Habits of famous people

In his pockets, Jefferson carried such a variety of portable instruments for making observations and measurements that he's been dubbed a "traveling calculator." Among his collection of pocket-sized devices were scales, drawing instruments, a thermometer, a surveying compass, a level, and even a globe. To record all these measurements, Jefferson carried a small ivory notebook (pictured) on which he could write in pencil. Back in his Cabinet, or office, he later copied the information into any of seven books in which he kept records about his garden, farms, finances, and other concerns; he then erased the writing in the ivory notebook. This about Jefferson from Monticello.org

Even as Franklin's system of self-examination and cultivation of virtues reminds one of the the flurry of i-phone apps for self-improvement, Jefferson's habit of recording all sorts of information seems familiar.  In his pocket he carried a small note-book for temporary jotting.  Later in the day he transferred information to his commonplace books.  This may have been analogous to tweeting to himself.  Perhaps the point is less the specific system and more the habits of noticing and reflecting that these men's peculiar systems support.  Keeping a journal, as many Protestants did to record their spiritual state, or even being forced by one's teachers to write a blog about a class are similar systems also intended to develop and support habits of noticing and reflection upon the world and our place in it.