Now more than ever, higher education and many professions demand more independent planning skills. This shift toward applying more planning is something parents want for their teens. And despite their resistance, teens want to get more control of their lives.
Planning for now and the long run
Learning the skills of planning and prioritizing allows teens to better manage their time. These skills will empower them to be more successful in completing all they need to do without the extra stress and drama. Knowing what tasks are most important to their goals and setting priorities are critical assets. When teens keep track of assignments, supplies, and information, they can accomplish their required work efficiently and accurately and avoid the scramble.
Planners work smarter, not harder
Planning ahead for short or long-term goals isn’t a talent that kids are born with, but they can build their executive function brainpower to do the work they need to do—and do it well, on time, and in less time.
Talk with your teen about why they want to be better planners. Common responses and goals might include:
- Keeping track of what they need to do and getting it done on time
- Being prompt and not having to rush at the last minute
- Planning for ready access to what they need in notebooks, binders, computer files, desks, and backpacks
- Finishing homework efficiently… and doing even better work in less time
- Prioritizing which parts of assignments to do first
- Segmenting time for each part of an assignment
Evaluate examples of planning
Consider what works and what doesn’t.
- Textbooks: Is the book divided into chapters that demonstrate good sequence and separate information into useful topics?
- The school year or vacation schedule: Do the vacation breaks overlap with holidays when families are likely to travel? Does the planning allow for the school year to be broken into chunks, allowing enough breaks? Would it be better to have a shorter summer vacation and more frequent weeklong breaks throughout the year? Should breaks be planned before final exams so one can study and then really relax after exams?
- Season schedule for a sports team: Are the games with any one opponent spread across the season to allow a team who is not playing well at the beginning enough time to improve? Is there enough of a break, especially after long travel days, for players to be fully rested for final and playoff games?
Strategies to build better planning
- Identify someone your teen knows and respects who’s an efficient planner. For example, point out a teacher, friend, sibling, or parent who can be a good source of ideas. What does that person do to stay on plan?
- Use color-coded folders or note cards to plan what they need for each class and project. Store these in a designated file drawer in their room or in named and color-coded folders on their computer.
- Keep a master list of the names of all their active files (computer or paper). Once a month, remove items no longer needed from each folder and the master list.
- Encourage notes for planning, such as attaching (so they won’t be removed) a pen and sticky note dispenser to their desks. This will document information from phone calls, so they’ll have information about plans and appointments they make on hand.
- When teens receive information verbally about something they need to do and can’t immediately write it down, they can do something that will remind them about that information at a later time when they can write it down. For example, move something they usually wear out of its regular place—switch their watch or ring to the other wrist or finger. Noticing the “out of place” watch or ring will alert them that there is information they need to remember later when they are in a position to write it down.
- Even with teens’ planning systems and lists, it’s great to have a final reminder object on which they put important reminder notes. Something they’ll always see right before leaving their room or house—perhaps they can post it on a lamp or picture in their room; the last thing they use in the bathroom, like their hairbrush; or on their backpacks.
- Keep a list that includes strategies that worked and when to use them.
Getting ready in the morning
Getting ready in the morning is a problem for many teens. A morning preparation system can help teens avoid that scattered start to their day. Teens will find the day is much less stressful when they bring everything they need, plan time for breakfast, and avoid anyone bugging them about being late.
Here are some strategies they can use:
- Prepare a master list of everything they might need to do and bring to school on any given day for both in-school and after-school activities. For example, they might need pens, pencils, homework (for each subject), morning chores, lunch, things to remove from their backpack and binder that need to stay at home, and special items such as sports gear or permission slips.
- If your teen is willing, over three sequential school days, guide them to use the list to plan and prepare successfully for what they need to do each day. Go through it when they first get home from school, again in the evening before going to bed, and make a final check before leaving for school.
- After the three days, review the list to demonstrate the successes they achieved in building greater planning success. Ask them what they would like to improve.
- As teens continue to practice their new planning skills, these will eventually become automatic routines, helping them stay on top of assignments, projects, and plans. Teens’ lists will become shorter and shorter as more of the items become habits.
Helping your teens develop planning skills will support them beyond the secondary school years. These skills are critical for time management in higher levels of education or employment when outside monitoring decreases, and routines frequently change. They will build their independence and greater success in careers and higher education as they hone the strategies that provide the most effective and pleasurable use of their time and effort.