Breaking bad habits: what do you need to change?

This activity is included in the LearnHigher workshop, Making more hours in the day. It can also be run as a standalone activity or embedded in subject teaching.

This resource includes tips and an idea for a peer-group activity aimed at sharing strategies to combat poor time management.

The activity

Breaking bad habits: what do you need to change?

Working in pairs:

• Write the things that stop you from managing time effectively on your worksheet
• Choose one to share with your partner. Discuss possible ways to overcome or avoid this problem.
• Share this with the rest of the group. If you hear other strategies that are appropriate for you, add them to your worksheet.

Tips

This activity is directed at discouraging the notion that bad time management is an intrinsic quality, and showing that it is just a set of bad habits that can be broken. Our research showed that students prioritise advice from their peers; however, this can sometimes make matters worse. Getting students to share their proposed strategies with the whole class offers the presenter a chance to comment.

The handout for this activity is available in Word format, so you can adapt it to meet your needs.