It’s terribly tough to tackle time management — especially for kids

I’m in a Mastermind for entrepreneurs.

These are folks who own businesses that generate millions of dollars. They lead dozens, if not hundreds, of people. And most of them have families and personal commitments.

Every week, we get together as a group to discuss the challenges that are keeping us from reaching our goals.

And every week, the same challenge comes up — time.

Y’all — these are incredibly skilled entrepreneurs, and even they struggle to manage their time effectively.

Think about everything that’s on your kid’s plate, and how hard it must be for them to manage their time.

So I asked around, and came up with some killer techniques for you to try with your busy kid:

Tactic 1 — The two minute rule

If a task takes less than two minutes to complete, train your kid to do it immediately. This helps prevent small tasks from piling up and becoming overwhelming. 

It's a simple way to keep their to-do list manageable and their stress levels low.

I begin every day with a slightly different version of this — if a task takes less than 10-minutes, I do it, no matter how high it is on the priority list. That means that in the first 30-minutes of every day, I cross off at least  3 items from my to-do list.

It’s an incredible motivator, and supercharges me into a productive day. ✌️

Tactic 2 — Use tech… the right way

Introduce your kid to apps like Todoist and TickTick (not to be confused with TikTok, which robs them of their time 🙄).

These tools help them to map out their day, week, and month. They can set deadlines, create to-do lists, and prioritize tasks.

Traditional planners with pen & paper are great, but tech is so much better when it comes to time management.

Tactic 3 — Embrace “micro-progress”

We wrote about mico-progress here.

To do this, simply break large tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. This makes daunting projects feel less overwhelming and easier to tackle. 

For example, instead of “Finish science project,” they could have steps like:

• “Research topic” 

• “Write introduction”

• “Create presentation slides” 

Checking off these smaller steps can also provide a sense of accomplishment and keep them motivated. 👊

Tactic 4 – Pomodoro technique (which has nothing to do with spaghetti 🍝)

Pomodoro technique will help your kid focus.

It’s simple:

• Set a timer for 25-minutes and concentrate on one task.

• When the timer rings, take a 5-minute break.

• Repeat this cycle 3 more times, then take a longer break.

Pomodoro technique keeps their brain fresh and focused.

BONUS — there are also great apps to help them embrace this method, like Tomato Timer (with an adorable anthropomorphized tomato 🍅) and Pomofocus.

Tactic 5 — Prioritize with Eisenhower

All of these techniques are great — but often the problem is not knowing what to focus on.

That’s where the Eisenhower Matrix can help.

Every day, have your kid put their tasks into one of these categories:

This will help them determine how to prioritize their to-do list.

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Time management may be the one universal life skill that, if mastered young, underpins every happy life. 🚀