Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. When he was 36, he served as governor of Virginia. At age 57, he was elected as the third President of the United States. Jefferson spent his life assiduously cataloging everything from the change of seasons, to the opinions of colleagues to – fortunately for us – the daily habits that he developed over the years.

Jefferson was a botanist, an architect, a reluctant statesmen and a farmer. He lived by routine.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation maintains a wonderful website, www.monticello.org, that provides a great resource for understanding the role of routine in Jefferson’s life.  Jefferson recalled a fifty-year period when the sun never caught him in bed.  He rose daily between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. and took note of the temperature.  Each morning, Jefferson soaked his feet in cold water, and swore his good health by the ritual.

Jefferson thought and wrote following a daily breakfast that consisted of breads, cold meats and tea.

For four to six hours in the morning, Jefferson spent his time writing letters – notes, scholarly opinions and correspondence – to anyone who wrote him.  Of Jefferson’s many inventions, the modern "office," and the copying machine were birthed in Jefferson’s "Cabinet," where mornings were spent "drudging at the writing table."

Jefferson’s correspondence helped him develop many of the ideas that likely went into his great writings and thoughts.  This daily routine certainly honed the superior writing skills that won Jefferson the task of drafting the colonies’ declaration against England in 1776.

Jefferson’s afternoons were preserved for action.  Depending on the season and his location, Jefferson spent a couple of hours each afternoon attending his 5,000 acre plantation.  Monticello served as a research facility for Jefferson’s botany work. Jefferson grew fruit trees, vegetable gardens, flowers and grapes, developing varieties of plants and experimenting with crop management theory.

Dinner was served at 4:00 p.m. and marked the beginning of Jefferson’s interaction with guests.  The halfway mark of Jefferson’s day was met and gone when the conversation and interaction portion of Jefferson’s routine began.  Dinner regularly served as a vehicle for conversation, debate and discussion between Jefferson and his many guests or family members.

Interaction, whether with family or guests, consumed four to five hours of Jefferson’s routine day.  While in Philadelphia, this time was reserved for less structured discussion of the day’s political events.  While in Virginia, family and guests were the focus of Jefferson’s attention from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. when Jefferson resumed thought and reflection in "Sanctum Sanctorum," a suite of rooms at Monticello (bedroom, study, greenhouse and library) so dubbed by friends because of Jefferson’s private time spent there.  This time, carved in the portion of Jefferson’s day from 9:00 p.m. until approximately midnight was spent drawing, accounting, measuring and studying.  The last hour of Jefferson’s day was used for reading, a "canine appetite" of Jefferson’s that was crammed into any open moment of his day.

What is most notable about Jefferson’s routine is the division and balance of thought, action, interaction and reflection in each day. Monticello was Jefferson’s preferred residence.  He often expressed in letters to lifelong friend John Adams and in reflections on his life, the love he held for this place of routine and the happiness that it brought him.