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Health & Fitness

Organization/Time Management Tips for Smartphones/Ipod Touches

Many children, adolescents, and even adults struggle with organization and time management skills. For children and adolescents with significant behavioral or emotional issues, difficulties staying organized can exacerbate symptoms and lead to increased frustration. With the advances in technology over the past several years, there are many ways to help your children or adolescents use technology to improve organization, time management, and executive functioning skills. Helping children and adolescents with organization/time management skills through the use of technology also helps foster long-term independence.

Here are a few tips for using a smartphone or Ipod Touch to help your child or adolescent improve their organization/time management skills: 

Calendar App: 
Help your child or adolescent keep track of their daily schedule by encouraging them to put items in their calendar. Even though they go to school usually during the week, have them put their school day in as well as any after school activities, tutoring, play dates, etc. In addition, if your child or adolescent has trouble remembering to do things such as brushing their teeth or taking a shower, they can put it in their calendar and set a reminder when it is time to complete these tasks each day. 

Having a shared family calendar through Google or another platform can be helpful. If your child or adolescent frequently makes plans when you have family obligations already scheduled, having a shared calendar can alleviate some of these issues, because they will be able to see that they have something to do at a specific time before they make plans. Obviously for items that are unrelated to family obligations, parents and children/adolescents can use their own individual calendars. 

Reminder App:
Having your child or adolescent use a reminder application that allows them to create lists of tasks they need to complete and set reminders as to when they need to be completed can be very helpful. They can create a list for tasks at home, school items that need to be completed, and other categories relevant to them. If using a smartphone, reminders can be set to go off when your child/adolescent reaches a specific location. For example, if they are supposed to go to a piano lesson after school on Tuesdays, you can help them set a reminder that goes off when they exit the school building. 

To-Do List App for Homework Assignments:
For keeping track of school assignments, children and adolescents may find it easier to use a separate application that provides a to-do list that they can customize and have a section devoted to each subject.  For some children and adolescents, even if they enter their assignments into this list when they get home from school, it can be helpful to have a visual view of all assignments, especially when children and adolescents have long-term ones that need to be completed over the course of several weeks. On this list, you can also have your child/adolescent estimate how long it will take to complete each assignment and note that, so that when they start their homework each night they can plan accordingly to make sure they complete all assignments.

These are just a few suggestions to help your child or adolescent improve organization/time management skills using a smartphone or Ipod Touch. If you've found other types of applications that have been helpful, feel free to post a comment and share your experiences.

For daily updates on useful articles, you can also follow The Heller Psychology Group on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HellerPsych and Facebook: Facebook.com/HellerPsychology

Dr. Carey Heller is a licensed psychologist with The Heller Psychology Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland. He specializes in work with children, adolescents, and young adults, and is happy to answer questions and provide consultations for individuals who are considering pursuing treatment or an evaluation for their child, adolescent, or themselves. Dr. Heller can be reached at (301)-385-2610 or careyheller@thehellerpsychologygroup.com.

For appointments, please call the office at (301) 385-2610 or email The Heller Psychology Group at appt@thehellerpsychologygroup.com with your contact information and availability for appointment times.

*Disclaimer: The previous information is intended as general guidance based on my professional opinion, does not constitute an established professional relationship,  and should not replace the recommendations of a psychologist or other licensed professional with whom you initiate or maintain a professional relationship*

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