Interest-led Time Management

Today my sons and I were talking about projects and time. I've wondered at times if my boys would garner the skills to manage collage classes or jobs if they were not forced to manage 'studies' via a syllabus and/or bell ringing. A wise person suggested I watch them and see what projects they have in their life and what type of management is happening natrually.

I started with one of their favorite hobbies, video games. They have set 'Nintendo time' each week, a certain amount on certain days. They also have days where there is no timer and they do self-moderation, something we have discussed and worked on for a couple of years. I think they have learned a lot from both experiences.

The self-moderation has allowed them, through trial and error, to play uninterrupted and learn to gauge when they have had enough. I often think, when I am working on a project (as many of these games are, especially the RPG and creative games), I do not want a timer breathing down my neck. But I must stop in order to get my other responsibilities done. And also, I need a change of pace. I have seen the self-moderation days help them really grow in maturity and responsibility.

But, I hadn't realized the value of the timed days other than letting me know they were limiting Nintendo time to do other things. A positive I discovered today came up when their good friend was describing a project he was working on for a high school class. He had a specific amount of time in lab at his school he could use the equipment. He described this to us and how he ran out of time today but set up a time with his teacher to finish it in the lab during lunch tomorrow.

My son later told me he has a similar thing happen with his timed Nintendo days. He has certain games he wants to play, some of which are longer projects, such as RPG games, some just fun racing games. He and his brother have to decide how much time to spend on which game, divide the play time and watch the clock.

This led into a discussion about time management in general and how this applies to many facets in life, including future college or work.

Yesterday my son mentioned he better get busy and finish the LOTR trilogy, as he has plans. The more I watch the more I see the habits developing.. and I try to share my goals and time management needs, too.

Bit it is lovely to see these habits and skills developing.... without the bells ringing every 50 minutes...