Time Management

Time Management is the Thinking Skill that helps children to prioritize tasks and get things done in a timely fashion. It involves accurately judging the amount of time it will take to complete a task, and knowing how to stick to a schedule. An example of good Time Management skills would be for a child to decide right after school to finish his homework and chores so that he has time to watch TV later in the evening.

Video games can help improve Time Management by allowing kids to practice their Time Management skills while in the midst of a fun and immersive gaming experience. Many games require that the player complete a certain amount of tasks and challenges within a limited time-frame. Games often require that players prioritize their actions in a game so as to maximize their progress and success.

Watch the video below to learn more about how video games can help your child improve her Time Management thinking skill.




Featured Time Management Games and Beyond Games
Pick a Time Management game or other digital technology (Beyond Games) from the lists below.

Learn More About Time Management

Time management involves the ability to respond to things in a timely fashion, estimate the time necessary to complete tasks, and have the ability to make and follow a schedule. It often involves monitoring one’s effort and actions, having an appropriate sense of urgency to complete tasks, and having the ability to follow a step-by-step procedure.

Effective Time Management often involves the use of other executive functioning skills, such as task initiation, where getting started on something in a prompt fashion is important. Planning, organization, and sustained attention are necessary skills, as well, for a child to be able to be efficient in scheduling, juggling activities, and completing tasks. Time management skills help older children in being able to maintain effectiveness in school, social relationships, and extracurricular activities. Younger children with good Time Management skills may be more independent and have more time to engage in preferred activities.

Children must often utilize task initiation, such as getting started on something in a prompt fashion, and sustained attention, where they are able to ignore distractions. Effective use of Time Management helps children to be more efficient and more effectively juggle a number of activities. For older children and teenagers, this might involve being able to do their homework and be involved in a sports time or extracurricular school activities, and still have time for their friends or work. Younger children will show independence skills such as being able to get themselves ready for school in the morning and still have time to watch a favorite television show or play outside before school.

Skillful application of Time Management is seen when children:

• combine school, social, and extracurricular activities without being overwhelmed by stress.
• tend to be good at planning and scheduling.
• are able to judge the difficulty of tasks and the amount of time it may take to complete a task.
• can anticipate the tools necessary for successful completion of tasks.
• are able to complete tasks or chores in a timely fashion.
• prioritize their activities effectively, for example, choosing to do their homework. prior to going out with their friends or watching a favorite television show.
• anticipate the time needed to complete long-term school projects.

Unskilled use of Time Management is seen when children:

• do not plan their time well, and frequently need to rush through their homework. or stay up very late to complete assignments.
• have difficulty in estimating the amount of time necessary to complete a chore, homework, or long-term project.
• exaggerate the difficulties they are likely to experience in performing a non-desired task, therefore avoiding it.
• waste time.
• take too long to get ready for school in the morning.

Home and school situations that require Time Management:

• working efficiently to meet a deadline for a project or paper
• turning in homework assignments on time
• waking up early enough so one has enough time to get ready for school
• allotting enough time to complete a chore, such as folding laundry or mowing the lawn
• arriving to school or sports practice on time
• prioritizing schoolwork in terms of importance and due date
• keeping track of time when playing videogames or watching TV

Hints and strategies to improve Time Management:

• maintain a daily to-do list with your child. Post a dry-erase board in a prominent area in the home that states "To Do" on the top, followed by the date. Create two columns, one for you and the other for your child. Develop a regular morning (or evening-before) routine of listing two to four priorities for the coming day. As she gets better at doing this, it may be possible to increase the number of postings per day. Generating a longer list of items and using the process of erasing them to prioritize what might be reasonable to do on a given day would show a willingness to move tasks around to help set realistic goals.
  
  
• reward Time Management. If your child can budget his time to finish schoolwork after school, then perhaps allow him watch a favorite movie or program later that night. If your child finishes a project for school on time, then take him out to his favorite restaurant. By rewarding these behaviors, your child will become more apt to complete things on time and maintain good prioritization.
  
  
• help your child break down bigger tasks into smaller ones. In order to successfully budget time, large tasks should be broken down into certain days and times. For example, if your child has a science fair project due in a month, then help by breaking down the task into weeks and require that certain parts of the project be done by the end of each week.
  
  
• make certain tasks into somewhat of a competition. For example, to get some tasks done by a certain time, such as household chores, you could say “Let’s see if you can beat the timer.” By doing this, your child will have a form of motivation to get the task at hand done.

Further Reading About Time Management:

• Cooper-Kahn, Joyce, Ph.D. and Laurie C. Dietzel Late, Lost, and Unprepared. A Parent's Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning. Maryland: Woodbine House, 2008.
  
  
• Cox, Adam J., Ph.D. No Mind Left Behind (Chapter 6). London, England: Perigee Press, 2007.
  
  
• Dawson, Peg, Ed.D. and Richard Guare, Ph.D. Smart but Scattered. (Chapter 18). New York: The Guilford Press, 2009.
  
  
• Dawson, Peg, & Richard Guare. Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents. New York: Guilford Press, 2010.
  
  
• Espeland, Pamela, and Elizabeth Verdick. Smart Ways to Spend Your Time: The Constructive Use of Time Assets. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit, 2005.
  
  
• McCloskey, George, Perkins, Lisa A., & Bob Van Divner. Assessment and Intervention for Executive Function Difficulties. New York: Routledge, 2009.
  
  
• Morgenstern, Julie, and Jessie Morgenstern-Colon. Organizing From the Inside Out for Teenagers: the Foolproof System for Organizing Your Room, Your Time, and Your Life. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2002.
  
  
• Richard, Gail J. and Jill K. Fahy. The Source for Development of Executive Functions. East Moline, IL: Lingua Systems, 2005.

What's Next?

Next, it's time to play Shape Switcher. Click the "Shape Switcher" link in the navigation bar or click here.

Remember, you don't need to play all three games in one session. In fact, in order to give the lessons a chance to sink in, it would be best to play them on separate days.