Does the child constantly complain about lack of time? The “time pie” exercise will teach your child how to plan, turning time management into an exciting game. And if he loves computers, we're waiting for his Progkids!
Why it's important to be able to manage your time
Time management is a key factor in a successful and happy life. Effective time management allows you to:
No.1. Achieve goals
Planning and prioritizing help you focus on important tasks and get what you want faster and more efficiently. Without time management, we often waste time on minor things and procrastinate important things.
#2. Reduce stress
When you're in control of life, you're less likely to get into situations of stress due to lack of time or unfulfilled obligations. Planning helps you avoid fuss and feelings of overload.
#3. Increase productivity
Effective time management allows you to do more over the same period. This frees up time for leisure, hobbies and personal life.
#4. Improve quality of life
When you're in control of your life, you can spend more time on what's important to you: family, friends, hobbies, self-development.
#5. Maintain balance
Time management helps you find harmony between work, family and personal life. You'll pay enough attention to every aspect without sacrificing one for the other.
#6. Achieve success
The ability to manage time is a prerequisite for achieving career goals. Time management allows you to be a more effective and popular specialist.
Time Pie: How to Analyze Your Child's Schedule
The “time pie” exercise is a great tool for visualizing and planning time, especially useful for children and teenagers. It helps you organize tasks and activities across the day, week or month, setting aside time for things that are important to you.
What is the exercise
Prepare materials
You will need a sheet of paper, pencils or markers of different colors, a compass (or a round plate).
Draw a circle
Draw a big circle representing the available time (choose a period per day, week, or month).
Divide the circle into sectors
Each sector represents a specific activity. Their number depends on what period of time you're considering (day, week, etc.). Sectors can be of different sizes depending on how much time is spent on different things and activities.
Paint the sectors
For clarity, each sector is filled with a color corresponding to a particular type of activity.
For example:
- Sleep — blue
- School/Study — green
- Games — yellow
- Household chores — orange
- Meet friends — purple
- Sports/Hobbies — red
- Family — brown
Discussion
After the “time pie” is drawn, start the discussion.
What to discuss after the “time pie” is ready
Proportions
Ask your child which sectors turned out to be big and which were small? Is there enough time spent on important things (sleeping, studying)?
Balance
Is the distribution of time between different activities balanced?
Opportunities
Together with your child, decide how to allocate their time as efficiently and conveniently as possible.
The benefits of exercise
Visualization
The Time Pie clearly demonstrates how time is spent. This helps the child better understand his schedule and adjust it if necessary.
Scheduling
Exercise helps you plan your time more effectively and devote enough time to important things.
Autonomy
The child learns to analyze his time on his own and make decisions about what to spend it on.
Discussion
The exercise is an excellent opportunity to discuss important issues related to time management and prioritization.
Variations
You can use different periods of time (day, week, month), add new sectors or change existing ones depending on the child's needs. Thus, this is a fun and useful exercise that will help you learn how to effectively manage time.
Do you want your child to get a popular profession and become successful in the future? Write it down to free trial lesson at Progkids today!
