Written by Drew Appleby, Lindsey Herting, Sejal Schullo
Purpose
Time management is an essential transferable skill in students’ current and future educational, occupational and personal lives. There is a strong link between lack of time management and stress levels. The purpose of this activity is to help students become familiar with the factors that can facilitate and impede time management so they can use this knowledge to modify their thoughts and behaviors in ways that will increase their time management skills while they are engaged in the process of acquiring knowledge about the topics of Stress and Coping and Behaviors and Attitudes that Promote Health.
National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula
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Standard Area: Health.
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Content Standard 1: Stress and Health
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Students are able to (learning targets):
1.1 Define stress as a psychophysiological response to the environment.
1.2 Explain sources of stress across the life span.
1.3 Explain physiological and psychological consequences of stress for health and wellness.
1.4 Explain physiological, cognitive, and behavioral strategies to deal with stress.
Time Required
Approximately 45 minutes.
Materials
1. Prior knowledge and instruction on stress and coping content.
2. Digital access to the Time Management Skills Testopens in new window, provided through Illinois State University (Teachers: prior to having students take the survey, please preview and adapt as necessary).
Task
1. Students will take a brief Time Management Skills Testopens in new window to determine their current perceived level of time-management skills in the following 5 areas:
a. Goal setting.
b. Prioritizing tasks.
c. Managing interruptions.
d. Procrastination.
e. Scheduling daily, weekly or monthly activities.
2. Students will select their three lowest perceived areas and create strategies to increase their ability to manage time with these changes using psychological terms contained in the unit on Stress/Coping/Wellness.
3. Students will select their three lowest perceived areas and create strategies to increase their ability to manage time with these changes using psychological terms contained in the unit on Stress/Coping/Wellness.
4. Students will implement strategies to change their own behavior for approximately one week.
5. Students will retake the Time Management Skills Testopens in new window and evaluate the changes in their scores. Have students reflect individually and in a large group discussion on the difference using questions such as, "Has taking the test heightened your awareness of sources of stress in your life?" "Did your strategies work to reduce stress? Why or why not?"
Assessment
Correct application of concepts related to stress and wellness to creation and implementation of strategies.
Extension Ideas
1. Operant conditioning and behavior modification plan connected with stress reduction.
2. Analyze the test apparatus in connection to types of psychological tests, reliability, validity and standardization issues.
Resources
APSI Blog. (2016, April 9). 7 time management tips for students [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.apsi.edu.au/7-time-management-tips-students/opens in new window
Brans, P. (2013, February 19). The top ten challenges in time management [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/patbrans/2013/02/19/the-top-ten-challenges-in-time-management/#7090a0c71d36opens in new window
Novotney, A. (2013). Where do the hours go? gradPSYCH, 11(2). Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2013/03/hours
This resource was developed by a Working Group on Skills that Promote Well-Being and Flourishing from the APA Summit on High School Psychology Education (July 2017).