Time Management Basics

Freshman Year · Education · Required Lesson

Time Management Basics

25–30 minutes Medium Required

Destination

By the end of this conversation, the mentee should be able to sort tasks by urgency and importance, and try one technique for actually getting started on work.

Stop 1 of 4

Talk

Goal: Understand how the mentee currently handles schoolwork and deadlines, without shaming procrastination or disorganization.

“Struggling with time management usually isn’t about being lazy. It’s about never having a system—and a system can be learned.”

Choose three to five questions

1. How do you currently keep track of homework and due dates—if at all?
2. Has there ever been a time you forgot about an assignment until the last minute? What happened?
3. What usually gets in the way of starting your homework?
4. Do you ever feel like you have too much to do and don’t know where to start?
5. What’s something outside of school that takes up a lot of your time each week?
Mentor Tip: Many students who struggle with time management have never actually been taught a system—they’ve just been told to “manage their time better.” This is a skills conversation, not a character conversation.

Stop 2 of 4

Learn

Not everything on your list matters equally

One of the biggest time management mistakes is treating every task like it’s equally urgent. A simple way to sort tasks is by asking two questions: is it urgent (does it have to happen soon), and is it important (does it actually matter)?

Urgent + ImportantDo first — a test tomorrow, an assignment due today
Important, not urgentSchedule it — studying ahead, a project due next month
Urgent, not importantHandle quickly or hand off — a minor request, a quick reply
NeitherSkip or minimize — most scrolling, most “just checking” habits
Route 21 Big Idea:
Being “busy” isn’t the same as being productive. The goal isn’t to do more things—it’s to do the right things, in the right order.

Techniques that actually help you start

Time Management Techniques
Break it down — a big project feels impossible; “write one paragraph” doesn’t. Split large tasks into small, specific steps.
The Pomodoro Technique — work for 25 focused minutes, then take a 5-minute break. Repeat. It turns an overwhelming task into a short sprint.
Time blocking — instead of a vague to-do list, assign specific tasks to specific times on your schedule.
Rocks, pebbles, sand — plan your big priorities (“rocks”) first, then fit smaller tasks (“pebbles” and “sand”) around them—not the other way around.

Why writing it down matters

Keeping a plan in your head is exhausting and easy to lose track of. Writing tasks down—on paper, in a planner, or in an app—frees up mental energy and makes it much easier to see what actually needs to happen and when.

Stop 3 of 4

Try

Sort your real tasks

List a few things the mentee actually has to do this week, and sort them using the urgent/important framework from the Learn card.

Urgent + important___________
Important, not urgent___________
Urgent, not important___________

Try one Pomodoro round together

If there’s time, actually set a timer for 25 minutes and have the mentee work on one real task—homework, an email, cleaning out a backpack—while you sit nearby.

How did it feel to work in a short, timed burst instead of an open-ended stretch?

Choose Your Route

Pick the video that best fits your time and interest today. You only need to watch one.

Level 1 · Quick Stop

Time Management for Teens

Approximately 3–5 minutes

A short, practical introduction to time management strategies for teens.

Watch the Quick Stop
Talk afterward: Was there a tip in the video you’d actually want to try?

Level 2 · Scenic Route

Time Management Hacks for High School Students

Approximately 8–10 minutes

A closer look at practical time management hacks designed specifically for the high school workload.

Take the Scenic Route
Talk afterward: Which hack from the video seems most doable for you?

Level 3 · Open Road

Time Management Strategies for High School Students

Approximately 12–15 minutes

A deeper dive from a recent high school graduate on the strategies that actually held up under real academic pressure.

Explore the Open Road
Talk afterward: What’s one strategy from the video you could realistically stick with?
Mentor Reminder: Let the mentee choose the route whenever possible. The sorting activity and Pomodoro practice above matter more than the video.

Stop 4 of 4

Grow

Reflection

What’s one technique from today you’d actually want to try this week?
What usually derails your plans—distractions, forgetting, feeling overwhelmed, something else?
What’s one task you’ve been putting off that you could break into smaller steps?
What questions do you still have?

Start with one system

Don’t try to adopt every technique at once. Pick one—a planner, time blocking, or the Pomodoro Technique—and try it consistently for a week before adding anything else.

How can your mentor help?

How can Route 21 help?

Would a simple weekly planner template or task-tracking tool be useful to you?
Mentor Wrap-Up:
Did the mentee leave with one concrete technique to try, not just a vague intention to “be better organized”? Did they sort real tasks, not hypothetical ones?