A short course on using time well helped girls put off schoolwork less
Who it’s about: Students
- Helped
Girls who had seven group sessions on time management put off schoolwork less than the waiting group.
- Action: Plan your weektested
- Action: Challenge unhelpful thoughtstested
- Rule: Practise with a groupused
Small randomised trial of 30 schoolgirls in Ahvaz, Iran · vs girls offered the course afterwards · they rated themselves · ⚠ results look too good to be true; numbers unreliable
The study
Who took part
30 girls at one secondary school in Ahvaz, Iran, about 17 on average. They put things off and worried about tests more than most, and thought less of themselves as students than most. They were split into two groups of 15.
What they did
One group had seven weekly group sessions of an hour each on using time well. They covered thoughts that waste time, planning and ordering tasks, and setting short- and long-term goals. The other group got nothing and was offered the course afterwards.
What happened
At the end, girls who took the course rated themselves as putting off schoolwork much less than at the start. The waiting group changed little. The paper's numbers don't add up: the size it reports is too large for its own test results. So we can't give a reliable size.
Source
Cultivating academic self-concept and reducing test anxiety through time management training (2025)
DOI: 10.34172/rdme.025.33316 (opens in a new tab)Tools in this study
Action5
Challenge unhelpful thoughtsCognitive restructuring of beliefs such as perfectionism or catastrophising.
