Archive for the ‘Time Management’ Category

Five Tips for Parents on Coping with the Facebook Generation

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

There probably isn’t a parent out there who hasn’t had a battle of some kind over PlayStation/ Xbox/Facebook versus homework/family time/revision. The harsh truth is that the distractions tempting our children are here to stay and the things we’d rather they were spending their time on are facing tough competition. So how do we as parents manage this situation without embarking on an all out war?

1.     Setting boundaries that have been agreed in advance will make life easier and less stressful for everyone. It isn’t always easy to do because any attempts to restrict access to a favourite online activity will be fiercely resisted. However, your teenager’s job is to find out where the boundaries are and your job as a parent is to put up those fences. Don’t be afraid to come up against some resistance at first. In the long term your teen will thank you for giving them clear guidelines on how far they can push the limits. Negotiate calmly and have an end goal in mind (e.g. 2hrs a night maximum on school days) but start lower than this (e.g. 1hr) so that you give some leeway for compromise.

2.     Think back to your own life as a teenager and think about what distracted you. Did you watch more Grange Hill and Blackadder than was good for you? Perhaps you infuriated your parents by sitting in the hall on the phone to friends for hours at a time, running up a bill and preventing anyone else getting through on the line. Every generation has its distractions and conflicts and our young people are experiencing the same influences on their time socially as we did as teenagers, it’s just that the format is different.

3.     Understand the problem. What is it that annoys you most? Is it the fact that too much time on Facebook causes friendship dramas and encourages bullying? Maybe your child is neglecting school work or sleeping poorly. If you feel there’s a connection between the distraction and a serious problem then talk to your teen about your concerns. However, if it’s the distraction itself that you object to, try and look at it from a different angle. Just because it’s new or is something you don’t understand or have heard bad things about doesn’t mean it’s detrimental to your teen. Spend a bit of time getting to know what they’re doing and how the game or activity works. They could well be learning some useful skills, such as team building and problem solving.

4.     Operate an early warning system. Once you’ve set curfews make sure you give plenty of warning ahead of the time. The nature of computer games and social networking means they are absorbing activities and your teenager will be far more likely to cooperate if he or she has been warned in advance that the deadline for switch off is approaching. And stick to what you agreed regardless of the ‘just 2 more minutes’ protest.

5.     Recognise that computer games and social media are here to stay and even if your teenager does lose interest eventually there will soon be something else along to distract them from their activities, just as there were things in your own youth that tempted you away from the things you should have been doing. In fact, many adults are experts at procrastination too. Accepting that this is the way things are will help you look more proactively for ways to manage the situation and your relationship with your teen.

For more tips on helping your teenager avoid procrastination take a look at my ebook Improve Your Teenager’s Exam Revision

For advice on improving the self-awareness and emotional intelligence of your teenager enquire about my coaching programme My Teenage Mind

Posted in Angela Whitlock, Blog, Parenting Positive Teens, Time Management | No Comments »

Procrastination – Eat The Frog

Sunday, July 10th, 2011

No I’m not going all French by eating frogs but I’ll explain.
Procrastination is an interesting topic and it challenges us in business, but also as a parent and even more so, as an observer of our offspring. The reason we work better under pressure is because our minds naturally want to move away from pain, so when the pain of procrastination becomes so great we are kick started into action.

There are a number of ways of beating procrastination but one of the easiest and best ways is ‘Eating The Frog’. There’s a story of a soldier trapped in the swamp and unable to get out and surrounded by the enemy. All he could find to eat were live raw frogs.

When eventually he did get out he was asked about his experience and what he had learnt and he said his greatest learning was that if you have to eat a raw frog, then the best time to do it, was first thing in the morning. That way the rest of the day just seemed to be so much better.

I have a frog on my windowsill, (a plastic one) which reminds me to get the jobs I don’t like or that are time consuming out of the way first thing in the morning. Most people are more productive in those first 3 hours than any other time of the day. That leaves the afternoon for meeting clients or business contacts and also when the kids return home from school, you feel like that you have more time for them.

I’ve introduced this method to a few of my clients lately and they are saving hours and cutting down the late night working drastically. Give it a go and start eating the frog, it doesn’t taste too good but once you’ve done it you have the focus and energy for other things.

Tags: Procrastination, Stop Procrastinating
Posted in Blog, Time Management | No Comments »