The ABCs of Productivity: Teaching Time Management to Kids

Being productive is what every parent and educator wants to teach a kid under their supervision. Productivity and time management skills  go together. When you learn to manage time efficiently then you can enhance your productivity. This is why, to become truly productive in life, developing time management skills for children is very important.  By learning these skills, they can have more control over the daily routine activities. They can also be able to complete tasks by designated deadlines, prioritize the tasks that need the utmost attention, and achieve more milestones in less time.

Wondering how time management skills and productivity are related. Well, time management teaches kids to manage more tasks in less time. This way they tend to accomplish the projects and assignments by the deadline without feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Such timely completion of tasks gives them a sense of accomplishment and motivates them to follow the pursuit of all daily routine tasks. The more kids can accomplish in time, the higher will be their productivity. This higher productivity helps them in academics and general life as well. In this article, you can get acquainted with the ABCs of productivity for children. So, read through the end and help your kid gain the time management skills they need to progress in life.

Effective time management strategies for kids

If you are looking forward to building productivity habits in children, then you need to work on their time management skills. This is the approach that the top-rated ICSE school in Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore opt to enhance productivity among kids. Here are some kid-friendly time management tips that can come in handy for you to enhance the time management skills of your kid. Follow these tips to help your kid take a step forward toward productivity.

• Devise a schedule: To ensure effective time management for youngsters, you need to devise a schedule depicting the daily routine for your kid. While devising the schedule you must make your kid sit with you and give his/her input in the schedule. Make sure that you hear their viewpoint and devise a realistic and workable schedule. Devising a non-realistic schedule with extremely high hopes can end up frustrating your kid. This is why your focus should be on the workability of the schedule. Also, make sure that the schedule doesn’t include the homework and duties of the kid, rather make room for playtime, socialization, and bedtime in the schedule too. The real purpose of making this schedule is to offer a routine plan for your kid that they can follow to do all daily tasks in a timely fashion while accomplishing their goals. Motivate your kids to follow the schedule but adjust it if needed. A rigid approach can put the kids under stress  which is why you need to flexibly adjust the schedule whenever required.
• Keep a timer: One of the greatest time management strategies for kids is to keep a timer to time activities. Having endless time to complete a task can make the kids slow. They will never learn time management in a true sense if they do not complete the tasks in the prescribed time. This is why you should use a timer that will give them the motivation to complete the assigned task promptly. You can use the timer for particular tasks. Say you set a 30-minute timer for homework. This will give an inner motivation to the kid to stay productive and complete the said homework before the timer beeps. Make it kind of a game where the kid has to complete the assigned task before the timer beeps. This challenging and motivating approach will help your kid to manage time efficiently and complete all tasks quickly.
• Divide tasks into workable chunks: Large tasks can take considerable time and can demotivate the kids as they think that they are incapable of completing the tasks. To keep your child encouraged, you need to divide such tasks into small, easily manageable chunks.  This way the kid can get the feeling of accomplishment after completing those chunks and feel motivated to complete the rest of the task with the same zest.
• Allow break time: Between different tasks, make sure to give the kids a break so that they won’t get overwhelmed. Breaks are necessary to keep the kids energized and make the whole process of learning time management interesting. Without breaks, the kids can get stressed and overworked with the burden of completing one task after the other. When offered breaks, the kids get enough time to regain their energy and also feel motivated to complete the tasks to enjoy the little breaks.

• Celebrate milestones: When you divide the tasks into workable chunks, then you must celebrate when the kids achieve any of the milestones. Little celebrations can go a long way in enriching the self-confidence and motivation level of your kid. They realize that their efforts have paid off. The feeling of accomplishment and worthiness is great to boost their confidence and leads to higher productivity in life.  This approach of celebrating milestones is what best pre-primary schools near Bannerghatta Road also apply.
• Turn time management into a game: If your kid is having a hard time learning, then it is better to opt for fun ways to teach kids time management. You can make it a game to complete the task. For instance, you can develop a time management bingo whereby kids can win the game whenever they complete the task in time that you have suggested. You can also create other custom games to make time management a fun activity instead of something that keeps on the nerves of your child.
• Offer Rewards: To make time management fun for your children, you can offer them incentives and rewards when they complete their assigned tasks. You can also offer the best rewards if the task is completed within the deadline. This way the rewards motivate the kids to attain their goals in the least possible time. Rewards can be decided depending on what your kid likes. They can range from additional pocket money, your kid’s favorite snack, extra screen time, a treat, a trip to Funland, or a family outing. It is crucial that you offer rewards that your kid values because the dear the reward is, the higher will be the motivation level to attain that reward.
• Offer guidance gently: When guiding the kids about time management strategies, maintain your calm and patient level. Your supportive and gentle behavior is necessary to keep the kids on the right track. Even if the kid is giving you a hard time or is taking too long to grasp the concept of time management, still you need to give them reminders gently. You can make them sit and discuss where they have lagged. Instead of insulting them for not attaining the goals, you should encourage them and show them ways in which they can efficiently attain the set goals.

Get professional help: If you are a parent who finds it hard to make kids learn time management and productive strategies then you can always get help from professionals. By professional, I am referring to the schools and academies that are dedicated to kids grooming along with teaching the general curriculum. Even there are many schools who have incorporated such skills into their regular curriculum. For instance, the Sherwood High pre-primary curriculum focuses on kid’s skill development and productivity. The Time management curriculum at Sherwood High is truly exceptionally developed which is why it is included in Bannerghatta road’s recommended preschools for kids. These schools have qualified staff who know how to manage kids and instill productive habits. Enrolling your kid in such a school is a sure way to let your kid learn all these strategies and reach a higher level of productivity.