A Profound Lesson We Can Learn From Benjamin Franklin

Yesterday I wrote an article about the stressful effects of multitasking and what it does to our brains. This morning, as I started the day doing a million things all at the same time, I was reminded of that article and what it must feel like to only focus on one task at a time. I’d like to try that sometime, although I don’t think it would become a habit. I’m addicted to multitasking, and at this point, I think it’s just part of my DNA. I don’t claim to be good at it, but I do it anyway, all day long.

As the universe often does, it directed me to some more very interesting information on this topic, which I’d like to share with you today. If you are at all familiar with American history, you know who Benjamin Franklin was. He was one of the greatest inventors ever born in this country; however, he was not a multitasker. As a matter of fact, upon further research, heavy multitasking is a relatively new habit in our culture. Most of the people who are credited with the most significant inventions of our time were not multitaskers.

Going back to Benjamin Franklin as our example, so the question becomes, how did he get everything done? The more I read about this, the more I think we somehow have it all wrong. There is a lot we can learn from people like Benjamin Franklin (and Thomas Edison, who by the way, took a nap everyday). Ben Franklin’s goal was to invent things that would specifically help people live better, and he believed in “doing good” every single day. There is a little nugget in the New York Times blog that I found from 2009 which I really hope you check out. It’s a combination of little graphics called And the Pursuit of Happiness. It includes Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule below, which as simple as it is, I think is brilliant.

The moral of the story is, whenever you are feeling overwhelmed with your day and your phone, your Twitter, your email, your Facebook messages, your IM, your kids, your pets, your boss, your lawn, your broken down car, your grumbling stomach, and your mother are all begging for your attention at the same time, just smile and think of Benjamin Franklin. You don’t have to meet everyone else’s expectations and be constantly busy in order to be great. #profoundtruth

Via: [Swiss Miss]