Posts

Tips for Time Management

/in /by

Regardless of a student’s eventual career path, time management skills are bound to be a necessity. The ability to manage one’s time is sometimes a skill acquired from trial and error, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Students don’t need to miss a deadline in order to learn better time management skills for next time—it is all about proactivity and planning.

Track your time

We typically experience the stress that accompanies a time crunch when we have allowed necessary tasks to pile up. Instead of continuing the cramming and crashing cycle, bad habits involving procrastination can be broken by familiarizing ourselves with our own pace of work and following a schedule based on those timeframes. Therefore, being aware of and proactive about your workload is the best defense against procrastination.

  • Identify your weekly or regularly occurring tasks; any long term project or ongoing task should be listed.
  • For a week, track the exact amount of time that each task requires on a daily basis, including a 10-minute buffer for miscellaneous interruptions.
  • After tracking for the week, identify a rough average for the amount of time each task takes per night. Include a 20 to 40-minute cushion for nights that you know a task might require more time.
  • Use this as a guide for planning the week’s homework time, including time for studying and/or reading.
  • Establish an approximate dinner time and set bedtime, especially for younger children, which can help families manage the schedule and stick to allotted times for weekly tasks.
  • When extracurricular activities, family events, doctors appointments, etc., come into the picture, the approximate allotted time for homework and projects helps to configure the rest of the week’s schedule, almost like a jigsaw puzzle.

Rules of Thumb

  • Encourage children not to spend more than 30 minutes on an assignment—if an assignment takes more time, parents should document how long it took to complete and what made it time consuming.
  • Extended time spent on homework may be something worth discussing with the teacher, especially for children with an IEP or 504 plan.
  • Take short breaks every 20-30 minutes while working to maintain motivation.
  • Identify an incentive that will occupy you for a limited time (no more than 5 minutes, such as a short video clip, song, timed game).
  • Break frequency and length may vary depending on frustration level, time on task, and work
  • A short walk to get some water, use the bathroom, or take a stretch may be necessary and more beneficial for those who struggle with resetting their focus after a break; keep the breaks short to maintain a level
    of focus.
  • Avoid skipping around from assignment to assignment until you’ve fully completed something or have come to a reasonable stopping point.

Procrastination: Why We Do It and How to Combat It

/in , , /by

Procrastination is an all too familiar practice for many of us. While certain people are more likely to put off all tasks until later, we have all experienced the desire to push off occasional duties, errands, chores, or responsibilities. For students, no matter their age or academic aptitude, procrastinating can become an alluring yet problematic habit. Pushing off tasks can become a major pitfall for several different reasons, but there are methods to combat this bad habit—and they begin with awareness.

The problem

Consistently, procrastination creates a snowball effect, in which anxiety or stress further compounds the need for the task avoidance. In basic terms, the more a student puts off a task or assignment, the greater the stress of the impending due date or need for completion. We all know this and can relate to that instinct—we then put it off even further because it has become such a monster that we must avoid it or ignore it at all costs.  

The other issue surrounding procrastination is that we often procrastinate with the tasks or responsibilities that matter most or have the highest stakes. Whether we do this out of fear, denial, indifference, or laziness, the end result is typically the same: we experience a sort of self-destruction by missing an important deadline, or we cave in and begrudgingly and reluctantly complete the task in hurry. Either outcome is less than ideal, especially when grades are involved. Because of procrastination, students dig themselves into a hole, lose motivation, and therefore put forth even less effort with their school work.

The solutions   

Awareness is key to combating the instinct to put off undesirable tasks. Once students realize how they procrastinate, they can begin to alter those behaviors. For example, a student completing research for a paper will find ways to distract himself from the assignment while working. They may check social media, text friends, pause to watch a show, listen to music, or simply scroll through random websites—anything becomes more enticing than the actual research.

Instead:

  • Encourage students to limit distractions by keeping the phone off–limits during work sessions.
  • Complete work in an area away from television, music, friends, and other distractions.
  • Set a timer for 20-30 minutes of solid, uninterrupted work time. Then allow yourself to take a 3-5 minute break, but then get right back to work.
  • Keep light snacks and water at hand while working to stave off hunger and the unnecessary urge to graze to avoid the assignment.
  • Construct a checklist for a multi-step task and prioritize the tasks in order of difficulty. As students work, they should monitor the checklist and stick to the order of steps as necessary. Again, the urge to complete the easiest or most interesting steps is another procrastination tactic—instead, encourage students to tackle the challenging steps first. This will boost motivation and confidence while working.
  • Organize to-do lists with tasks requiring the most time or focus at the top. These are typically the first things that students will avoid completing.
  • Ask students to write down three things that they have accomplished at the end of a work session. The successes, no matter how small, show students that a strong work ethic and focus does help them to chip away at a daunting task that they may have vehemently avoided in the past.  

National Time Management Month: Advice from the Teacher

/in , , /by

“Do as I say, not as I do” certainly applies to this topic of time management. As much as I know how to manage my time, the execution piece has always been a steady work in progress. Shamefully, I must admit that, like many other people, time management is one of my pitfalls. Since I can very personally relate to the struggle that is time management, I can also say that I spend a great deal of time—no pun intended—pondering how to improve my own tendency to procrastinate. Again, I am still working on this lifelong skill; however, I have found some strategies and reminders that prove to be very helpful in this area. As much as we adults struggle with managing our time, so do our students. And, being that they are still developing, maturing, and learning, adolescents can benefit greatly from modeling strategies when it comes to time management.

Students should categorize, then prioritize. In any given week, students may have personal or social obligations, academic obligations, family obligations, or extracurricular obligations—quite the full calendar for today’s teens. Not only can these packed schedules be stressful, but without proper time management, completion of all “to-dos” could prove impossible. Organization is key to prioritizing time.

First, students should categorize all events and due dates on a weekly or monthly calendar. This can be done with post-it notes or color-coordinated pens. After the to-do list has been organized by obligation—school, family, social, etc.—students should rank these items in order of importance for school, family, and extracurricular tasks. Have adolescents consider questions like, “Which assignment is going to take the longest?” “Which task is going to impact my grades the most?” “What family event is the most significant?” This prompts students to consider what items are most important to family members or significant at school, allowing them time to work carefully on the more difficult items. In terms of the social category, students may want to rank or prioritize items based on interest. This way, events or gatherings that teens are most eager to attend can take top priority during their free time.  

Take frequent, short breaks between tedious tasks. Again, planning these breaks ahead of time is helpful for managing one’s time. The idea is to avoid cramming as much as possible, especially when it comes to school-related tasks. When sectioning off study/work sessions, students should be mindful of their focus and attentiveness—a work session is only successful if the entire time slot is spent working efficiently. Students should treat the short breaks as though they are rewards for the “grind” and effort they are exerting. These breaks prevent burnout—which happens when students lose steam or motivation while cramming or working for hours straight. Breaks allow some breathing room so that assignments, tasks, or practices are not only completed, but completed thoroughly and proficiently.

Lastly, and most importantly, put the electronics away. Social media, email, and television are my own vices when it comes to being productive with my time. As much as adolescents may fight this, the focus needs to be solely on the task at hand in order to manage time effectively. Instrumental music is an option for those students who prefer background noise, but truth be told, less is more with regard to distraction.