Good Monday morning to all of you, I have recently been coaching a young boy whose time management skills need some area of improvement. And I have had a parent and child session where I have asked the parents and child to create a schedule, a timetable, a written one and a place where he can put it up on the wall. Do you have a written timetable for your child or for yourself? What is the reason for having a timetable that you can stick up on the wall? Why is it so important? Because this child insisted he can keep it all in his head. There are 5 reasons for having a written timetable:
1) Routines and timetables help to eliminate the power struggle between the parent and child. So instead of bossing around your child or nagging him or reminding him, when something is up on the wall both you as a parent know what is expected of you and the child knows what he has to do.
2) Children learn to take charge of their own activities and it fosters independence. They know what is on the wall so if they need to pack their bag or get ready to go somewhere they will learn to do it themselves without being nagged and that fosters independence in the child.
3) Children learn to delay gratification. What this means is, you know how we live in a McDonalds world where everything is instant. So when there is a timetable and there is a time for playtime or gaming time or telephone time, children know that they need to do 1, 2 or 3 things to reach that particular thing that they enjoy to do. So it helps them to build a very very important life skill that helps them wait for that moment and to savor it.
4) Time tables help to eliminate stress and anxiety. Because you as a parent have a lot of things to do, if you have more than one child, just ferrying them to school and back or to activities can be really really stressful. But if you have something ready on the wall and you and the child know what to do and that eliminates a lot of stress and anxiety.
5.) Time tables in the long term create more time. How does that work? Because you have eliminated the nagging and running behind the child, the delays. And when things begin to run more smoothly, you begin to get gaps between the timetable that you can use as a parent for bonding, for connection with your child.
So I hope that you as a parent have realized that you need to sit with your child and create a timetable, a routine or schedule that you can put up on the wall for each of your children so they each have something to follow.
If you would like your child to excel in managing his time, increase his focus and concentration then check our Youth Coaching Program and you can also contact me via email [email protected] or phone (+971) 56-1399033.