Www.meyerslearningcenter.com Time Management Tools for Families Ali Zidel Meyers, MSW

www.meyerslearningcenter.com

Time ManagementTools for Families

Ali Zidel Meyers, MSW

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Relax; it’s not that kind of talk.

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Welcome• Who I am

• Why time management skills?– Laying the groundwork…school and life skills– The struggles are real, and so are the benefits– Working smarter, not harder

• Caveats:– No silver bullets– Help yourself: an a la carte presentation

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5 Questions(There will be a quiz!)

1. Describe a thought process required for organization and time management.

2. When do the frontal brain lobes tend to reach maturation?

3. Name three of the “Five Friends”.4. How can you role model effective time

management skills? 5. Give an example of direct instruction or

limit-setting with time management skills.

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Organization and Time Management: Thought Processes

Organizational cognition (before action even happens):– Cognitive processes

• Categorizing• Sequencing• Prioritizing

– What we take for granted as adults… • Slice It Up handout

– Developmental factors: the finicky frontal lobes and Executive Functioning

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Habits of Time Management: The Five Friends

What we can do to cultivate effective

time management habits in our children:

1. Role Modeling

2. Direct Instruction

3. Limit-setting

4. Routines

5. Problem-solving

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Teaching Time Management Skills

– Role modeling: They watch what you do, and they do as you do.

– Direct instruction: Show and teach new skills directly.

– Limit-setting: Define/communicate boundaries.

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Teaching Time Management :Role Modeling

• The Ping-Pong Program: – Play ping-pong for 12 hours and lose 1lb – Examine and address ping-pong tactics in

your life. – Look for ways to make your own tasks more

efficient, and model those for your child.

• How can we expect our children to develop good time management skills if we don’t model them ourselves?

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Teaching Time Management:Role Modeling

• Be the change! Practice the behaviors you want to see your child adopt.

• Start early. Be ready for appointments on time (or early).

• Practice (and show the value of) preparation. Break projects down into manageable parts. Avoid the last-minute crunch.

• Build time awareness: - Time estimates, real time (chart it)- Teach overestimation

(contingencies)

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Teaching Time Management:Role Modeling

• Buy an old-fashioned (analog) watch and

wear it; have your child wear one so s/he can see the ticking away of seconds to hours--how time moves.

• Have EXTERNAL dialogues about time with your child.

• Post a large calendar for the family; empower everyone to use it as a master planning tool.

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Role-modeling Time Management

• Do you feel victimized by time?• Schedule/commitment overload and

stress• Consider messages transmitted to

kids about time, choices, and life• Work on creating balance, teaching

balance.• Practice being a time manager,

rather than a time martyr.

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Teaching Time Management:Direct Instruction: How?

Ask, show, tell. • No Osmosis.

– Kids who struggle with organization need new behaviors taught directly (& repeatedly)

– Match teaching methods to their learning styles.

• Be Socrates: asking questions guides children to realize, own, & internalize their learning.

• Time chart

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Time Management: Direct Instruction

Everyday lessons: the world is your classroom• Simple, everyday tasks• Teach time-saving techniques for…

– Computer work, document saving conventions…– Preparation (clothing for next day, lunch)– Teach your child to estimate how long tasks will take,

then add a cushion.– Managing HW. Make it real: use blocks or

manipulatives to demonstrate time and its passing.

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Time Management:Direct Instruction

• Enable kids to partner with you in planning and owning their time. Be architects of time together.

• Build a time management blueprint for a set time period. – Discuss given tasks for a particular day, weekend,

or week ahead. – Break it down and map it out. Plan the timing of

events with your child. – Build in contingencies. When problems arise, treat

them as time-based word problems and solve together.

– Execute the plan. Evaluate its effectiveness.

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Your job is to create the conditions…

Be a farmer …not a fly

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Time Management: Limit-Setting

Publish your priorities.

• Teach “First things first!”…

– “The sooner you do it, the sooner you’re through it!”

• A bliss list or “time tokens” can be used to reinforce the notion of working hard, then enjoying free time activities.

• Maintain limits as non-negotiables.

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Teaching Time Management:Limit-Setting

Consider every single thing your child may consider a birthright…Access to…

• Kitchen/snacks • Play time• Pet time• Screen time (TV, DVD, Computer)

These are privileges, not rights. Use them for limit-setting and healthy habit-

building.

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Time Management Habits:Routines

Begin as you mean to go on…

Routines provide• Consistency…predictability• Safety and security• The groundwork for strong organization

and time management skills…patterns of behavior– Neurological pathway reinforcement +

body muscle memory = HABIT

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Time Management:Routines

• Homework– Sample study routine/schedule

• 3:30-4:00 Home from school. Snack, relax.• 4:00-4:05 Planner check, organize, prioritize.• 4:05-4:50 Homework (HW)/study time.• 4:50-5 Break• 5-5:50 HW time• 5:50 Wrap up, check work, check off planner, pack up, double-

check assignment completion, finish.

• Establish a regular Study Routine: your child’s working hours (no distractions, no interruptions).

• Study Environment (see handout)

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Time Management:Routines

• Teach routines for long-term project planning and execution

• Review, rehearse, and reinforce EACH TIME, until it’s automatic

• Sometimes your job IS to be a broken record– Project Mapping– Gantt Charts (see handout)

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Why: Time Management challenges– The cognitive and behavioral processes required for time

management and organization are complex.• Frontal lobe development, readiness, maturation

– Difficulties may stem from:• Developmental range• Hardwiring or genetics (often associated with ADD,

ADHD, executive functioning, NVLD, creative thinkers—innovators)

• Ingrained habits needing change• Limit-testing and seeking: challenging limits (normal

during adolescence!)• Anxiety, stress, overwhelm (procrastination is often a

symptom…see 10 Tips handout)

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Teaching Time Management:Problem-Solving

Come back to basics: – Consciously practice role modeling, direct

instruction, and limit-setting– Problem-solving: SYSTEM, METHOD

• Involve your child in problem-solving, provide a method to give structure and build habits around effective problem-solving

• PATIENCE with habit modification: Any kind of behavioral change takes time, effort, and lots of practice.

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Reminders for trouble-shooting

When in doubt, resist the SHOUT!• Acknowledge difficulty, empathize• Explain relevance• Help your child find other options.• Emphasize solutions, not what s/he should

have done.• Practice accountability• Ignite Motivation• Celebrate successes, big and small

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Invisible Manholes: Beware

• The School Picture Makeover• The Felt Fishy Syndrome• Magic Wand Mentality

A more realistic view: the 5 Stages of Change

1. Pre-contemplation

2. Contemplation

3. Preparation

4. Action

5. Maintenance (From Prochaska’s and DiClemente’s

Transtheoretical Model, 1983)

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5 Questions(Time for a quiz!)

1. Describe a thought process required for organization and time management.

2. Name three of the “Five Friends”.3. How can you role model effective time

management skills? 4. Give an example of direct instruction or

limit-setting with time management skills.5. Around what age do the frontal brain lobes

reach maturity?

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In Closing…

Four Seasons, Four Sons


Questions?

Organization Skills: Tools for Learning

Ali Zidel Meyers, MSW Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.

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Www.meyerslearningcenter.com Time Management Tools for Families Ali Zidel Meyers, MSW