10 Steps to Teach Your Child Time Management Skills

If you are trying to teach your kids how to imbibe time management skills, this blog has ten tips that can help.

1. Make The Task Fun:

One of the best ways to make something interesting to a child is to make it fun for them. A great way to do so is to get them involved in the task. For instance, try asking them to create their own calendars as a drawing game with crayons.

You can also add more stickers to them to make it interesting for them to look at. Try making everything they have to do a game for them. The more fun they have while doing the task, the easier it will be for them to understand the importance of it.

2. Start Quick:

As every child psychologist suggests, pre-schoolers are much more susceptible to imbibing a trait than teenagers. They often learn through minute tasks getting completed in a short block of time.

This can be any such task, whether cleaning their toys or folding their clothes. However, as they start growing up, they are already habituated to the start and end times of each task and understand time management more easily.

3. Teach Them How To Measure Time:

Telling what time it is might not always mean the kids know how to measure it. You will have to make them understand how to keep count. Try giving them a task and setting a timer.

This utilises positive psychology to help them gain an internal sense of time. You are not trying to teach them to live by the clock. Instead, you want them to understand how long 20 or even 5 minutes feel like.

4. Take A More Holistic Approach:

Creating a holistic calendar for all members of the family can be a great push for your child to keep up. Kids often follow adults, and if you could make it seem like you are keeping track of time, they will try as well.

To make them interested, you can make it a family bonding activity. If they see that this simple activity keeps the whole family on schedule, they will understand its importance as well.

5. Create A Calendar For Each Member:

Along with a family calendar, try creating a specific calendar for each member. As per a child psychologist, your child should not feel singled out. This will make them dislike the task.

However, there are several things you cannot add to the family calendar. So if they see you making one for each, they will believe that everyone is following one. You can also make it a fun project and allow them to be more creative.

6. Keep Them On Task:

While all the previous points make them have a schedule, it is your discretion that will make them follow it. Every kid wants a few more minutes of playtime, or you might want them to study a bit more.

However, when learning time management, both you and they have to be considerate of what’s next on the agenda. Straying even a mere minute can gradually impact their perception of time.

7. Do Not Overschedule:

One common mistake every parent makes is to try and get their child to participate in all activities. However, that is far from right for positive psychology.

Without a few minutes, even hours of downtime, they will be in a constant rush, overthrowing their understanding of the concept of time altogether.

8. Add Some Free Time:

Time management is all about having a start and end time for specific tasks. Nevertheless, that does not mean it cannot be fun or unstructured. If giving your kid some off time means they will bring out their toys, let them.

This will be even more effective as they will learn to stop what they love doing, giving time more priority. It allows them to learn that it is not just about getting ready or going somewhere, but sometimes fun too.

9. Try Positive Reinforcements:

Positive reinforcement can work wonders for any kid, especially if they are trying to learn a new skill. While you can decide on a suitable interval of the reward, every time they succeed at following that, give them a gift.

The gift can be something small, like candy, or if it is weekly, something big, likes a visit to the park. This makes them want to do it more, eventually turning it into a habit.

10. Create Daily Priorities:

Another important thing about time management is teaching your kids how to prioritise tasks. You cannot have them play all morning and brush in the evening.

Instead, teach them what comes first, second and last. They can use this later in life to get more important tasks done before.

If you have any more queries or questions about your child you want answered, you can always visit Wellbeing Help, which hosts the best psychologists in India.