Hello Parents!
I am sure that many of us have problems with time management. We are extremely preoccupied with our work life that we often neglect the necessary activities that are vital to us. Spending time with our children, having a social life, and even sleeping seems like a luxury that we can barely afford due to our busy schedules!
Read Also
Now, imagine your children having the same issue too. Being too preoccupied with their school activities and forsaking sleep and other important activities in the process. Isn’t that scary? All these are simply due to poor time management!
To efficiently develop a practice of having good time management, such habits have to be nurtured from a young age. It is vital that your child can balance his/ her life schedule and that can only be achieved by having good time management. Good time management reduces stress for your children and enables them to strike a balance between their school work and social life.
Many parents must be wondering how to develop good time management skills in their children.
We have the solutions to improving your child’s time management skills! Today, we are going to share with you four killer tips to improve your child’s time management skills.
Allowing your child to nurture such skills at a young age can be useful and should be practised throughout his/her lifetime!
#1 Tip: Keep a Timetable
The best way to keep track of your busy daily schedule is to keep your timetable updated. It is important to allow your child to plan his/ her activities of the day ahead by noting it down on his/ her personal timetable.
By doing so, your child will able to remember the activities and timings set to complete each task.
Personal timetables can also be recorded in mobile phones or digital tablets. These devices are equally as efficient as the more traditional form of the timetable such as physical books and diaries.
Allow your child to choose the medium of his/her preference and ensure that it is updated every night before your child goes to bed. Cultivating such a habit is extremely important.
#2 Tip: Prioritising Your Activities
It is essential for your child to learn to prioritise the importance of each activity within his/ her busy schedule.
Your child must learn to understand that at times, people are unable to complete all activities within a day and have to choose the activities which are of a higher priority than others.
Your child also needs to recognise the urgency of an activity. You should allow your child to practise the eventual ability to choose an activity based on its priority. This is important in developing a sense of good time management.
More often than not, your child has to face decisions in life and rationalise them based on his/her own opinion. Practising at a young age allows him/her to make better decisions when he/she is older.
#3 Tip: Stop Procrastination
Procrastination is the Thief of Time
I am sure that many of us have heard of this phrase before.
We have all been guilty of the act of procrastination and bore the consequences that accompany it.
Nothing good ever comes out of procrastination and it is important for your child to understand that before becoming victim of it.
Procrastination is unavoidable and everyone succumbs to it eventually, especially children.
Let’s face it! Not doing anything is better than doing your homework right?
Hence, reduce your child’s chances to procrastinate by removing the various forms of distraction, such as mobile phones or the computers.
By doing so, your child will not have access to social networking sites such as Facebook or Instagram. Without distraction, it reduces your child’s likelihood to succumb to procrastinating. As a result, your child will able to get his/ her work done. This leads to better time management skills.
#4 Tip: Motivate Your Child
While allowing your children to plan their timetable as aforementioned in Tip #1, remind your children to include certain activities that will motivate your child during the day.
Such activities serve as a break in your child’s busy schedule, providing them the opportunity to rest and relax.
Through your child’s rejuvenation, he/ she will become more motivated to complete the task ahead.
This promotes good time management as your child has the energy to complete the following activities after feeling fresh and awake.
Remember, rest is important and it helps reduce your child’s level of stress. Having ample rest allows your child to have the motivation to complete the tasks set out for them during the day.
In conclusion…
Developing a good sense of time management is extremely important! Being able to practise at a young age is essential as it gives your child ample opportunities to nurture such a skill.
Having a personalised timetable is absolutely useful. Planning the day’s activities the night before is essential as it allows your child to anticipate the schedule for the next day!
Realising the priority of each activity is key as its importance have to be first determined. This is to ensure that plan for the day can be productive and realistic.
Stopping procrastination completely is challenging but with discipline, it can be managed. Remember to remove distractions when your child is doing his/ her work to reduce the opportunity to procrastinate.
