https://nifa.usda.gov/ 

program/4-h-positive-youthdevelopment 

National Institute 

of Food 

and Agriculture 

United States 

Department of 

Agriculture 

lesson plan: activity 3.1 

lesson details introduction 

planning time 

A FederAl PArtnershiP For steM educAtion 

expeditionary

skills

for life 

 

National Aeronautics 

and Space 

Administration 

age/grade level 

High School 

learner outcoMes 

Youth will assess what occupies their 

time, determine time efficiencies, 

and learn to use a time management 

tool.. 

success indicators 

Youth will conduct and analyze their 

personal use of time and create a 

simple plan to improve their time 

management. 

life skills 

Time management, personal 

accountability, critical thinking, 

self-awareness, personal credibility, 

problem solving, flexibility 

national standards 

21st Century: Life and Career Skills / 

INITITATIVE AND SELF-DIRECTION 

/ manage goals and time, work 

independently, be self-directed 

learners 

21st Century: Learning and Innovation Skills / CRITICAL THINKING 

AND PROBLEM SOLVING / reason 

effectively, use systems thinking, 

make judgments and decisions, and 

solve problems 

21st Century: Life and Career Skills / 

PRODUCTIVITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY / manage projects and 

produce results 

prep tiMe 

30 minutes 

activity tiMe 

1 hour, 35 minutes (all activities 

combined) 

Materials list 

•	 Chart paper 

•	 Markers 

•	 Youth worksheet (Planning and 

Follow Through) 

•	 Youth Worksheet (Time Management Worksheet) 

•	 Blank Paper 

•	 Pencils 

suggested space 

Any 

suggested group size 

Any size 

references 

Time Management 

http://www.learningtogive.org/ 

units/be-change-life-skills/timemanagement 

Time Waster 

http://www.trainingcoursematerial. 

com/free-games-activities/timemanagement-activities/time-wasters 

Time Management: Choose Priorities 

http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/ 

time/article4.html 

Choosing priorities, or deciding what 

to spend less time on or cut out of 

your budget completely, is one of 

the most important steps in managing your 

time. Sometimes we have to choose priorities over the long term, and sometimes we 

have to do it day to day. No matter how 

perfectly you have your time budget 

balanced, there will always be unexpected 

changes and new responsibilities to fit in. 

To help you choose priorities when you 

need to, keep these ideas in mind: 

Remember the big things. There are big things 

in life, and there are little things, and you’ve got 

to do your best to tell them apart. Some things 

that may seem really important today, like 

getting to the hobby shop to buy a pack of 

collectible cards, might seem a lot less important in a few weeks or months. On the other 

hand, doing well on school assignments and 

completing your family responsibilities are 

always important. These are the “big things” that 

you should always consider first when making a 

time budget. Always reserve plenty of time for 

these priorities, and use “leftover” time for 

things that are less important. 

Think about what’s urgent. You’ve set aside 

time after school to do some research on your 

history paper, but you also have a big concert 

coming up and need to practice your cello. 

Which takes priority that day? Well, which 

deadline is coming up first? If the concert is next 

week, but the report’s not due until the week 

after, there’s your answer. Knowing which task is 

more urgent is an easy way to choose priorities. 

.continued next page >> 
page 2

lesson plan: activity 3.1 

planning time, Continued 

expeditionary

skills

for life 

>> continued from previous page 

Think about the consequences of NOT spending time on 

it. Can’t decide whether something is worth your time? 

Ask yourself this: “What would happen if you DIDN’T do 

it?” For example, should you finish writing up a science 

project or watch a movie on DVD? What are the consequences of NOT doing your science work? What are the 

consequences of NOT watching the DVD? 

Sometimes you know when you’ll have to choose longterm priorities, like when you need to pick activities for the 

upcoming school year. Other times, you’re forced to do 

this suddenly because your schedule has become too 

packed or you have a new goal, like putting in extra 

basketball practice because you want to get better at 

shooting. To help you make these tough choices on 

long-term priorities, ask yourself these questions: 

•	 What do these things mean to my life? 

•	 Is this a now-or-never situation? 

•	 Am I doing this for me, or for someone else? 

activity instruction 

activity: spending tiMe (60 Minutes) 

1.	 Do you ever wish you had more hours in the day to do 

everything you need or want to do? If you had no time 

constraints or obligations, like school or jobs, what are 

two things you would do with your time? Have the 

youth think about these questions, pair up with 

another person, and share their answer with the other 

person. After they have shared with their partner, 

discuss this idea as a class, sorting suggested activities by putting tallies into categories, such as sports/ 

exercise, friends, volunteering, relaxing, art, and media. 

Discuss which categories most of the activities fall 

into. 

2.	 Now, ask the youth if they can figure out how many 

minutes there are in a year and then how many 

minutes there have been in their lifetime (answers: 

525,600 minutes in a year which averages out to 

8,409,600 for a sixteen year old). Share with the 

youth that how they use their time can help them not 

only reach their goals but also have time for themselves and not get burned out. 

3.	 Talk to the youth about the benefits of having time to 

do what they like to do. Tell the youth that today they 

will learn some strategies for time management that 

might just give them the time to do some of those 

things. 

4.	 On chart paper, create a two-column chart with the 

title “Time.” Label one side of the column “How I 

spend my time” and the other side “How I would like 

to spend my time.” Model for the youth by filling in a 

few items on each side of the chart. Fill in examples, 

such as sleep, eat, school and shower on the first side. 

Under the second column give a few examples such as 

exercise and visiting friends. Have the youth give you 

examples and put them on the chart. 

5.	 Handout the youth worksheet “How Do I Use My 

Time?” and explain that youth are going to work 

independently on all three sections of the worksheet 

and will have time to discuss the sections with a 

partner. This is going to help them understand how 

they spend their own time. 

6.	 Instruct youth to complete Part I of the worksheet, 

which addresses how they spent their time yesterday, 

and Part II, which asks them to rate how well they 

manage their time in relationship to school and things 

like homework. 

7.	 At this point, stop and have the youth share their data. 

How much time did they actually spend on video 

games, or watching TV? How much time did they 

spend with friends? How much time did they spend 

on things they wanted to do? Compare these items to 

the chart they had done before. Ask the youth to talk 

to their partner about where they wish they had spent 

their time when they look back from today. Ask the 

youth whether there are areas where they spend too 

little time or too much time? 

8.	 Draw the youth’ attention to Part III of the worksheet. 

Ask youth to work with their partner to determine 

what is most important and how much time it takes 

up in their day. What is next important and how much 

time will that get? And finally what is least important 

and how much time will it get. 

continued next page >> 
page 3

lesson plan: activity 3.1 

planning time, Continued 

expeditionary

skills

for life 

>> continued from previous page 

9.	 After thinking about this, distribute a copy of the Time 

Management Handout. Read and discuss the steps of 

the action plan, and then give youth time to complete 

the page. Have them share this worksheet with their 

partner, discussing and adjusting their plan based on 

this discussion. 

10.	 Discuss the value of making a to-do list from their 

time-management plan. Model making a “to do” list 

using your own personal goals. Show the youth how to 

assign a time frame and show them how to assign 

importance and prioritize. Pass out blank paper and 

give the youth a few minutes to create their own to-do 

list. 

Discuss: 

•	 How might adopting good time management skills 

affect your lives? What might be different? 

•	 How does applying time management skills affect your 

energy? 

•	 What are some “unnecessary activities” that take up 

your time that you wish you didn’t spend time on 

because they distract you from your goals or take 

away your energy? 

•	 What are some “unnecessary activities” that are 

positive and help you to be more productive because 

they energize you? 

•	 How might today’s work help you find time for things 

you want to do? 

debrief activity: action replay 

(15 Minutes) 

1.	 Everyone should sit down (typically on the floor or 

ground) 

2.	 Suggest that everyone close their eyes and create a 

picture in their mind as the facilitator replays the activity. NOTE: add sufficient detail but don’t take a lot of 

time 

3.	 When you have finished recapping the activity, ask 

everyone to choose one thing that stood out them and 

consider why it stood out? 

4.	 Allow youth to contemplate your question, if time 

allows you can have them break into groups of 3-5 

and discuss what each person considered “the one 

thing” and why? 

applied challenge: no tiMe to Waste 

(20 Minutes) 

Choose four major time wasters that you discussed in your 

group and use them in this follow-up activity to reinforce 

learning and encourage youth to think of more creative 

ways to counter common time wasters. Some example 

time wasters can be: drop in visitors, travel time, telephone, and watching TV. 

Directions: 

1.	 Write down each time waster on the back of an 

envelope. (One time waster on each envelope.) 

2.	 Add 4 blank index cards to each envelope. 

3.	 Divide youth into 4 teams. 

4.	 Issue one envelope to each group. 

5.	 Point out to the groups the time waster written on the 

back of the envelope and the index cards inside. 

6.	 In each round, each team is tasked to come up with as 

many ideas as possible to handle their time waster, 

write that on one of the index cards, replace it inside 

the envelope and pass the envelope to the next team. 

7.	 Each round has a time limit of three minutes, so once 

time is up on each round, every team has to pass the 

envelope to the next team. 

8.	 Go on for two or three rounds or as your time permits. 

9.	 Ask each team to present the ideas for the time waster 

from the envelope they currently have in front of the 

whole group. 

Variation: Hold an evaluation round of voting for which of 

the proposed strategies works best in terms of practicality 

and usefulness. 
page4

lesson plan: activity 3.1 

planning time, Continued 

expeditionary

skills

for life 

 

 

 

 

 

What are the things that I could do only sometimes, 

certainly not every day? 

What are the things that I need to do regularly every day? 

What are the really important things that need more 

time? 

hoW do i use My tiMe? 

Part I. 


Think back over the last 24 hours and calculate how time you have spent on the following activities. Blanks are provided 


for you to add other categories if needed. 


I spent 

__________ minutes on sleeping. __________ minutes with my family. 

__________ minutes eating __________ minutes on TV or video games. 

__________ minutes talking to my friends __________ minutes on ___________________ 

__________ minutes on activities __________ minutes on ___________________ 

Part II. 


Now let’s test how you spend your time on school. If your answer to the question below is always, put down a 3. If your 


answer is sometimes, put a 2. If your answer is probably not, put a 1. 


1. I have a regular time for studying each day. ________ 


2. I write my assignments down and check the list regularly. ________ 


3. I always have the materials I need when I start to study. ________ 


4. I rarely distract myself with wandering away from the task when studying. ________ 


5. I do assignments in chunks to avoid last minute work. _______ 


Part III. 


Reflect on how you answered the questions above and fill out the chart below. 

page 5

lesson plan: activity 3.1 

planning time, Continued 

expeditionary

skills

for life 

 

tiMe ManageMent 

Do you feel you manage your time well? Vote Now! 

•	 Yes, I’m good at scheduling my days and weeks. 

•	 Sometimes I’m short on time, sometimes not. 

•	 No, I am almost always short on time. 

How much time do you set aside for homework every night? Take a guess at how much time it will take for you to get 

you work done. Write it down. Then, right before you get started, check the clock and see what time it is. You are going 

to time yourself and see how close your guess was. You may want to do this a few times to help you become aware of 

how long it actual takes to do your homework. 

Do you have a routine? Routines are a great way to help you get everything done on time. Before doing anything, plan it 

and what you have to do first according to its importance. And no matter what happens; do not allow these distractions 

to become your priority. 

How do you establish a routine? 

1.	 Write down the things you need to accomplish 

2.	 Every item written on your list must be given a time frame 

3.	 Organize every item written according to its importance. 

4.	 Make a plan on how to achieve your goals in the given time frame 

5.	 Focus. This will help you accomplish every little thing you have to do for a day. 

tiMe ManageMent action plan 

1.	 Clarify your goal. (Can you get a visual picture of the expected outcome? How can you see if you have reached your 

destination? What makes your goal measurable? What might be in the way, like the limits on time, money, or other 

resources?) On a blank piece of paper, clearly state your goal. 

2.	 Write a list of actions. Write down all actions you may need to take to achieve your goal. At this step, focus on 

generating and writing as many different options and ideas as possible. List them under your goal. 

3.	 Analyze, prioritize, and prune. Look at your list of actions. What are the absolutely necessary and best steps to 

achieve your goal? Mark them with a check mark. After that, what action items can be dropped from in the plan 

without significant consequences for the outcome? Cross them out. 

4.	 Organize your list into a plan. Decide on the order of your action steps. Start from looking at your checked key 

actions. For each action, what other steps should be completed before that action? Rearrange your actions and 

ideas into a sequence of ordered action steps. Finally, look at your plan once again. Are there any ways to simplify it 

even more? 

5.	 Monitor the execution of your plan and review the plan regularly. How much have you progressed toward your goal 

by now? What new information have you got? Use this information to further adjust and optimize your plan. 
activity 3.1: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 3.1: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 3.1: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 3.1 learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

expeditionary

skills


expeditionary

for life

skills


for life 

I understand how to set priorities with my time. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can identify two things I do that are considered time 

wasters. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can identify three strategies to help me better manage 

my time. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I understand how to set priorities with my time.. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can identify two things I do that are considered time 

wasters. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can identify three strategies to help me better manage 

my time. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

expeditionary

skills


for lifefor life

expeditionary

skills


I understand how to set priorities with my time. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can identify two things I do that are considered time 

wasters. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can identify three strategies to help me better manage 

my time. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

Q1
 

Q2
 

Q3
 

I understand how to set priorities with my time.. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can identify two things I do that are considered time 

wasters. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can identify three strategies to help me better manage 

my time. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me