I followed Benjamin Franklin's daily schedule for a week, and the most rewarding part was also the most difficult
The founding father's meticulous "scheme" consisted of waking up at 5 a.m. and asking himself "What good shall I do today?"
He then dove into work, reading, and socializing for the rest of the day, until he retired to bed at 10 p.m., The Atlantic reports.
At the end of the night, Franklin asked himself, "What good have I done today?"
He was also famous for his "13 virtues," a list of rules and moral guidelines that he created at the age of 20, according to CBS. Each week, he would pick one "virtue" to focus on.
After trying out the morning routines of Jack Dorsey, Arianna Huffington, and Barack Obama, I was intrigued by Franklin's emphasis on doing good and improving his character.
In his autobiography, Franklin wrote that he never "arrived at the perfection [he] had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it." However, he wrote that his attempts made him a better and happier man than he would have been otherwise.
Would I feel like a better and happier person at the end of trying out Franklin's daily routine for a week?
I was about to find out.