Stop the Stalling: How to Help Kids Stop Wasting Time

Helping Kids Manage Their Time

"You have to help children learn to be organized and manage their time, but you don't want to be too rigid," says Laura Stack, a time-management expert in Highland Ranch, Colorado. Here's the strategy that works with her three children, ages 6, 8, and 12:

• Set clear expectations. Print a chart that outlines each child's responsibilities every day of the week, from piano practice to putting away the silverware. Your kids know exactly what they have to do each day. When it's done, they check it off.
• Encourage them to do the worst first. Tell them to get dressed before breakfast and that homework must always be completed before the TV is turned on.
• Make it easy. If your kid is having trouble getting ready for the day, create a checklist with pictures of things to do in the morning. Sometimes what appears to be procrastination is really confusion.

Originally published in the August 2008 issue of Parents magazine.