If your teens are stressing over how to juggle student homework, chores, clubs, and friends, you can help be their organizational and time-management coach. If you tread softly, they might even appreciate these organization tips!

First, model organization in your home. Create a family communication center that everyone will see every day to keep the whole family aware of key deadlines, special events, and work schedules. Hang a wall calendar and a dry-erase whiteboard in a central location like the kitchen. Add a quick note-taking system (a pad of sticky notes works best) so family members can leave notes for each other.

Schedule life. Once your teens have chosen the type of planner they want to use, have them show you how it works. This way you can be sure they are including essential tasks, such as classes and soccer practice, daily commitments (such as after school jobs), and major family events (such as trips or holidays). Make sure they have timelines listed for big projects.

Break big tasks into smaller subtasks and schedule each subtask. If your teen is struggling, help him or her talk through this process for a few key assignments. For example, here are the steps for a lab report in biology:
  1. Review assignment expectations, evaluation rubric, my observations, and data from the lab (ten minutes)
  2. Draft conclusions based on data (one hour)
  3. Write the purpose, hypothesis statement, materials following proper scientific format (forty minutes)
  4. Create data tables and graphs (thirty minutes)
  5. Put it all together (thirty minutes)
  6. Read over the report to catch errors, review conclusions, etc. (ten minutes).
Review timelines. Check to make sure that the timelines your teens have created for big projects sound realistic to you. If they don’t, ask your teens to talk through their thought process: “I see you’ve scheduled six hours to complete your science lab report next week. How many nights will you have to work on it? Remember, you promised to take your sister to play practice Wednesday.” After going through the process a couple times together, you can back off and let your teen take over.

Set priorities. Help your teen learn to prioritize by asking the following questions:
  • Which assignment/task will take the most time? Which will take the least time?
  • Can I finish one assignment before I start the next, or should I do parts of each assignment every day until I finish all of them?


Sources: www.getbuttonedup.com, www.drugfree.org/teenbrain