How to Teach Your Teen to Manage Time Efficiently
Teenagers typically follow relatively structured schedules because their school and after-school activities are already mapped out for them. Due to this, however, plenty of teens these days don’t develop time management skills. Below are some tips to help you teach your teen how to manage and spend his time more wisely:
Give your teen the necessary tools to help them manage their time properly
This could be a daily planner or even an app where they can list their tasks for the day. Discuss with them how making schedules and listing down things can help them manage their time better.
Model proper time management skills
If your teen sees that miss your deadlines or are constantly rushing and running late, chances are that your teen would follow suit. Get your act together — if you haven’t yet — and show your teen that you can do what needs to be done on time, at least most of the time.
Teach your teen how to prioritize
A birthday party, project deadline, and swim meet might all fall in one day. Regardless if they’re going to a private or public charter school in Salt Lake City or anywhere in the country for that matter, there will come a time that they’ll experience scheduling conflicts. Teach them to prioritize their activities according to their commitments and values.
Advise your teen to list down their scheduled tasks
This way, they’ll know how to efficiently plan their daily activities, such as homework, house chores, and other tasks. Tell them to also schedule some fun time or relaxation time daily, so they can still feel productive even when they’re just reading a book or surfing the Internet.
Resist the urge to nag your teen
It could be tempting to remind your teen repeatedly to do their chores or homework, but this actually shifts the time management responsibility back to you. Instead, hold your teen accountable — set clear rules regarding your expectations and consequences if they don’t follow through.
Teach your teen to build their own daily routine
For example, they should do their homework upon arriving from school, relax for 30 minutes to an hour, then tend to their chores. Once your teen gets used to their daily routine, they won’t waste even a minute of their time just thinking of what they should do next.
Establish clear limits on screen time
If they aren’t mindful of their time, they can easily waste a ton of time playing video games or looking at social media so you need to set clear boundaries that will ultimately help them develop healthy habits for using their mobile phone and other devices.
Teach them how to set goals
Ask if they have specific goals that they want to realize — swimming faster, going to the gym thrice a week, etc. — and then help them figure out how much time they’ll need each day in order to achieve their goals.
Indeed, developing time management skills will take a lot of time, patience, and commitment from you and your teen. In time however, all your efforts will be worth it.
