Time Management

When we think about time management, we think about people being on time or late, but time management is much more than this. Time management is an executive function skill that is really about having an internal understanding of time: estimating time, understanding the passage of time, and using that knowledge in conjunction with other executive function skills.

Getting to class on time entails more than just time management. It includes response inhibition to stop doing what you are doing with enough time to leave and get to your next location. Working memory is needed to think through how much time you will need, potential barriers or obstacles that may come up, and how to plan for those so that you are not late or too early. Emotional control may be needed if you don’t want to do something and have to emotionally be in a place to do it anyway. When we strip all these things away, we are left with an internal clock.

Time management is one of my favorite executive function skills to work on because it is so easily embedded within everything else you do. What you need to do in class is talk about time. 

Estimating time

• Talk about how long you think something will take
• Write that down
• Write down the starting time of a task
• Do task
• Write down the ending time of a task
• How was your estimate?
• If it was off significantly, why do you think it was off?

• If you have a project that is going to take a longer period of time, break it down WITH the class
• Talk about the steps
• How long might each one take
• When should it be started/ when should you be done
• Anticipate barriers

Passage of time

You want to help the student develop an internal clock. To help this, talk about the passage of time. 

• Tell them ahead of time how long something will take. When you complete it, tell them it took X number of minutes. This gives bookends to the elapsed time.

• When you do an activity and talk about time, put it in the context of something the students have experienced.
  • We are working on a project that will take us two weeks, which is the amount of time we usually have for winter break.
  • This will take us 15 minutes. That is the time it takes to drive from here to the High School.
• Do an activity, and after it is done, have them estimate (without looking at a clock) how long it took. 
• Encourage parents to talk about time at home. “We will leave for the store in 30 minutes. That is the same amount of time as one Bluey episode.”

Individuals need to experience time when they have the power to change it. If everything is time structured all the time, they don’t have the chance to estimate and adjust. An example from my own life was with one of my children. That child had a math assignment to do that night and wanted to play video games. I would often get frustrated as a parent when the homework was not done first and this would lead to some power struggles. Once I stepped back and approached this as a time management activity, things got better. 

Example: Mom- “You told me you have math to do tonight. How long do you think this will take you?”

Child- “30 minutes”

M- “You have 2 hours before bedtime. What is your plan to do your math and also have time to play video games?”

C- “I want to play video games now.”

M- “That is fine. What time do you need to stop so that you can get the other things done?”

C- “I don’t know.”

M- “It is 7:00 now. If you need 30 minutes for your math and go to bed at 9:00, what time will you need to stop playing?”

C- “8:30”

M- “Ok, I will remind you at 8:15 that you have 15 minutes left.”

Did it always go this smoothly? No. But it did help with the power struggle and supported time estimation and passage of time while giving the child some choice.

Think about how you can incorporate time discussions easily into your day with students. Estimate time with them, have them estimate time, and check how their internal clock runs.