In order to complete their school work and assignments on time, students need to have good time management skills. Planning helps students set aside the time they need for projects and tasks, and they can utilize that time more effectively.
Organizing time better helps students learn more effectively, become more confident, and be more organized. Furthermore, it prevents the dreaded procrastination problem, leading to frustration, poor grades, and stress.
High school students need to learn how to manage their time effectively. When students enter high school, they have to deal with more subjects, assignments, tests, and extracurricular activities. As they take on more work, practical time management skills can help them stay on track.
What is time management?
Time is a finite resource, much like energy and money, so managing it as effectively as possible is essential. You need to plan out and control how much time you spend on specific tasks to manage your time.
A student’s ability to manage time effectively depends on several skills, including:
1. Establishing goals
It isn’t easy to do anything well when you don’t know how to spend your time. The student should have short-term and long-term goals. The goal may be to complete their homework by the end of the day so that they have plenty of time to practice. Long-term, they may want to play with the school or church band or the Australian Youth Orchestra!
2. Setting priorities
The importance of a task can be determined by determining what needs to be accomplished within a given timeframe. Establishing daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals can help students achieve them. The practice also helps ensure that vitally important but not urgent activities – personal devotions, sufficient rest, and exercise – are given the highest priority. People often prioritize easy tasks first thing in the morning and then use the boost to get their day going. Some prefer to start with the most challenging tasks.
3. Organizing
Establishing priorities is the first step, then developing a plan for achieving them. Organizers come naturally to some people, while others need help. Maintaining an organized calendar and keeping your study area neat can help. Numerous software programs and apps can help you stay organized.
4. Stress management
Extreme stress is not conducive to peak performance. Students need to keep a healthy balance between studying and staying productive. A good sleep schedule and regular exercise are great ways to combat stress and improve learning.
Time management tips for kids.
Having fun while managing time
The older generation associates time management with carpools, bedtimes, endless meetings, and PTA events. Time management can seem impossible when you are stressed. Fortunately, kids can learn time management in a fun way. Kids can color their calendars with crayons. They can decorate their calendars with stickers.
Get your children to compete to carry out simple household tasks that are usually time-consuming, like getting their shoes on, brushing their teeth, or preparing their backpacks for school. If you make time management fun for your kids, you will get them to understand the importance of time and how to manage the ticking clock.
Don’t overschedule your children.
As parents, one of the biggest mistakes we make is trying to ensure our kids take part in every activity after school. By over-scheduling the entire family, we have a packed calendar every day of the week.
Make everyone’s life easier by not over-scheduling your children. Instead of managing their time correctly, they feel a constant need for go-go-go, which leaves them craving some downtime. If you over-schedule, your schedule will be thrown out of whack as well. We encourage you to avoid it so we can all become better time managers.
Please don’t wait until they’re teenagers.
Teenagers can certainly learn time management skills as well. Nonetheless, the earlier you get started, the better for them, and the easier it will be for you.
Putting on their clothes as well as cleaning up their toys are great ways for preschoolers to learn. Start by setting up set start and end times for school-age children to complete their homework and complete simple household chores.
Time off from the schedule
There is no way to overstate how important it is to set a schedule and stick to it. Free time should also be included in that schedule. Learning how to manage time effectively begins with blocks of time to do nothing. If your kids are trying to learn to manage their time, solo playtime can be fun and unstructured at the same time.
Also, they learn that time management isn’t only about getting ready to go somewhere or finishing structured activities on time. It also means you take time for fun activities.
Measure time with your kids
Measurement of time isn’t always understood by children who know the time. Put a timer on during a period of time when they’re supposed to be completing a task. You can begin to give them a sense of time segments by keeping a clock nearby and counting down the minutes as they pass.
There’s no point in teaching your kids to live by the clock. Your goal should help them understand how it feels to be awake for an hour, 15 minutes, or even 5 minutes. As soon as you say, “we will leave in five minutes,” they know that does not mean they have time to watch television, play with their toys, and tidy their rooms.
Make calendars for each family member.
Every child should have their calendar in addition to the family calendar. Then, he will keep a personal schedule in his room that is more detailed than the family calendar.
This calendar should be divided into daily or weekly tasks. Your kids should use their calendars to be able to add new tasks as well as mark off completed ones. You can talk about anything from getting ready for a soccer game to what projects he must complete before the science fair.
Focus on the task at hand
When the kids are getting along so well, it can be tempting to allow them to play for a few more minutes. Moreover, there are some days when you wish the children would study more, even though their time management plan dictates they be in bed at 7:00 p.m.
Be on task while your kids are learning how to manage their time. After the allotted time has passed, move on to what’s next on your schedule, regardless of how involved they are. Children can get thrown off if even a few minutes are diverted from the schedule. Be consistent with your schedule in the early days and weeks of learning how to manage your time.
Manage time with kid-friendly tools
Check out these kid-friendly time management tools, including apps and magnetic calendars. Use visuals and techniques that are relatable to your children. As a parent, only you will know your child’s learning style.
Technology-loving kids can enjoy apps. With magnetic calendars for kids, you can help your children plan their days visually, from sports practices to vacations. Getting creative and time management tools that work for your unique family schedule is always an option.
Rewards worth considering
Children can indeed be rewarded for good time management. These perks can be a powerful motivator. It would help decide what rewards you will receive daily or weekly as a family.
Think outside the box when it comes to your rewards. You can reward your children by letting them play video games. It’s even better to do it together. The study schedule could be followed for a week and equate to a family movie night. You can reward young kids for completing three or four of your schedule’s goals by playing a board game together. As a result, you will have time to spend with your family when you earn time-management rewards.
Conclusion
In the end, even though children may not realize it at the time, the ability to manage their time effectively will help them for years to come. They won’t need to worry about staying up all night to finish projects before the due date. Nor will they worry about forgetting to bring home an assignment from school. Most importantly, with good time management skills, students won’t have to deal with that nagging sense of having left something undone or unfinished.