Time is one of everyone's most important resources. The first step in managing time is to find out where time is being spent. Have your daughter fill in an hourly time chart for a week so she can see at a glance where all her hours are going. She will be able to determine if she needs to cut back on an activity or may find out that she is spending too much time on the telephone, watching television, or listening to the radio. Your daughter may be surprised to discover how she is spending her time.
Once your daughter knows where her time is going, she is ready to set up a schedule. However, before she does this, she must set priorities determining exactly which activities are most important.
Some students like to plan their time by setting up definite activities for every hour. Others like to use a to-do list that prioritizes which activities to do first each day. For others, the best time-management tool is planning how many hours to spend on major activities each day. Have your daughter try the time-management plan that she believes will work best for her. If it isn't effective, she can try another plan instead.
