Time Management

Req 8 — Managing Your Time

8.

Demonstrate to your counselor your understanding of time management by doing the following:

a. Write a “to do” list of tasks or activities, such as homework assignments, chores, and personal projects, that must be done in the coming week. List these in order of importance to you.

b. Make a seven-day calendar or schedule. Put in your set activities, such as school classes, sports practices or games, jobs or chores, and/or Scout or place of worship or club meetings, then plan when you will do all the tasks from your “to do” list between your set activities.

c. Follow the one-week schedule you planned. Keep a daily diary or journal during each of the seven days of this week’s activities, writing down when you completed each of the tasks on your “to do” list compared to when you scheduled them.

d. With your counselor, review your “to do” list, one-week schedule, and diary/journal to understand when your schedule worked and when it did not work. Discuss what you might do differently the next time.

Time: Your Most Valuable Resource

You have spent the first seven requirements learning to manage money. Now it is time to manage something even more valuable — your time. Here is the difference: you can always earn more money, but you can never get more time. Every person gets the same 24 hours each day. What separates people who get things done from people who feel overwhelmed is how they use those hours.

A Scout at a desk with a weekly planner open, writing in tasks while surrounded by symbols of their activities: a backpack, sports equipment, textbooks, and a Scout handbook

Step A: Your To-Do List

A to-do list is simply a written list of everything you need to accomplish in the coming week. The key word is written — tasks in your head are easy to forget or misjudge. Writing them down makes them real and manageable.

How to build your list:

  1. Brain dump: Write down everything you can think of — homework, chores, errands, projects, phone calls, anything.
  2. Be specific: “Study” is vague. “Study Chapter 7 for biology test on Thursday” is actionable.
  3. Prioritize: Rank your tasks from most important to least important.

Step B: Your Seven-Day Schedule

Now take your to-do list and fit it into your week. Start by blocking out your fixed commitments — the things that happen at set times and cannot be moved:

Once your fixed activities are in place, you will see the open blocks of time where your to-do list items can go. This is where the real planning happens.

Scheduling Tips

Strategies for fitting everything in
  • Schedule your “Must Do” items first: Put them in the earliest available time blocks
  • Estimate how long each task will take: Be honest — most people underestimate
  • Build in buffer time: Leave gaps between tasks for transitions and unexpected delays
  • Protect your energy: Schedule difficult tasks when you are most alert (mornings for most people)
  • Include breaks: Working nonstop leads to burnout, not productivity
  • Do not over-schedule: Leave some open time — you will need it

Step C: Following Your Schedule and Keeping a Diary

This is the hands-on part — actually living your plan for a full week and recording what happens. Your diary or journal does not need to be long or fancy. For each day, note:

Common reasons schedules go off track:

Step D: Review and Reflect

At the end of the week, sit down with your counselor and compare your plan to your reality. This mirrors exactly what you did with your budget in Requirement 2d — and the lessons are similar.

Questions to explore with your counselor:

Time Management Tools

While pen and paper work perfectly for this requirement, here are tools you might explore for the future:

Eisenhower Matrix — Time Management Framework A simple, powerful framework for prioritizing tasks based on urgency and importance. Named after President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was famous for his productivity.