The Little Girl With The Big Solutions For Time Management
It is not everyday you find a book on time management written by, of all persons, a teenager. But 15-year-old Tori Senior, who has mastered the art of time management, decided to share her secrets with not just fellow teens but with all those who are struggling with effective time management.
In an interview with Freedom Come Rain, the teen said inspiration for the book ’10 Keys to Effective Time Management for Teens’ came through navigating her own busy schedule, something she shared has always been her reality for as long as she can remember.
“People often asked me how I am able to juggle all of the activities I participate in, and that’s when I realised that I must be doing something right. As such, I set out to write this book to help others my age that may have been struggling like me so I could help them.”
She said the plan is for her book to aid them in using their time more efficiently. From her own personal observation of those she has come in contact with, they have trouble at some point getting everything done in the allotted time they have.
Insights and ideas for the book came when she started high school, as she noted that it was so much more different than primary level school. As she expounded, apart from the drastic shift in workload, she was also becoming interested in a variety of things, which meant that there was always somewhere she needed to be or something she needed to do.
“Therefore, I noticed that I had to find a way to organise everything so that I would be able to balance all my interests and also maintain a high standard of work. It was not easy, but it had to be done if I wanted to avoid being burnt out,” she highlighted.
The biggest challenge Tori said she faced in time management had to do with procrastination, which for her is really a lot more than just putting things off for later.
When the realisation dawned on her, that every little thing mattered as she recounted that the norm for her would be to do the subjects she liked first—even if they weren’t as important at the time—and put off others to start later. She confessed to gaining insight that, at face value, it seemed productive simply because she was doing work, but it really wasn’t, and it was procrastination.
Commenting on some of what influenced her time management techniques, she said she got inspiration from books she read, such as Atomic Habits by James Clear, as she was always interested in improving her time management skills and efficiency. She also did a lot of research on it.
Writing the book took some serious time management, as she said she had to balance it between her schoolwork, chores, and finding time to work on it, something she shared was “quite a challenge.”
“My schedule was, and still is, a great companion. There is a chapter in my book entitled “Prioritise, Don’t Procrastinate” where I talk about how to properly prioritise and how sometimes what may seem like productivity is just procrastination in another form. In that chapter, I talk about how to properly prioritise, and the concepts I speak about in that chapter are what really helped me balance writing the book with schoolwork, extracurriculars, and social life. The entire writing experience was essentially me testing what works best to manage time well as a busy teenager, and so I was able to discover how to balance all of those activities and implement them during the writing process,” she voiced.
In penning the book, she said it was more “experimenting results’ finding their way in it, as she revealed that she tested time management concepts, reflected on their efficiencies, and then wrote about it.
With a set time for writing, she utilised it by going over what was already written, working on a different chapter, or “jumping between chapters to insert additional thoughts when inspiration hit.
With the primary audience for her book being teenagers, Tori said to ensure “it connected,” she had a fellow teen read it through with the goal of giving “very honest feedback.” She also ensured she did not write anything “too complex” in order for the book to make sense at face value—keeping it simple was her goal.
Although the book comes with a lot of tips, Tori stressed that the most important time management tip for teens is that they learn to prioritise and not procrastinate.
She strengthened the point by adding that there are more things to consider when prioritising than just the due date. Giving an example, she noted that there could be a math worksheet with 10 questions due Monday and a group presentation on Wednesday, and it’s currently a week before the presentation, but that doesn’t mean you should focus more on the worksheet because it’s due first. Her tip is that the presentation requires more attention so work can be done on a little of the worksheet at a time but mostly focus on the presentation, especially because it’s a group assignment.
For teens struggling with procrastination, Tori shared what has proven to be a good solution for her when she falls into the same trap.
“I think about the long term effects and usually end up just getting things done after realising how much I would hate to be in that situation. However, this isn’t usually enough for a lot of people because of issues with self-control and habit development, so you have to start small. You have to take numerous steps before completing the marathon,” she asserted.
She advises that they should do little at a time. If it usually takes the person six hours before they stop procrastinating, then they should allow themselves to procrastinate for five and a half hours next time and then push themselves to the task.
“Keep dropping the time every day or every week. You’ll eventually get there. Let someone help you because humans are more likely to do something if someone else is keeping them accountable than if they are keeping themselves accountable.”
Tori is a Christian. She said the moment she knew she had to serve God came while at a crusade in Port Royal being hosted by the Tarrant Baptist Church, and they were calling for baptism. Her ultimate dream is to be a bestseller.