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Soft Skill Spotlight: Time Management

“Time management” is the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between specific activities.

Good time management enables you to work smarter – not harder – so that you get more done in less time, even when time is tight and pressures are high. Failing to manage your time damages your effectiveness and causes stress.

Lesson #1 - 168 Hours.

There are 168 hours in each week.
How do we find time for what matters most?

Time management expert Laura Vanderkam studies how busy people spend their lives, and she's discovered that many of us drastically overestimate our commitments each week, while underestimating the time we have to ourselves. She offers a few practical strategies to help find more time for what matters to us, so we can "build the lives we want in the time we've got."

Watch the TED Talk by Laura Vaderkam HERE> https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_vanderkam_how_to_gain_control_of_your_free_time

Ted Talk Discussion Questions

What are some of the silly ways that you try to save time in your week?

What are some of the intentional ways you try to save time?

"I don't have time," often means "It's not a priority." Do you agree with this statement?

Laura recommends to pretend it's Dec 2017 and you're reflecting back on this year. What did you accomplish?

Take a moment to write down some things that you'd like to see on that list. Now, how can you start to make that happen?

Lesson #2 - Wasting Time

Part of managing your time is knowing how to avoid wasting time... especially with social media!

Whether you see it as a blessing or a curse, there’s no denying that social media has consumed countless lives. Time has been epically wasted and interventions have been necessary.

Here's a list of ways to tell if you’re a social media addict. Let's watch.

Video Discussion Questions

Do you agree with Simon Sinek that you can become addicted to social media?

Had you ever thought about how you use social media impacts your relationships with others?

Do you feel happy, joy, fulfilled? Do you think that's related to social media?

How did watching this video make you feel? How do you want to respond to that?

Lesson #3 - Fast Fingers Activity

Often, time management comes down to planning ahead and using your time wisely. Sometimes, it depends on how quickly you can react and make the correct decision.

Now, let's see how fast in your decision making with a short game. No supplies needed.

Group play: This is tournament style, so after every round, the loser sits down. The winner finds a new partner, until you are down to the last pair to declare the champion.

Everyone in the class needs to stand up and find a partner.
Stand with your backs together, facing away from each other.
Teacher counts to 3 and everyone turns around with the hands/fingers up.
Each person holds up fingers on each hand. Each hand can have as many as 5 fingers held up on each hand or as few as 0.
So let’s say one hand has 3 fingers and the other has 4, their opponent would then have to yell “7” (total number of fingers) before the other person guesses how many they are holding up.
Each person counts the fingers and yells out the number of their opponent.
Whoever yells the correct answer first wins. The other person sits down.
Repeat.