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Playing against the clock
Remember that category on your elementary-school report card, "uses time wisely?"
If all adults were graded for how we use our time, we'd find that those who manage well are the ones who often succeed.
Time management is a hot topic in the business community, where managers are finding that employees can improve their efficiency by paying a little more attention to how they use
their time.
For you, now is a good point to develop good time-management skills that will help you now—and last you through your life.
"Time management not only helps students accomplish what they want in terms of meeting learning goals and demands, but it also provides a way for students to feel better about themselves and find time to do they things they enjoy—not just the things they have to do," says Sally Woodruff, a school counselor in Missoula, Mont.
Four critical steps
Time management involves four steps: analysis (a list of the things you have to do), prioritization, assigning the tasks periods of time and sticking to the plan you develop. It's critical that you follow through, says Susan Coman, a counselor at Breman High School in Midlothian, Ill.
"One of the most important factors in making this a
successful experience and one that affects change in time and organizational skills is the commitment," Coman says.
Woodruff and other experts recommend starting with a to-do list that includes what you have to do, along with the things that you want to do. She also recommends breaking the requirements into smaller pieces.
For example, if you have three chapters of history to read, finish one in school, one right after school, then take a break. Allow time for talking on the phone or going to the mall, and read the last one later. It’s critical to come up with a plan that realistically estimates the time involved and allows you time to enjoy yourself.
Then, stick with your plan. Woodruff says sometimes it is helpful for a student to start by simply keeping track of everything they do in a day then sitting down to figure out where the time goes.
Mark them off
Woodruff also recommends marking things off the list (no matter how insignificant) as a motivator and to achieve a feeling of accomplishment. It feels good to check off items from your to-do list. To keep track of those items, a variety of planners and organizers are available that help provide a process for keeping track of your time.
They have separate sections for to-do lists each day and for specific scheduled activities. Experts warn, however, that even the most elaborate planner won't do much good unless the three priorities are met – listing, prioritizing and following through.
Sally Swanson, president of the Connecticut School Counselor's Association, says many educators believe that time-management skills are something students should learn in school, right along with grammar and the multiplication tables. "The truly overwhelmed kid probably hasn't yet ordered their priorities, hasn't broken them into manageable pieces, nor decided how to manage a commitment to them. They're just not taught how to," Woodruff says.
A timely tale
Woodruff explains that one student visited her with a series of problems: excessive test anxiety, near-failing grades and discipline problems. He looked as if he were under a lot of stress. Woodruff says his problem was that he did not know how to study or allocate time for homework.
Together they established a schedule for the student
that allowed time for work and for the things he liked to do. They discussed how to break his work into smaller segments.
"In less than a quarter, he pulled his grades up to high B's, looked rested and healthy and forged a new reputation with teachers and students as a 'together kid.' He even brought his brother into Woodruff's office so she could put him on the same program. Woodruff says this miracle program only involved time management.
Swanson says two things get in the way of good time management: procrastination (putting something off until later) and peer pressure (letting friends influence you to do something other than your priority).
You need to allow time for friends and even just hanging out, but try scheduling your free time in so you know when you really have time for it. Be realistic. Don't try to do too much or plan to attack more than you have time for.
"Adolescents by nature think they are invincible. They become involved in too many activities and realize, sometimes too late, that they cannot complete their work or participate in so many things," says Swanson.
Time management means not just listing what you want to do or need to do, it means you have to realistically figure out whether you can.
"Setting limits,” Swanson says. “That is very important." Article provided by 
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