A self-assessment of time management is developed for middle-school students. A sample of entering seventh-graders (N = 814) from five states across the USA completed this instrument, with 340 students retested 6 months later. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis suggested two factors (i.e., Meeting Deadlines and Planning) that adequately explain the variance in time management for this age group. Scales show evidence of reliability and validity; with high internal consistency, reasonable consistency of factor structure over time, moderate to high correlations with Conscientiousness, low correlations with the remaining four personality dimensions of the Big Five, and reasonable prediction of students’ grades. Females score significantly higher on both factors of time management, with gender differences in Meeting Deadlines (but not Planning) mediated by Conscientiousness. Potential applications of the instrument for evaluation, diagnosis, and remediation in educational settings are discussed.
In our technologically enriched society, individuals are constantly required to multitask, prioritize, and work against deadlines in a timely fashion (Orlikowsky & Yates, 2002). Time management has caught the attention of educational researchers, industrial organizational psychologists, and entrepreneurs, for its possible impact on academic achievement, job performance, and quality of life (Macan, 1994). However, research on time management has not kept pace with this enthusiasm, with extant investigations suffering from a number of problems. Claessens, Van Eerde, Rutte, and Roe’s (2007) review of the literature suggest that there are three major limitations to research on time management. First, many measures of time management have limited validity evidence. Second, many studies rely solely on one-shot self-report assessment, such that evidence for a scale’s generalizability over time cannot be collected. Third, school (i.e., K-12) populations have largely been ignored. For example, all studies in the Claessens et al. (2007) review focus on adult workplace samples (e.g., teachers, engineers) or university students, rather than students in K-12.
The current study involves the development of a time management assessment tailored specifically to middle-school students (i.e., adolescents in the sixth to eighth grade of schooling). Time management may be particularly important at the onset of adolescence for three reasons. First, the possibility of early identification and remediation of poor time management practices. Second, the transition into secondary education, from a learning environment involving one teacher to one of time-tabled classes for different subjects with different teachers setting assignments and tests that may occur contiguously. Successfully navigating this new learning environment requires the development of time management skills. Third, adolescents use large amounts of their discretionary time on television, computer gaming, internet use, and sports: Average estimates are 3¼ and 2¼ h per day for seventh-grade boys and girls, respectively (Van den Bulck, 2004). With less time left to do more administratively complex schoolwork, adolescents clearly require time management skills to succeed academically.
This study identified a two-factor structure for time management in middle-school students, where the “Meeting Deadlines and Being Organized” and “Planning and Using Aids to Manage Time” factors were linked to both Conscientiousness and to students’ school grades. Females reported higher levels of both Meeting Deadlines and Planning, although this was mediated by personality (particularly Conscientiousness) for the former factor.
Only two distinct factors in time management are observed for the middle-school sample, which contrasts with most studies of adults or college student populations, which frequently report at least twice this number (e.g., Bond and Feather, 1988 and Macan et al., 1990). Each group may use their time at a very different level of complexity and the nature of their tasks and expected outcomes are likely to influence the way that each group manages time. For example, being able to finish homework in time for school may be less challenging than obtaining the most updated information on products, scheduling multiple client meetings, and responding to various client requests (as in the life of a salesperson). The relatively simple routine of middle-school life could lead students to manage their time using only the two dimensions observed in this study. As the task complexity increases and goals become diversified, more dimensions of time management become appropriate.
