to balance yourself, or organize your assignments so that your work day is more wisely spent.


• Try not to concentrate on how busy you are, but rather concentrate on your results. After all, a frenzy of activity won’t get you very far if you are shoveling sand with a pitchfork.
  


• Use a “to do” list each day to help you prioritize the most important activities for that day. Next to each entry, assign a number from 1 to 5 with the highest priority being 1. Then re-draft your list so that the most important things are first, and the least important last. Then do them in order, from most important to least. Anything left at the end of the day gets put on tomorrow’s list.

Balance is important. By being as efficient and productive in your free time as you are in your work time, you can get done what you need and want to do and still have time for starting new projects, learning new skills, and setting new goals to keep life interesting.

"If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality, since lost time is never found again." --Benjamin Franklin.