The challenge

Look at your teen's activities throughout the day and evening, including any homework or assignments they might need to do. Help them plan their time so they can get all their jobs done as well as creating time for them to relax, play, catch up with friends and hang out with family.

The conversation

As they are mapping out their time, you could ask them the following:

• "Do you work best in short chunks or long pieces of time? Would you work better if your homework was broken up by other short tasks or fun things? If so, can you design your schedule like that?"
• "Have you allocated enough time to play, relax and spend time with people?"
• "How will you know if your schedule is helping you?"
• "How could we refine your schedule so it works better for you?"
• Are you allowing enough time to travel safely and not take unnecessary risks to and from school and other activities?