Franklin pyramid: description, structure, rules of use

The technique developed by the American scientist, inventor, politician, diplomat and businessman Benjamin Franklin is very popular among business people who want to learn how to rationally manage their own time. It is no coincidence that the portrait of the creator of the unique pyramid still flaunts on the $ 100 bill.

An American scientist invented a special complex system of effective planning, presented in the form of a pyramid. It helps people use their own time productively on the way to achieving their goals. Benjamin Franklin's pyramid contains short-term and long-term plans that contribute to obtaining the necessary results while moving towards the previously outlined main task. This method of effectively organizing their own actions allows people to significantly save their time.

"If you want to have leisure, do not waste time in vain" - this is how the creator of this technique stated. Many of his statements are devoted to the talent of the correct use of time, a waste of which he considered an irreparable loss. The American scientist calls time the most expensive thing, and his waste is great extravagance.

Experts advise to solve any task set for oneself by building a pyramid. No serious project is complete without planning. First, the final target point is outlined, then a strategy for arriving at it is built. An example is your desire to spend a vacation by the sea. This is your goal. To achieve it, you need to take a number of actions.

First of all, you need to understand how you imagine your vacation. Maybe you want to get to the Black Sea by your own car. Perhaps you will use the services of a travel agency that has taken over the organization of your vacation on the shores of the Red or Yellow Sea.

Based on this, a list of all subsequent actions is formed to meet your requirements and criteria. If you are camping on the seashore, then your personal pyramid will line up in one way. And it will look completely different if you want to spend the summer time in a comfortable hotel. Building an individual pyramid allows a person to be able to set a desired goal and strive to realize it.

The pyramid is a kind of goal tree, consisting of 6 main blocks (steps).

• First stage constitutes the foundation of the entire pyramid, since the definition of life values ​​is very important for every person. Some personalities want to be realized in creativity, others dream of fame, still others dream of power and money, still others want to move up the career ladder, still others prefer to benefit others, and there are people for whom the greatest value is family. At the base of the pyramid are the values ​​that a particular individual needs to build his life. An important factor is the need to sort out your emotions and thoughts so that the owner of the values ​​he has chosen to experience satisfaction and happiness. During the year, at least once it is worth revising your priorities and removing interests that contradict each other from the bloc.
• Second level represents a global goal based on the individual values ​​of the subject. At this stage, a person determines his main life task. Maximum achievements are assumed for its implementation. For example, a musician who dreams of worldwide fame strives to perform or create a piece that deserves the admiration of the people even after their death. Over the next several years, the individual will make efforts to get closer to this goal. It should not conflict with his life credo, otherwise the achievement of the final target point will not bring satisfaction to the person. Every year you should adjust your further intentions.
• Third step involves general planning, which should lead the individual to the implementation of the target setting. The person will move towards it in stages. Before becoming a famous composer, he must complete a course at a music school, get a higher education. A musician, in order to reach the final target he has set for himself, must perform at concerts and take part in various presentations, competitions of the city, regional and international level. He is obliged to harmoniously integrate into the musical beau monde, meet other creative people and cooperate with them.
• Fourth block provides for planning ahead for some time. At this stage, it is necessary to clearly calculate all the planned actions, to determine the timing of their implementation. Strict frameworks keep a person in good shape, do not allow him to relax and waste time. Each point of this long-term plan must be compared with the general planning in order to know exactly how fast they are converging. After six months, the long-term plan should be adjusted.
• At the fifth step there is a specific task that must be completed in the near future.For example, a future composer for admission to the conservatory must prepare for the entrance tests: creative competition, testing, exams and interviews. Thus, each point of the long-term plan is divided into small tasks. Short-term planning requires specific dates for the execution of tasks. This preparation will be a short-term plan for the implementation of the global goal. Such plans should be revised often, about once every 2 weeks.
• Sixth block involves planning certain actions over the course of one day. Daily planning is directly dependent on short-term planning. The schedule might include preparing for a specific exam, such as learning the lyrics and working with a vocal coach. Some people divide all steps into 3 groups: important, secondary and unimportant matters. Priority actions include those that should not be postponed under any circumstances. Failure to fulfill them usually disrupts short-term planning. Minor activities in the event of unforeseen obstacles can be rescheduled for another day.

A comprehensive Franklin system is essential for all business people. It can be used throughout life. Each person builds an individual pyramid, answering a series of questions: "Who do I want to be?" "What do I want to do?" "What results do I expect?" Next, you need to determine the prospects, find the necessary information to achieve the goals, make the necessary acquaintances.

The author of the technique invites his followers to adhere to some specific rules of life:

• to maintain clarity in the head and gain composure, one should refrain from taking food until satiety, alcoholic beverages - until intoxication;
• in order to eradicate the habit of idle talk and acquire the ability to listen to the interlocutor, you need to develop such a quality as silence;
• observance of order in everything frees up additional time for useful activities;
• determination helps to carry out all planned actions on time;
• frugality protects from waste, useless waste of money;
• hard work leads to complete independence and prosperity;
• honesty allows a person to act fairly and protects a person from causing harm to others;
• sincerity and frankness contribute to the appearance of pure thoughts and keep a person from deceiving;
• moderation teaches you to avoid extremes, to be tolerant of any events that occur;
• calmness protects from unnecessary worries;
• chastity generates blameless thoughts and forms the control of their instincts;
• cleanliness, neatness in clothes, order and neatness in everything contribute to the formation of the bodily and spiritual purity of the person;
• humility lies in imitating Jesus and Socrates.

This complex system is studied in all time management classes. She is aimed at the rational management of her time, at setting and achieving goals. The system works on the principle of a gradual transition from main goals to minor tasks (systematic movement from general to specific).

The main problem is fragmented into a small number of different tasks, so the system looks like a pyramid, where life principles and global goals are located on the lower steps, and long-term and short-term plans are concentrated in the middle and at the top of the cone. With a systematic ascent to the peak of the pyramid, a purposeful person concentrates on the correct distribution of his efforts and takes thoughtful sequential steps.