by Jennifer Searle

Created on: December 04, 2008

Every human on earth has 168 hours a week to spend doing the things needed for basic survival and the left over is spent doing what we choose to do. In our modern age, the need to learn time management skills begins almost as soon as parents can reason with their toddlers. However, while time management is an important skill to cultivate in children, it is also essential for children to have unstructured, unscheduled play time.

One of the most important aspects of time management is the vocabulary used in everyday conversation. How often do we make the comment of "having to do" something? Frequently, we procrastinate finishing projects, tasks, or assignments, because we use the words "have to" in front of the things we choose to do. By saying "have to" we eliminate our responsibility of choice to accomplish the task and place it on an external source. This vocabulary causes a type of rebellious reaction that perpetuates a procrastination habit in most people.

Procrastination can also come in the form of loading our plates too full of things that "have to" be done. When we begin to feel overwhelmed we tend to not fully do anything, but instead become stressed, frazzled, and ill. The strongest teaching tool in a parent's arsenal is example. So, when a parent exhibits over doing and procrastination, regardless of what they tell their children, their children will learn poor time management skills and procrastination from their parent's examples.

The best way to teach a child time management skills, is by knowing the procrastination triggers. For most families at least one parent works outside the home, and while that parent might exhibit great time management skills at work, the children will never see those skills being put into practice. Therefore, the time management skills they will see are the ones exampled at home by their parents. For a stay at home parent, or even working parents, who use vocabulary such as: "We have to clean such and such. We have to make dinner. You have to clean your room. You have to do homework." can find themselves faced with children who end up with poor time management skills due to unintentional rebellion resulting in procrastination.

The way to change this learned behavior, essentially a bad habit, is to change the vocabulary used around the home. Using words such as need and want, choose and choice, we can eliminate the rebellious reaction and instill a good time management vocabulary. This may seem strange as many things, such

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