Time management for us all can be an endless mountain to climb. For teenagers, whose brains are still very much under construction, the complex task of managing their time in order to complete multiple simultaneous tasks whilst also navigating their social worlds and family routines can seem insurmountable. Our brains are wired to stretch things out – it is so commonplace, that we now refer to this as Parkinson’s Law, which explains that “work expands to fill the available time”. Cyril Northcote Parkinson (British historian) told the story in a 1955 satirical essay for The Economist of a person whose only job for the day was to send a postcard. Given that they had the entire day to complete the task, they spent an hour finding the said card, half an hour locating glasses to see it, 90 mins writing the card etc until the whole day was devoted to this one task. I am sure a similar story like this from your own life may well be coming to mind as you read this! One technique for countering this phenomenon is the Pomodoro Technique (https://www.pomodorotechnique.com/). This basically involves focused work sessions with frequent short breaks. This is a technique that I happened upon myself (though I didn’t realise it was a ‘thing’ back in the late 90s when I was completing my HSC!) After a not so wonderful trial HSC result (read: dreadful), it suddenly dawned on me that there was a limited amount of time left for this school thing and that I was hoping to get something out of my last year – namely getting into my undergraduate psychology degree! I was not one of those students who loved to colour coordinate my study notes and have beautifully organised schedules (oh how I wished I did…) but instead I was one of those students who would receive a phone call (to a landline) from a friend (the one with the colour coordinated notes) asking me if I was actually studying and reminding me to stop looking out the window! So for the eight weeks prior to the final exams I wrote a list of every study topic/task I needed to complete and then using my diary I allocated these tasks to set amounts of time. I created two rules for myself. If I did not finish it – I had to leave it and move on to the next. Secondly, when a scheduled break came up – I could not work through it – I had to take the break. I had to work against the clock. I could not sit at my desk for endless hours with no sense of accountability, looking out the window.
I almost always recommend to those young clients (from primary to high school and university students) who struggle with procrastination (or perfectionism, or both) this type of approach. The Pomodoro Technique approaches this clock based, time limited approach in this way:
- Identify the task you plan to complete.
- Set a 25 minute timer and start work on the task.
- When the timer goes off, tick off one pomodoro on a notepad and take a 5 minute break.
- Do this 4 times then take a longer 15 – 30 minute break.
Each 25 minute work period is known as a ‘pomodoro’. It was invented in the 1980s by uni student Francesco Cirillo. He used the tomato (pomodoro in Italian) shaped kitchen timer to create small achievable blocks of time for focused work (initially starting small because any progress is good progress). He gradually increased these and found he was actually spending more time studying this way and working more efficiently.
I took the opportunity to reach out to our wonderful team here at TYMC to gather some wisdom on how they manage their own time and they certainly came up with some pearls.
Nikita (psychologist) notes that “there is something very motivating about working against a clock” and uses set periods, just like the Pomodoro Technique to get things done. She also likes to make a skeleton plan for writing tasks first so she knows what she is going to be writing about and says “I’m much more efficient at executing the task”.
Debbie, our admin manager emphasised the importance of writing everything down and ticking things off as they are completed. At home she likes to see what is happening for all family members on a whiteboard that everyone can see. Psychologist Maddie agreed that a shared calendar “changed the game” for her and her partner, allowing for fewer double bookings. Stephanie (psychologist) says of her joint family diary “if it’s not in there, it doesn’t get done”. Steph also likes to “chunk” tasks and block out time in her calendar.
Maddie has used AI to organise her day and manage procrastination. The key for her is that she ensures to prompt AI to incorporate breaks, outside time and wind down to help reduce mental fatigue.
Julia (admin) incorporates kids into the family calendar which allows her to “invite” them to events and “set tasks” which might be appointments or reminders for things. This allows her kids to mark these off as “complete”. She also likes to have set times in the week for regular tasks like grocery shopping.
Psychologist Duncan speaks of the importance of making his desk a place he actually is happy to be at and factoring in what he may need whilst he is there (like snacks!)
Monique (psychologist) said “my tip would be to be realistic with your timeframe for tasks”. She used to underestimate how long tasks would realistically take and then feel despondent about not completing what she set out to do. Knowing this, she is careful to estimate the length of a task more carefully and therefore not create expectations that she can never meet.
Psychologist Pina tends to focus on the start of the day for planning and knowing what she needs to do for the day, a practice Lisa (psychologist) also prefers to do. Lisa writes out a “list at the beginning of each day with small doable tasks” that she would like to achieve and “cross(es) each one off as completed” which she finds very rewarding. She does point out however that “it only works when you use it!” Psychologist Kylie likes to get in the night before for this planning, and she also likes to “break tasks into smaller steps so they don’t feel overwhelming, ticking off little wins”.
Now over to you… maybe some of these tips resonate with you or maybe this prompts you to remember some of your own tricks for getting through that to-do list or attacking that task you have been avoiding. Different things work for different people, though there does seem to be a similar thread that runs through all this advice… and it’s about time and accountability. It seems Cyril might have been onto something in that satirical essay in 1955..!