Mother: It’s a vast relief to realize my son can become independent.
Yaacov: I don’t do time management! I’m not a Yekkeh, I’m an artist … but I don’t want to be a starving artist….
Uncle: If Yaacov gets his act together, GoMarket will see his talent unobscured by his personality.

 

T

ime management is also about thinking backward.

I unroll a narrow banner across the floor. It’s marked with boxes, each labeled with a 15-minute time slot, starting from 6 a.m. to midnight.  “This is your day,” I tell Yaacov. “What time do you have to be at work?” With a marker, he writes “work” at 9 a.m.

I ask Yaacov to list everything that must happen for him to get to work: wake up, shower, dress, daven, eat, and commute. Working backward, we fill in each item in the appropriate slot. Since it takes 30 minutes to get to work, Yaacov writes “travel” at 8:30. Before traveling he needs to eat; he allots 10 minutes and marks it at 8:20. Yaacov is surprised to note that he can’t daven at the 8:15 minyan. “I always daven at 8:15,” he protests.

“But now you’re marketing your punctuality.”

Yaacov takes a step backward on the carpet and marks “daven” at 7:15. When we’re done, Yaacov has calculated that he needs to set his alarm for 6:30.

He stares down at the number and shakes his head in disbelief.

“You need to think backward for projects, too.” Yaacov and I invent a project and create a sketch — the end result. When he’s done, he’ll compare the end result to the original sketch: Did he get all the specs in?

Just as he listed everything in his morning routine, now he lists all the steps in the project, then maps a guesstimate for how long each step will take. “As you go along, you need to evaluate how well your schedule is working,” I remind Yaacov. “If you allotted a full day for design but it takes an extra day, how can you adjust your schedule so that you still meet the deadline?”

I advise Yaacov to track his day in a notebook, to get a realistic idea of how long tasks typically take. He looks at me, horrified: “Forever?”

“Just until you get a general idea of the timeframe for common tasks. But yes, punctuality is forever.”

Yaacov’s too old for puppets, but I introduce him to the concept of “time-robbers.”

“Even with a great schedule mapped out, you might miss your deadline because time-robbers are stealing your work time.” We list some common time-robbers: the snooze button, schmoozing at work, a midday jaunt to the bagel store. By far, the worst time- robber is being unprepared. “You allotted just ten minutes for showering and dressing,” I remind Yaacov. “If you don’t have clean socks, you’re going to be late.”

“Socks?” Yaacov looks blank.

I remember how his mother described the state of his room. “Think backward. You’re only going to have clean socks if you put them in the laundry….”

-Yaacov is unaware of time passing. Literally walking Yaacov through his day is a fantastic way to demonstrate the quality of time.

 -The skill is to envision the future consequences, and then think backward.

 -Executive function is not only about doing well in school, it’s about doing well in life.

Originally featured in Family First, Issue 578. D. Himy, M.S. CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist in private practice for over 15 years. She is the creator of the Link-It reading comprehension and writing curriculum for elementary school students and directs continuing education programs for speech-language pathologists and educators.