How to Launch a Teen: Time Tracking

Well done for working out your Average Day and thinking about what your Ideal Day would look like. Have a look at how they compare to one another. Is there anything that you want to do more of? Less of? Are there things you'd like to include in your day that you don't seem to have time for?

Time has been identified as a major source of emotional distress, along with situational stress, encounter stress, and anticipatory stress.  Time management is widely recognized as a fundamental skill for successful planning and as a tool for reducing time-related distress.  In part, the launch from adolescence to young adulthood requires you to make commitments about how you will spend your time in a way that may be very different from your previous experiences.

Before you can begin to manage your time, you have to know what you're doing with it.  You've already made some guesses about what your Average Day looks like.  Find out what really happens.  For the next few days, use this form to keep track of how you spend your time.  Each hour is likely filled with a large number of activities, so select some categories like "Gaming" or "Study" or "Socializing" to describe your major focus during that hour.