Unstructured & Unproductive

After a long day of work, I like to come home, veg out on social media, and snack on whatever is in the cabinet for about an hour. I have had a long day of dealing with students, faculty, and sometimes parents. For thirty minutes to an hour, I want to have no cares in the world before I tackle home issues. This got me thinking:

Shouldn’t we give the same type of unstructured and unproductive time to our teens when they get home? Think about it. When at school, teens have 6- 7 classes a day, learning from 6-7 different teachers with different teaching styles. They are in transition throughout the day. Like us, they deal with their social, emotional, and mental status each day. When classes are over, they go to their extracurricular activities for at least an hour at school. Then they may go to a tutoring session or another club team. All of this may have happened before 6:00 pm. It is no wonder they are always tired and do not want to talk with you.

Providing your teen with an unstructured time to just be…could be highly effective. It will provide them with downtime to read a book, go on Instagram, or take a power nap. It could even (wait for it) give them a moment to talk to you. Wouldn’t that be something?!?

Provide a solid 30 minutes for them to be unstructured and unproductive. Doing this could very well produce a greater structure and productivity for the rest of the day and night. They may even want to do their…their…their chores!