Its presence can influence our lifestyle choices, impact decision making, and show us the pace at which life goes by. It can lead to feelings of both incompetence or satisfaction, yet we know it’s our own self-doing. It’s a trait, likely adopted from our parents, who learned it from their parents. It’s Procrastination, or on the flip-side, Time Management.

With the new academic school year set to begin, proper time management is one behavior we can encourage our children to attain right off the bat. If your children are like mine, they’ll come home from school looking to express their enthusiasm about the first day of school. To sustain this level of motivation and prepare for the academic year, getting organized from the start can set the tone for the days, weeks, and quarters to come.

The following list of websites offer a fun way to promote the discussion around procrastination and time management: Eat the Frog, Time Management 101, and TED Talk with Tim Urban. As you talk with your children about these traits, remember there is no genetic predisposition to good time management skills. Instead, time management is a learned skill, one which needs honing and consistent short-term practices building long-term palpable accomplishments.