Teaching Children to Manage Time

Time-management is a skill often thought for adults and adolescents, but it is a skill that can be developed earlier on in life and can aid even younger children as they grow. Given the challenges many people with ADHD face in managing time, learning effective time-management from an early age could have a tremendous positive impact.

In the article Instilling Time Management, by Peg Dawson, EdD, and Richard Guare, PhD, which appears in the October 2009 issue of Attention magazine (Attention is a benefit of CHADD membership, and members have access to all past issues through the online archive at the CHADD website. Not yet a CHADD member? Join now), time-management is described as the ability to estimate how much time one has, and how to best allocate it to meet timelines and deadlines. Dawson and Guare describe some of the issues that may arise as parents expect their children to be more effective at managing their time as they grow older, even as the number of demands on their time and distractions grow. When time is not managed effectively, it can lead to conflict between parents and children.

When discussing how to instill time-management, Dawson and Guare start by stating the importance of having a predictable daily routine for children. This is important, as children with ADHD tend to function better when there is a known and predictable way for each day to unfold. Children with ADHD also have a more difficult time adjusting to sudden changes in schedules and new environments than do children without the disorder. As a result, a firm routine can help not only with time-management, but also in general.

Other advice offered by Dawson and Guare includes:

• Talking to children about how long different tasks take to complete.
• Planning activities for weekend days or vacation days that involve multiple steps.
• Parents using calendars and schedules and encouraging the same of their children.
• Purchasing a timer to track tasks.

Talking with children about the time needed to complete different tasks, such as homework or cleaning up their rooms, can help develop time estimation skills. Learning to gauge the amount of time different tasks will take is a critical component of time-management. Planning a multi-step activity puts time estimation to work, as the child must work-out how long each part of the task will take and base a timeline for completion on those estimates. Having a calendar in a visible location in the home can help make time visible for the child, and can show what is coming up and what tasks must be done by what time and day.

One example of a time-managed routine can be found in What We Know #5D: ADHD and Coexisting Conditions: ADHD, Sleep and Sleep Disorders. Under the heading “Dealing with Sleep Problems in Individuals with ADHD," it states: “Practice good sleep habits. Maintain a regular bed and wake schedule, even on weekends… Set up a realistic time for bed and stick to that schedule…” This kind of routine gives a child a sense of stability and predictability, but can also help develop time-management skills. For example, if bedtime is 8 p.m., and the bedtime routine includes brushing teeth, washing up, changing into pajamas and having a bedtime story, then the routine must begin early enough to allow the child to get to bed at 8 p.m. This means the child must be able to determine how long each part of the routine will take, add those times up, and begin the routine so as to have everything completed and be in bed and ready to sleep at eight.

It will still fall to the parents to help their children determine how long each task will take and to keep time for the routine, but this is the kind of situation recommended in the article. As for parents, there are a number of tips and tricks they can learn to help them help their children. One of the best sources of information for parents of children with ADHD is CHADD’s Parent to Parent program. This program is taught by trained volunteers who have been parents of children with ADHD themselves. This gives them a unique perspective, as they are not just teaching the subject matter, but are speaking from experience themselves. Having such parental training can make it far easier for parents of children with ADHD to implement interventions that can help them function at a higher level.

While time-management becomes increasingly important as a child grows into adolescence and then adulthood, it is never too early to begin teaching children the skills to build upon. A strong foundation early on can lead to a more solid structure moving forward, and help children better manage their time through all stages of life. In addition, learning time-management skills early helps to create predictable routines that are beneficial to children with ADHD. When it comes to learning how to manage time, there is truly no time like the present!