by Scott Lutostanski – Director of Academic Consulting
“Sorry. I’m just not an on person time.” I’ve heard this rationale from students, work colleagues, and friends over and over throughout my life. This excuse implies that being on time is an innate trait, a personality characteristic that someone may or may not have. Is this true? Can we say that being on time is the same as other personality traits such as compassion, work ethic, or sense of humor? Being on time is a skill, and an individual can improve his or her ability to be on time.
Using the executive function skills, let’s break down what goes into being on time. The most common example is getting to school on time, but this becomes fairly routine after years and years of practice. So let’s examine a less frequent occurrence: getting ready to go to hockey practice.
Planning: This event is not as frequent as every morning. Many students live in a “day-to-day” world not knowing what they have the next day. Non-repetitive events are often difficult to keep track of. A student who lacks planning will have a tough time visualizing their practice schedule on a one or two scope. They may not know that practice is right after school on Tuesday, 7-9 on Wednesday, and that there is an away game on Thursday. Having the ability to visualize a more long-term plan will help students be in a better position to succeed in the short term.
Time Management: Awareness of time management and the ability to visualize is crucial. Adults can often completely overestimate the time management ability-level of students. Determining how long it is going to take to pack equipment and get dressed, to drive and pick up a teammate, to get to the rink in traffic, and then how long it will take to get dressed for practice in the locker room is very difficult. Each one of these components has to be considered to determine what time to start packing to leave the house. We take for granted the assumption that everyone has the skills to make this type of analysis and be on the ice a few minutes before practice starts.
Organization: This is keeping track of space and materials. If the time management piece exists, and students give themselves enough time to get ready, then they need to make sure that they keep track of all their equipment needed for practice: gear, skates, sticks, the right colored jersey, and any other components that go into being prepared and having everything needed for practice.
Attention: If we imagine the scenario that has been laid out, we know that it will be a lengthy process between knowing a practice schedule, packing for practice, getting out the door at the right time, and and getting to the rink. Distractions and getting sidetracked only make this more difficult. Self-awareness of attentional issues is also very important in order to compensate and provide oneself the appropriate time to prepare for practice.
Initiation: Of course, to kick start this process a student must be able to initiate or shift from another activity. This usually involves stepping away from the TV, phone, or computer to start getting ready for 6 PM hockey practice at 5:15.
It’s pretty simple to see that executive function skills can create many challenges to being on time. In order to become an on-time person there are many skills that need to be developed. It is very easy to use the initial reasoning that being late is a personality trait, but in reality these are very important life skills that need to be practiced and improved.
