kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 15: 1/22

Today was the last day of my Ben Franklin Experiment Project. Although I had slept late last night, as I had visitors over, I woke up at 8:00 AM and played with my little brother, as we were the only two who were awake at the time. After washing up, we decided to have breakfast first. So, I toasted two bagels and spread strawberry cream cheese on both. With that we had orange juice and played a game of chess. I had decided not to go to church that day as I had too much homework to do and did not have a ride until after church would have begun. Therefore, I started homework very early at 10:40 AM and started researching my three topics for the AMUN Conference, for which I had to write three position papers representing Australia for the UNICEF Committee. Writing the position papers was very stressful for me, as I couldn’t stop thinking about how the conference was on the same days as the midterms. But I stopped thinking reactive thoughts and persevered through each paper. At around 12 PM, my whole family and I had a light lunch, which was a kind of sweet pumpkin soup/porridge, as we had a huge breakfast. Right after lunch, I continued working on my other position papers and kept my phone very far from me to be more productive. I did, however, have to facetime audio a friend from time to time to ask some questions about the assignment. I kept on working until around 6:30 PM, which was when I finally finished the position papers. When my dad came home, we ordered pizza, as he said he was craving it. So, I ordered a pizza, salad, and some chicken for dinner, which we had over talking about next week’s events. After, I completed all my other homework assignments which were to study for my chemistry quiz and history test. I finished studying for these at around 11 PM. And after, I quickly watched about 10-15 minutes of the Australian Open, as my whole family and I love to watch tennis very much. It is currently 12:00 AM, and although I had wanted to sleep earlier, I am very proud of myself for getting this much work done in one day that my past self may have had to pull an all-nighter on. This experiment really benefitted me and I plan on adjusting my schedule to fit what works best for me now. I also will continue my new habits of allotting a certain time to clean up my room and keep my phone far from me while doing homework, as it has made me a more efficient and organized student. I have washed up, and am about to go to sleep! Good night! 

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 14: 1/21

Today, I got up at 9:30 AM, washed up, and said good morning to everyone. I cleaned up the clothes in my room and got dressed to go to the orthodontists’ at 10:30 AM, where I got a quick checkup on my retainers. After my checkup, my mom and I stopped by at Butterworth’s to buy bagels for breakfast. It was around 11:30 AM when I finished my breakfast of 2 whole bagels with strawberry cream cheese. As we had a good and big brunch, I really was not hungry for lunch, and instead skipped the meal and worked on my homework. Until around 2:30, I put away my phone and worked on my us history study guide and also finished up noredink. I then, took a shower at 2:40 PM, and took a break after, until it was time to go to art school at 4:00 PM. At art school, I didn’t think about the workloads of schoolwork I had to do, but rather de-stressed while painting. I had a lot of fun as I finally finished my painting! Right when I came home at 7:10 PM, I had visitors over - my family friends whom I had not seen in such a long time. For dinner, we had sushi and Korean “ddukbokki” which are spicy rice cakes. Then, we played videogames together, and watched a movie. I did not go on my phone that much. We just had ice cream for dessert, and they most likely will stay over at our house until midnight. So, I am writing this post now. After they leave, I will wash up, pick an outfit for church tomorrow, and sleep right away. Good night!

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 13: 1/20

Today, I woke up at 6:50 AM, and quickly washed up and got ready for school. Although I woke up late compared to other days, I was able to get ready quick enough to have breakfast, as I had already picked out the day’s outfit last night. After breakfast, which was the hot chestnut drink and a baked sweet potato, I left the house at 7:20 and got to my first period class by 7:35 AM. I focused a lot during my classes and did not get distracted by my phone until I took it out at lunch to Snapchat some friends. For lunch, I had a bagel with strawberry cream cheese and one cookie...During my afternoon classes, I did well on my algebra test, as I had studied without distraction the other night. But after algebra class, the last two periods felt very long for me, as I was so ready to get out of school for the weekend. During my last period free, I also took a test for Science League; then, right after taking the test, I worked on my math tutor homework at the library and finished up the last few questions of my homework. My mom picked me up from the library at 3:00, and I got home at 3:15 PM. For snacks, I had a fish-shaped Korean pastry with red beans and walnuts, with my sister, and we watched a movie together. As I didn’t want to be tired during my tutor lesson, I rested and didn’t think about my studies until she came at 5:00 PM. From 5-6 PM, I learned many new topics about the SAT II Math subject test, and also increased my motivation to do well, as I almost got a perfect score on the homework tests she had assigned for me. Right after tutor, I had dinner, which was a Korean meal called “Samgyetang” which is basically chicken soup with rice and dates. Next, after dinnertime, my neighbor’s 5-year-old daughter, also my brother’s friend, came over while my mom and her mom went out together. I was to babysit my brother and his friend until my mom would return home. It was both fun and tiring. It was fun, as I love children and we watched movies and played games with each other. It was tiring, as when babysitting for a long time, feels bothered to take care of children. As they left at 11:00 PM, I quickly washed up and got ready to go to bed. I cleaned my room and organized my desk until 12:00 AM. Now, I will go to sleep... Good night!

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 12: 1/19

Yesterday, I got up at 6:30 AM and got ready for school. For breakfast, I had a hot chestnut drink and cereal. I left the house at 7:15 AM and got to school at 7:30. It was hard for me to focus in my morning classes and the first two classes, for me, felt so long. However, during lunch, I energized myself with a bagel and two cookies. I was able to focus well on my afternoon classes, and having gym class last period also helped wake me up for the rest of the day. I went to Starbucks and CVS at 3:00 PM after picking my brother up. After picking up my mom’s medicine, we got home at around 3:30 PM, and I took a shower right after. I also took a 30 minute nap after, as I felt very overwhelmed with homework. It felt good to take a break from work to a clean room, right after a shower and a nap. Then, at 4:30 PM, I put away my phone and worked on my homework until 7:30 PM, which is when I had dinner. For dinner, I had a Korean spicy meat dish and “japchae”, which is vegetables with noodles. I, then, talked with my family about what we were doing over the weekend and helped set up my sister’s new desktop in her room. After, I finished up my homework by editing my journalism video project. I, then, picked an outfit for the next day and said good night to everyone. I washed up and slept at 11:20 PM.

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 11: 1/18

Today, I got up at 6:40 AM a little later than usual, but still had enough time to have a good breakfast and get ready. I had cereal and a hot chestnut drink while talking to my mom. We left the house at 7:20 AM and I got to class early. I put away phone as usual and focused on the work I had to get done. Even though the workloads, with midterms coming up, seem overwhelming, I am trying my best to stay on top of my tasks. At lunch, I had fries and one cookie. I finished the rest of the day at school, the same as usual. My after school schedule today was a bit hectic, though. Right after school ended, I sprinted out to the OT library where my mom had parked the car. I picked up my brother from his Kindergarten class and dropped him off in the car, as he had swimming lessons right after. I, on the other hand, stayed at the elementary school, as I had to interview my brother’s teacher for my video project “Everybody has a story” for Journalism. As I completed taking the video at 3:15 PM, I had to call my dad, who came home early today, to give me a ride back to NVOT. At 3:25 PM, I arrived back at school for the Model UN AMUN conference workshop. Because I emailed the officer I was going to be late because of the video interview, she is catching me up with the first half I had missed tomorrow during the first half of lunch. Anyway, after the workshop, I got home at 4:00 PM and took a break from school. I went on my phone, texted friends, listened to music, and also played the piano a little bit for fun until 5:00 PM, which is when I started homework. I finished studying for my Spanish test and even interviewed my dad for my journalism project again. At around 6 PM, my English group and I met on the google docs to finish revising the paragraph. I finished homework at 10:00 PM and went downstairs. As it was the last day my cousin was staying before he went back to college, we had dessert with apple cider. It is now 11 PM and I just washed up, picked my outfit for tomorrow, and am ready to go to sleep. Good night!

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 10: 1/17

Yesterday, I woke up at 6:25 AM, washed up, and took a shower. After getting ready for school, I had Korean pastries for breakfast and left the house at 7:15 AM. I put away my phone for the morning and got to my class early. It felt very relieving to hand in my research paper and be done with it after all my hard work. I went to lunchtime without stress and had a good lunch of a salad and two cookies. I went on my phone and also talked to my friends about upcoming plans we made for after midterms end. Then, in my afternoon classes, I focused well in all my classes and got home at 3:00 PM after picking up my brother from school. I made a sandwich for us to share, as we watched an episode of a netflix series together. Then at 4:30 PM, I put away my phone to charge and started my homework. As I did so much homework the other night, I did not have a lot of homework that day. And stopped working at 6:00 PM... I said goodbye to my older cousin who went back to college and my aunt who went back to Argentina. At 7:00 PM, I had dinner with my other cousin and the rest of the family. We had steak and salad. Then, at 8:00 PM, I video called with my English group to work on the poem analysis of paragraph. And we finished our assignment at around 11:00 PM, which was when I got ready for the next school day and went to bed.

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 9: 1/16

Today was a good day to be off school. I followed my weekend schedule today, rather than my weekday schedule as I did not have school. I woke up at 8:30 AM and washed up. As today was the day my aunt was returning from her trip to Korea, my mom had left for the airport early that morning. My brother, on the other hand, had plans to follow my dad to the hospital so that he could go to the planetarium with him later. As he would have to wait for my dad to get out of surgery for a couple hours, I packed him many snacks, juice boxes, an iPad, and his favorite books in a backpack. As my mom was not home, I also dressed him up and got him ready to go out. They left at about 9:45 AM. Then, I myself had breakfast, which was 2 bowls of cereal, while watching some television, as most of my family was still asleep. Then, at 10:30, I started my homework which was to finish up my research paper. I put away my phone and got to work. When my aunt and mom came home at around 2:00 Pm, we had lunch that they had brought in on the way home. We had a classic Korean meal, which was rice and many side dishes, including “japchae”. Right after lunch, I quickly went back upstairs to work on my research paper, which I finished at 5:40 PM. After printing out my paper, I got ready for dinner with my family, cousins, and aunt. We went to a Korean BBQ chicken restaurant called “Mama Chicken” in Palisades Park at 7:00 PM, where we ate a lot of food and talked with each other, as well. After having a good time outside of the house, we also went grocery shopping for some snacks, and eventually, arrived home at 8:30 PM. After taking a thirty minute break, talking with my cousins and about my brother’s exciting trip to the science museum, I studied for my chemistry test and Spanish oral test for tomorrow. It is now 11:10 and I have finished my homework, washed up, and said good night to everyone. Today was a good day to both relax from school and get a lot of work done. I just realized that I have not had more than 3 reactive thoughts throughout this whole day. Day 9 Complete!

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 8: 1/15

Today, I woke up at 8:40 in the morning and tidied up my room. I went downstairs, greeted my family, and had breakfast with them. I had cereal bread with milk. Then, at 10:00 AM, I started getting ready for church. I took a shower, got dressed, and we left the house at 11:00. As I went to the high school service at my old church this week, it felt good to see all the old faces and catch up with them. I met all my old friends and parents I had known for such a long time when I was little. Then, at 1:00 PM, I had lunch in Fort Lee at a restaurant called “Mandarin”, where we celebrated my other cousin’s 16th birthday. My whole dad’s side of the family came. Then, at 2:40, we arrived home and I took a break to go on my phone a little bit until 3:00, when I put it away and started homework. I worked on my research paper most of the time and am almost done. I planned to do most of it today as I wanted time to study for chemistry tomorrow. At 6:30 PM, we had dinner at the Korean barbeque restaurant called “GoBaWoo” in Northvale. We had a lot of good food and came home stuffed. From 8:20 to 10:40, I then sacrificed my scheduled social time, as I judged that I was out of the house most of the time today, and instead, worked on my research paper more. I went downstairs and talked for a good 40 minutes with my family and cousins. It is currently 11:50 PM and I have washed up and said good night to everyone. 

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 7: 1/14

Today, I had to change the Saturday schedule up a bit, as I had some unexpected plans. I woke up at 8:20 and washed up. As my cousins, siblings, and I were all getting haircuts, we got dressed and left the house at 9:20 AM. As we had to be on time for our haircut appointment, we did not eat breakfast and decided to eat at the Korean café next door to the hair salon. I shared some Korean pastries and bubble tea with my brother. We were at the hair salon in Fort Lee from around 10 AM to 2 PM as it took long for each of us to get our hair done. After getting our hair done, we also took a quick trip to the mall, as we had to buy a birthday gift for my cousin and my brother’s friend. As a result, we also had a late lunch, which were black bean noodles at a Korean-Chinese fusion restaurant. As my phone had run out of battery that morning, and I did not have time to charge it, I was not on my phone at all that except for in the morning, and it felt somewhat nice. When we got home at 4:00 PM, I got rest for an hour, as I was tired from the trip outside. I started homework at 5 and also unfortunately, had to skip art school for the week because my mom drove my brother to a friend’s birthday party, and it had been snowing, so that I couldn’t walk to the school. Rather than getting upset that I was missing a class to work on my painting, I tried being proactive by thinking that it was a good time to do my homework, as I couldn’t do it during the time I planned for myself in the schedule, which was earlier in the day. At 8:30 PM, my family and I ordered Dominos Pizza, as we were all tired and decided to just order food. After dinner, i went back to my room and started working on my research paper for US History. It is currently 11:30, and I have washed up and picked my outfit for church tomorrow. Good night! I am looking forward to this three-day weekend :)

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 6: 1/13

Yesterday, I, unfortunately, did not have time to post this blog post as I went to bed right after I came home from my cousin’s birthday outing. Anyway, I woke up at 6:30 AM, washed up and took a quick 10 minute shower. After getting ready for school, I ate a ham and cheese sandwich in a croissant that my mom had made for me that morning. Then, at 7:20 AM I left for school and was early to my first period Us History class. I put my phone in my bag and focused on the work I had for that class. At lunch, I went quickly to the library to print my chemistry lab and after, bought fries and a cookie. Then, after my block period of chemistry, I had a free, during which my mom wasn’t home and couldn’t give me a ride. So, I finished my math homework that is due this Tuesday. I got home at 4:00 PM after going grocery shopping with my mom. I ate a croissant for a snack with my younger sister and took a break from work. I watched some TV show that my sister was previously watching while eating my snack until 4:40 PM which is when my math tutor came. Although the topics were really hard, I persevered and tried my best to understand the difficult SAT II concepts. Right after tutor, it was 5:30, and we had to get ready for my cousin’s birthday dinner. We got out of the house at 7:00, as we had to wait for my dad to come home from work, and drove to a Korean restaurant called “Oaktong” in Fort Lee. The food was great. We had many Korean dishes, one being “Padak”, which is chicken, scallions, and this creamy sauce that goes with it, and “Ddukbokki”, which are spicy rice cakes. At around 9:00 PM, we also went to a dessert store for a birthday cake, where we decided to end the birthday celebration. I had a lot of fun celebrating my cousin’s birthday. As soon as we got home at 11 PM, I quickly got into pj’s, washed up and wished everyone a good night. 

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 5: 1/12

Yesterday, I woke up at 6:30, and like the usual washed up and got ready for another day at school. As my aunt left to Korea the other day, I can use my room now and am continuing to keep it organized and clean very well. Now that I get ready quicker than I had before this project, I enjoy my mornings by eating a good breakfast at the kitchen counter, talking to my parents, rather than rushing to eat in the car. I left the house at 7:20 and got to school by 7:30. I was able to get to my first class early, put my phone away, and focus on doing well in my morning classes. During lunch at 11 AM, I had a plain bagel with a bowl of grape tomatoes. Then, I had my afternoon classes, and to be honest, I felt a little sleepy and worn out from the night before, as I had a lot of homework and slept later than I had planned. When I got home at 3:30 PM, I shared some Korean pastries with my cousins, and went up to my room to tidy up, then take a rest. I started my homework at 4:30 and put away my phone. I was having many reactive thoughts, as due dates for a lot of big assignments are getting closer, so I set reminders on my laptop to be more proactive. At 7:30 PM, I had a Korean meal for dinner with my whole family, except my dad who was still at work. After, I filmed my interview video on my brother for Journalism and also finished my homework for my math tutor. I couldn’t get to doing my Us history research paper as I had planned, but as it became 11:00 PM, I decided it was time to go to bed. Prioritizing good rest and sleep, I washed up, picked an outfit for today and set my alarm. Yesterday was a rough day and I hope I can make more time to work on my research paper and have a good, not as stressful weekend.

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 4: 1/11

This morning, I woke up earlier and easier than usual at 6:20 AM, and I washed up and even had time to shower. With all this time in the morning, I had a good breakfast - a bagel with nutella - and I also had time to talk with my mom about the day. We left for school early at 7:15, and it felt nice to walk into my first period class without being in a rush. I didn’t open any snapchats until lunchtime, which is when I had a salad from the salad bar with two cookies. As lunch was right after I handed in my personal essay and took my big us history test, I felt that a lot of weight and pressure were taken off my chest. I talked with my friends and it was a good relaxing hour for me. Following lunch, I luckily had a free period where I productively worked on my chemistry homework and paragraph for English. Even after my free period, I had gym where we played badminton tournaments, which I really enjoyed as a good time to de-stress and have fun with my classmates. After school, I picked up my brother from Kindergarten and as soon as we got home, I made him a nutella sandwich, while I had a quarter of a ham sandwich. As I scheduled this time to be a break time, my cousins, my siblings and I, watched a short movie. Then, I even played a short game of chess with my brother. At 4:30 PM, I started my homework but did not put my phone in another room, as I had to contact my lab partner to work on our chemistry lab. However, I prevented myself from getting distracted by Instagram or YouTube. At 7:00, I had a short dinner with my cousins and family, and right after, I decided to take a break from homework and follow my mom to Whole Foods. I was very happy on this short trip because, although this is such a trivial thing, we bought the cherry tomatoes I had wanted for lunch the next day. When we got home, it was 8:30 PM, so I continued with my homework and finished at 10:30. Now it is 11:00 PM, and I have finished washing up, tidying up my room, and getting ready for school tomorrow. Day 4 Complete! Time to get good rest! 

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 3: Tuesday 1/10

Yesterday, I woke up at 6:30 AM. As my visiting aunt is staying in my room for the week, I have gotten very committed to picking out my outfits the night before because I have to leave my room and let her sleep. After washing up, I got out of the house by 7:20 and barely made it in time for class. Although I slept later than I had planned the night before, I feel less stressed already, despite the workloads of homework. I think this is because I put my phone away while doing homework and put all focus into finishing my work quickly. With proactive thinking, I was alert and awake in all my morning classes and felt rested. At lunchtime, I had a bagel sandwich with two cookies and took out my phone at this time to send some snapchats to friends. I must admit it was a bit hard though to not worry about my algebra quiz that was the period after lunch. However, I trusted in the fact that I studied my hardest without distractions the night before, and did well. When I got home at 3:00 PM, I split a bagel with my younger brother while reading a chapter book with him. Then, I put my phone away and started homework at 4:15 PM. It was a little difficult to get started, as I looked at my overwhelming homework assignment pad, as I had to write a personal essay and study for a huge history test. But I persevered and got rid of most of my reactive thoughts. From 7:30 - 8:30, I then had sushi for dinner with my family and visiting cousins and aunt, and from then to 9:00 PM, I “chilled” with my cousins and watched some youtube videos. Finally, I finished studying for my history test until 10:30 PM, washed up and picked out my outfits for the next day. Although I was slightly behind schedule, I believe I did pretty well, considering the amount of homework I had. For the next week, I will be sleeping in the guest room. :)

(This blog post was written and posted on Wed. morning)

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 2: Monday 1/9

I woke up at 6:20 AM today and took a 20 minute shower. I washed up then ate breakfast at 7:15, which is when I should have left the house. As I really wanted to eat a proper breakfast however, I ate a bagel with cream cheese while talking about plans with my family today, and ended up leaving the house at 7:25. It felt so nice to wake up to a clean room and make my bed the minute I got up. I didn’t look at my phone until lunch, I sent some snapchat streaks, then put it away to eat fries and two cookies while talking with my friends. As I had a free last period, I was excited to go home (2:00 PM) to a clean and organized bed and to take my break from work. When I got home, put my school bag and jacket away and went downstairs to eat some pasta. I had some free time until 3:00 at which I watched some youtube videos on the sofa. Then, as it came time to put all distractions aside, I tackled my homework and surprisingly finished at 7:00 PM. It felt so good to have this work off of my agenda for the day. I went to volunteer in a good mood, but unfortunately, none of my students showed up, so I did not like that I wasted an hour of my time at the place, when I could’ve been working on my personal essay or Us History research project. However, I decided to stay proactive and instead, found a class whose teacher had been running late, and I subbed in for her. When I got home it was 10:00 PM. 5 minutes after my arrival, my cousins and aunt from Argentina returned from their vacation to Cancun, Mexico. We talked for a very long time about how their trip was and I feel so happy that I was able to spend time with them, because I had finished all my homework earlier. Although I had really wanted to write at least a page for my research paper today when I got back from volunteer, seeing my cousins return from their vacation was very fun to talk about. I will work on the paper another day this week. Now, I will tidy up my desk, undress into pjs, wash up, pick my outfit for tomorrow, and get a good night’s rest. It is currently 10:55 PM. Good night ! 

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Day 1: Sunday 1/8

I woke up at 9:00 today and washed up and said my “good-mornings” to everyone in a good mood. I took the time to clean up my room today and organize everything to start off the week of cleanliness. For breakfast, I had two bowls of cereal with my siblings, while I kept my phone upstairs away from the family. After my dad went to work, My mom, brother, and I got ready for church from 10:20-11:00 and left the house at 11:05 AM. My sister could not go as she had a science project to do with her friends. Church was very nice. We had not gone to the church for a very long time after we had moved to Norwood, but everyone was very kind to us and remembered us. It was good to see everyone again. We had lunch with our family friends. It was nice to talk to everyone and be outside of technology. We got home at 1:45 PM, which is when I ran upstairs and undressed into comfortable clothes. I started my homework at 2:00 PM and surprisingly, it was easy to focus on homework when I put my phone in another room. I had dinner with my whole family at 7:00. We had Korean barbequed meat called “galbi” with rice and kimchi. After dinner and helping put the dishes away, I built Legos with Max and talked about my sisters cooking project. I talked to my Dad about how church went, and we also finally finished planning our family vacation to Florida on February break! We were all very excited, as we swiped through the pictures of our resort. At 9:00 PM, I went back upstairs to look at my phone and relax a bit. Then, I also printed my research proposal for tomorrow. The day did not go exactly as planned, however, as I didn’t expect to stay at church for this long. I finished my homework at about midnight and also adjusted my schedule to the time i came home from church today. I slept later than I had wanted to but I really want to do better throughout this experiment. Good night! Day 1 Complete! 

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

The Schedule

DURING SCHOOL SCHEDULE (Monday - Friday)

6:30 A.M. - Get ready for school :)

To achieve my virtue of cleanliness and to prevent making a mess in my closet in the morning, I will pick out what to wear that day, the night before. Therefore, all I have to do in the morning is wash up, get changed, and have a good breakfast (cereal/pancakes/bagels/a boiled egg) while talking to my parents about what the day awaits. Do not look at your phone. 

7:15-20 A.M. - Leave for school.

7:40 to 10:36 A.M. - School starts (Morning classes)

Be early to class! Get prepared for what the morning classes hold. Keep phone in bag until lunchtime. 

11:00 A.M. - Lunchtime

Although tempting, do not eat fries all the time. Go to the salad bar and get a good lunch that will refresh you and prepare you for your afternoon classes. If I decide I want a snack, I will either eat a cookie or two :) or eat a bowl of cherry tomatoes I pack. (These two snacks make me very happy and will brighten up my mood.) Take a break from work, don’t stress about test grades during this time. Use your phone only for about 5-10 minutes here, and spend the rest of the time eating and talking with friends. 

11:48 - 2:36 P.M. Afternoon Classes

Put your phone back in your school bag and get to class early. Prepare yourself for classes again by thinking what you will be doing in each class. Reminder: NO REACTIVE LANGUAGE! If you have a free, use it wisely by working on homework for that night. If you have a free last period, go home at 1:40 P.M. to get a head start on homework! That way, you will have less homework when you get home. Don’t lose focus in classes! 

3:00 - 4:00 P.M. Break time! 

Pick up Max from school! Once you get home, put your jacket in your closet, put your bag by your desk, and charge the laptop. Make sure the room is clean. Go downstairs and eat a snack (make one for Max, too) - toast a bagel. Take this time to catch up with social media, do whatever you have to do on your phone at this time because once you start homework, you cannot get distracted and cannot use your phone later on. 

AFTER SCHOOL SCHEDULE

Monday

3:30 - 7:00 P.M. Homework

Put phone to charge in the living room where I cannot see or hear notifications. Start homework off with the easier ones that you can get out of the way. You will have to sacrifice 30 minutes of your break time on this day because of your volunteer work later on at night. Reminder: Try your best not to have reactive thoughts. Be proactive and take breaks when you need to. (Stretch, see what siblings are up to, drink water) Use phone ONLY when urgent (If you need a friend’s help) HOMEWORK SHOULD BE FINISHED! 

7:00 P.M. Dinner

On this day, I will eat dinner either with my siblings or on my own, because I have to get ready for volunteer and Dad will not be home at this time. Have a good meal and don’t think about homework. 

7:30 P.M. Leave for Volunteer

8:00 - 9:30 P.M. Volunteer @ One to One Learning

Don’t think about how you could be doing homework at this time, but rather think of the good deeds I am doing and how this is a good time to be outside of technology and really talk to people and help my students learn English. Have fun :) Arrive home at 10:00 P.M.

10:00 - 11:00 P.M. Family Time/Prepare for bed

Go upstairs to your CLEAN bedroom and put away your volunteer textbook and jacket in the closet. Change PJ’s. Clothes should be folded and put back neatly. Go back downstairs to enjoy some family time. Talk about the day and any exciting plans coming up; have fun :) When you go upstairs, pick out clothes for tomorrow. 

11:15 P.M. Sleep

Say good night to everyone. Wash up and go to bed. Set alarm.

Tuesday-Thursday

4:10 - 7:00 Homework

Put phone to charge in the living room where I cannot see or hear notifications. Start homework off with the easier ones that you can get out of the way. Reminder: Try your best not to have reactive thoughts. Be proactive and take breaks when you need to. (Stretch, see what siblings are up to, drink water) Use phone ONLY when urgent (If you need a friend’s help) 

7:00 Dinner / 8:00 Family Time

On this day, I will most likely have dinner with the whole family. Have a good meal and don’t think about homework. Talk about everyone’s day and upcoming plans. Have fun :) Spend some time playing chess with Max and Alexis. 

8:10 - 10:00 Finish up Homework

It will be difficult to transition into going back to doing homework. Put your phone away. HW SHOULD BE FINISHED! If homework is completed early one day, without distractions, work on coloring the shoe orders for about 30 minutes or work on Math tutor homework.

10:10 Wash up and prepare for the next day

Pick out clothes for tomorrow and tidy up the room. 

10:20-30 P.M. Say good night to everyone and go to bed. 

Friday

4:10 - 4:45 P.M. Make sure Tutor homework is completed. Finish up any last questions. 

5:00 - 6:00 P.M. Math Tutor

Math Tutor comes. Get a seat from the other room. Don’t get stressed. PERSEVERE.

6:30 - 8:00 Dinner and Family Time

On this day, I will most likely have dinner with the whole family. Have a good meal and don’t think about homework. Talk about everyone’s day and upcoming plans. Have fun :) Spend the rest of the day with family - go out to eat or eat a good meal at home. (Watch a movie/go to karaoke/go to the mall) 

8:30 - 10:00 Social time

You can use your phone at this time to catch up with friends, youtube, etc. Give yourself a break from homework and school stress. :)

10:10 Wash up and prepare for the next day

Tidy up the room.

10:20-30 P.M. Say good night to everyone and go to bed.

Saturday

8:00 - 8:30 AM- Wake up and wash up

Say good morning to everyone

8:45 - 10:00 AM- Breakfast

Have a good breakfast with the whole family and spend time with siblings. Don’t go on your phone too much at this time (only 5-10 minutes)

10:20 - 12:00 - Free time (Work on Shoes/Go outside/Head start on school homework) 

DO NOT GO ON THE PHONE, THOUGH.

12:15 - 1:30 PM Lunch

Go out to eat or have a good meal at home. Be with the family. Eat something, like a panini and salad, or pasta, or Korean stew, etc. 

2:00 - 3:50 Homework for Monday

Do some homework so that you won’t be overwhelmed on Sunday night. 

3:55 PM - Leave for art school

4:00 - 7:00 PM Art School

Listen to music and relieve stress by painting. Have fun :) 

7:00 - 10:00 Plans? Otherwise, relax. 

Usually, a family friend may come over. Have fun with them and spend quality time off the phone. Talk to them and catch up with the friend you haven’t seen for a while. If no one came over, relax and spend some more time with the family. Dessert? Movie?

10:10 Wash up and prepare for the next day

Tidy up the room.

10:20-30 P.M. Say good night to everyone and go to bed.

Sunday

8:00 - 8:30 AM- Wake up and wash up

Say good morning to everyone... Clean the room (make the bed, make sure desk is clean and clothes put away.)

8:45 - 9:40 AM- Breakfast

Have a good breakfast with the whole family and spend time with siblings. Don’t go on your phone too much at this time (only 5-10 minutes)

9:50 - 10:40 AM - Pick out clothes and Get ready for church 

11:00 - Leave for church 

11:30 - 1:30 Church

Pay attention to sermons. This is the time to strengthen relationship with God and be faithful. Stress-free. Have fun :) Talk to church friends and catch up with them. Eat lunch with my family and family friends. Be grateful for the food they served. (Also time spent outside of technology)

2:00 Arrive home 

2:15 - 6:30 PM Homework and study

Put phone to charge in the living room where I cannot see or hear notifications. Start homework off with the easier ones that you can get out of the way. Reminder: Try your best not to have reactive thoughts. Be proactive and take breaks when you need to. (Stretch, see what siblings are up to, drink water) Use phone ONLY when urgent (If you need a friend’s help) 

6:30 - 8:00 Dinner and Family Time

On this day, I will most likely have dinner with the whole family. Have a good meal and don’t think about homework. Talk about everyone’s day and upcoming plans. Have fun :) Spend the rest of the night with family.

8:30 - 10:00 Social time

You can use your phone at this time to catch up with friends, youtube, etc. Give yourself a break from homework and school stress. :)

10:10 Wash up and prepare for the next day

Tidy up the room.

10:20-30 P.M. Say good night to everyone and go to bed.

[kaitysbenfranklinexperiment-blog]

Setting up my Ben Franklin Experiment

1/8/17

My Virtues

Family Time

I will achieve this virtue simply by making time in my schedule to spend more time with my family. This is very important for my own emotional health and that of my family’s, as well. I don’t want to remember all four years of my high school career for my academic achievements, friends I make, etc., but also for the big memories I make with my family. By spending quality time with each other, I can build stronger bonds with my parents, younger sister (14) and younger brother (5). My sister and I, as we were only one year apart from each other, always played with each other as friends when we were little, and as I am a sophomore and she, an upcoming freshman about to make the transition into high school, homework and after school activities get in the way of spending quality time with each other, which I miss very much. As for my younger brother, I feel bad that I am always busy with homework and other activities when all he wants to do with me is play with Legos or watch a movie. The stress I feel from schoolwork and the pressure of getting good grades also creates stress for my parent, and I believe that by really carrying out this virtue well, I can take a lot of this stress away from my family and bring more of the good memories and fun. I will practice this important virtue by finishing my homework early to make a set time during and after dinner (which is the time our whole family sits down altogether) to play board games, watch movies, and do other fun activities with my family. 

Cleanliness/Order

This is a virtue that I would really like to continue after this project - in my room and my workspace. I realized that when I am in a rush to get ready for school, church, dinner, or some other events, I tend to leave the house with multiple outfits I have tried on spread out across my bed, closet doors open, etc. Then, once I come back to my bedroom, I am tired from that event and get lazy to clean the mess up. On school days, because I spend hours at my desk studying, I have empty bowls and wrappers (study snacks), random books to the side of my desk, along with a lot of scrap paper all over the area. After coming home from the next school day, I am tired of the work I had done at school, to come to an unorganized desk space, on which I will have to work on again. I would like to come home to a clean bedroom from now on that will bring my daily mood up, brighten and tidy up my day after a tough and busy day wherever I go. I want to both begin and conclude my day in a clean and tidy room with a made bed, clean desk, organized closet, and dust-free bathroom. I also think that just coming to a clean room and workspace motivates me to be more productive and get my schoolwork done quicker. I will carry out this virtue by spending one day to organize my workspace, make my bed, and put away my clothes into the dresser. I will pick out my clothes out for the next day so that I will not mess up the order in my closet any day of the two week experiment. In my schedule, I will make time both in the morning and nighttime to assess my room and make sure everything is kept tidy. 

Sleep/Rest

This virtue is very important for me because I have not been resting myself enough as I procrastinate, school deadlines get closer, workloads get greater, and I end up staying up later for better grades. I realize that although it is important to get work done, sleep is more important. In fact, skipping sleep and not getting enough rest has been physically affecting me. I have trouble focusing in my afternoon classes, as I get drowsier, and I also get more stress from work without rest. This sounds like a very easy virtue, as sleep is enjoyable and relaxing, but I think this is one of the virtues I will have the most trouble with obtaining due to amount of work and after school activities I have. However, I will try my best to practice this virtue in my life by working my hardest to complete my homework and projects in the time I allot myself in my daily schedule. I will set a reasonable time for myself to go to bed. When I feel stressed from work, I will rest myself by giving myself some time to rest in between studying for tests (perhaps, sit in a massage chair for 10 minutes or go "chill” with my siblings for a couple minutes). I really hope carrying out this virtue will fix my problem with stress, as these days I have not been getting a good night’s rest, as when I get stressed, my shoulders tense up A LOT. This is a really important virtue for me that I want to achieve and as a result, remove a lot of stress from myself. 

Perseverance/Being proactive

Often, when teachers assign a lot of homework, I (like most students) sigh, groan, and complain. I tend to use a lot of reactive language: “Ugh, I can’t do this,” and I realize that it started to ruin my overall mood and as a result, make me more stressed about work that may not seem as difficult if I use more proactive language. I want to become more motivated during this experiment of having a new schedule, and although I know being reactive comes very easily to almost every teenager, I want to correct myself whenever I use reactive language by reminding myself to have a “can-do” attitude. Rather than waiting for something to happen and thinking about problems and challenges to time management, I want to take initiative, be a step ahead, and think about solutions and options to success, instead. By being more proactive I also will learn to persevere, even when the outlooks are bad. Perseverance is just that - doing something despite the difficulties or time and effort it takes to achieve. In my own life, I believe I started to lose perseverance after getting an unsatisfactory SAT II Bio score, which hurt my dreams of majoring in medicine as an undergraduate. Usually, I would work so hard and achieve the way I had wished, but on this test, after studying for months and taking a myriad of practice tests, my scores didn’t come out so well. This is when I started losing faith and perseverance. I thought, “Why try so hard, if the results are bad anyway?” I want to fix this in my daily schedule by taking one step at a time with my studies. Taking all these SAT tests is going to be hard, and right now I am starting to get tutored for the SAT II Math 2C test. No matter how bad the outlook seems, I will practice this virtue by studying really hard, improve little by little, and by using proactive language, I will believe in myself that I will succeed. 

Life Outside the Internet

As technology advances, it has become almost impossible for people of all ages to go a day without reading news online, or checking social media accounts, such as Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat. I realize that I waste a lot of time sending meaningless snapchats to friends to keep streaks, or watching a funny video that wouldn’t affect my day in any way. Because of social media, I realize that I get distracted with my studies, so it takes much longer to do what may have seemed like a little bit of work. I also think my obsession over socializing with friends through the Internet prevented me from doing something enjoyable and relaxing outside. I want to live my life both inside and out of technology. Therefore, I will give myself an hour or two after school to really socialize with friends before starting homework, during which I will put my phone away in another room. I will only contact classmates if I am in dire need of help and advice. I will also give myself an hour on certain days to do things that require no technology. It may be playing chess with my brother or taking a stroll outside in my neighborhood. I believe this is an important virtue to have in a stressful teenage life like mine, as I need more balance in my life.