Time management for teens: Challenges and teaching strategies

Time management can be a pretty hard skill to learn — even for adults. However, learning time management skills is something that will benefit teens for the rest of their lives as they navigate school, activities, and eventually jobs and careers. Many adults struggle with their own time management skills, so it can feel overwhelming or inauthentic to try to share time management tips with teens. Yet teaching kids things that we ourselves struggle with is one of the most essential parenting skills.

If you're not sure where to start, this guide can help. Here, we'll break down time management strategies that you can use to help your teen become more productive and balanced in their life.

Understanding the unique challenges teens face

It wasn't that long ago when many parents were teens themselves. You probably remember feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, too. Today's teens, however, face even more challenges, which their parents didn't have to navigate in the same way.

Impact of technology on time management

Be a financially smart family!

Be a financially smart family!

From saving for the future to understanding credit, see how families are thriving with Greenlight.

Try Greenlight today

The use of technology has made many things easier, including time management. However, it's often a double-edged sword. Loads of apps are designed to help people develop stronger time management skills, but they can also come with their fair share of distractions.

Teens are generally expected to use their computers or their phones for school assignments, to keep up with their friends, and stay in touch with their parents and guardians. When academic performance is so closely tied to technological savvy, teens are often caught in a difficult position.

While apps like Pomodoro timers and productivity tools can help just about anyone manage their time and develop stronger habits, the always-there nature of technology can be an endless distraction and temptation for teens.

The problem of overcommitment

The pressure to succeed has gotten increasingly stronger with every subsequent generation. Today, kids are expected to excel academically while also playing sports, joining clubs, participating in community service, and more. That overcommitment can lead to stress and burnout.

Importance of setting realistic goals

Let's be real: Not every kid is going to get a perfect score on the SAT. That kind of pressure is counterproductive. Setting realistic goals is far more motivating for teens. Being grounded in reality can be one of the hardest things for a parent to do, but it's crucial to understand both your child's strengths and their weaknesses.

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance

Many adults struggle to maintain a work-life balance, and this has become a problem for teens today, too. While adults often spend too much time on their work, teens are often overcommitted to extracurricular activities because they look good on a college application. Don't let them get burned out by being so devoted to their schoolwork and extracurricular activities that they forget how to be a kid. 

Setting a good example by making time for your own life can go a long way.

Practical tips for time management

Teens face many unique challenges and pressures in today's competitive, demanding world. As they say, "time is money," and building time management skills for teens is incredibly important for functioning in the real world. Here are some tips teens can use to improve their time management.

Utilizing planners and time management apps

As we mentioned earlier, there are tons of time management tools available, from the more digitally-savvy apps to old-fashioned pen and paper. Technology makes it easier to track how long you spend on an individual task and break your day down into blocks. Some of the top time management apps include TimeCamp and Toggl Track.

If you're less into technology, buy a physical planner and help your child keep it up to date with as much detail as possible. Inside their time blocks, they should include what they're doing, whom they're doing it with, what they need, and any necessary contact information.

Implementing the 80/20 rule

The 80/20 rule, or the Pareto principle, says that 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes. While it's primarily an economic principle, it can also be useful in prioritizing tasks and making decisions. Help your teen recognize what activities are going to pay the most dividends, whether it's academically, athletically, or socially.

When considering time management activities for teens, you should think about what the most important items on the agenda are. Of course, homework and studying usually come first. From there, you can look at their schedule and figure out how long they should focus on soccer practice, trombone practice, volunteering in their community, and so on and so forth.

Using the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management strategy in which you do focused work for 25 minutes (which is known as a “pomodoro,” so named because the person who popularized the method was Italian and used a timer that looked like a tomato, or pomodoro in Italian) and then take a five-minute break. Many time management apps feature Pomodoro timers because it's such a trusted method of increasing productivity. This can be a really useful way for teens to break down homework assignments and other daunting tasks that they're having trouble even starting.

Creating an organized study environment

A cluttered desk indicates a cluttered mind. Getting organized is a crucial step in effective time management for teens. Wherever your teen likes to study — whether it's in the kitchen or at their desk in their room — help them find a specific place for everything they need. Make sure the space is well lit and has a comfortable temperature so they can stay there for a while.

Likewise, teens almost always have a litany of papers and folders and notes. Helping them build an organized system to track all of their schoolwork will get them started faster.

Empowering teens to master time: Final tips for success

Mastering time management can lead to improved academic performance and reduced stress, both of which any parent wants for their teen. From utilizing technology to practicing classic time management techniques like the Pomodoro Technique and Pareto principle, time management strategies for teens can pay off for the rest of their lives.

Want more parenting wins? From budgeting to spending wisely, Greenlight’s family money app teaches money lessons for life. Try Greenlight now.