Teens and the Time Management Trap

As you move into your teens, homework increases and grades become more important in pre-college. Track/music practice gets more demanding and extracurricular activities demand more of your time, and that’s not including family and friends in the mix. However, before we talk about time management techniques, it’s important to understand time leaks, the unproductive places where your time seems to disappear.

While there are days when it genuinely feels like a little gremlin is magically sucking the time out of your day, the biggest time wasters have one thing in common…they all have screens. While technology has led to advances in medicine, improvements in the aerospace industry, and greater access to the global economy, it can be a huge waste of time in a teen’s life.

Would you ever let your annoying brother or annoying father knock loudly and repeatedly on your bedroom door every 90 seconds while you were trying to read Shakespeare? I dare say some choice words may fly if they attempted such inconsiderate behaviour. Yet why sit down to study equipped with your buzzing cell phone (with text messaging capabilities), instant messages and email alerts, and a ringing home phone? At least if your little brother is banging on your door, you can yell at him!

Don’t take my word for it about the effect technology has on your study skills, try an experiment to see for yourself. I’m willing to bet that your study time will not only be more efficient, but also more effective. So on any given night, do what you normally do, no change. Take note of how long it takes you to finish your work (remember that with each successive interruption, it takes time for you to find your footing and refocus).

On the next night, turn off ALL interruptions for a period of, say, an hour (I’m not delusional enough to think I could go all night). Tell your parents that unless the house is on fire, you’d prefer not to be interrupted (their stunned look may eventually give way to a small tear of joy). Spend a full, uninterrupted hour doing nothing but your homework. Don’t poke lint on your desk, don’t pick at the loose thread on your sweatshirt, and don’t take notice of the fact that the books on your shelf aren’t arranged alphabetically or by size. See how much you accomplish when you focus on the task at hand and not all the “noise” around you. As a reward for working hard for a block of time, reply to a text or instant message, but only do so for a preset amount of time, say 10 minutes, and then get back to work! Don’t make your goals so unrealistic that you can’t succeed, but raise the bar for yourself – you’ll not only do more, but you’ll retain far more of what you studied for!