Chapter XXIII: Section III: Method in Business

There is one class of men who are of inestimable value to society--and the more so from their scarcity;--I mean _men of business_. It is true you could hardly offer a greater insult to most persons than to say they are not of this class; but you cannot have been very observing not to have learned, that they who most deserve the charge will think themselves the most insulted by it.

Nothing contributes more to despatch, as well as safety and success in business, than method and regularity. Let a person set down in his memorandum book, every morning, the several articles of business that ought to be done during the day; and beginning with the first person he is to call upon, or the first place he is to go to, finish that affair, if possible, before he begins another; and so on with the rest.

A man of business, who observes this method, will hardly ever find himself hurried or disconcerted by forgetfulness. And he who sets down all his transactions in writing, and keeps his accounts, and the whole state of his affairs, in a distinct and accurate order, so that at any time, by looking into his books, he can see in what condition his concerns are, and whether he is in a thriving or declining way;--such a one, I say, deserves properly the character of a man of business; and has a pretty fair prospect of success in his plans.[6] But such exactness seldom suits the man of pleasure. He has other things in his head.

The way to transact a great deal of business in a little time, and to do it well, is to observe three rules. 1. Speak to the point. 2. Use no more words than are necessary, fully to express your meaning. 3. Study beforehand, and set down in writing afterwards, a sketch of the transaction.

To enable a person to _speak_ to the point, he must have acquired, as one essential pre-requisite, the art of _thinking_ to the point. To effect these objects, or rather _this_ object, as they constitute in reality but _one_, is the legitimate end of the study of grammar; of the importance of which I am to speak elsewhere. This branch is almost equally indispensable in following the other two rules; but here, a thorough knowledge of numbers, as well as of language, will be demanded.

[6] A gentleman of my acquaintance assures me that he always
leaves his books, accounts, &c., in so complete a state, on going
to bed, that if he should die during the night, every thing could
be perfectly understood. This rule he adheres to, as a matter of
duty; not only to his fellow men, but to God.