Turns out my planning skills could help students too

Kathryn Mountain, Trustee and Initiative owner of Stress Less

Last year as I was researching for what Stress Less could look like, my son was preparing for NCEA level two exams. As I listened to students tell me how they would be diligent with blocking in study time, but then not be sure what to do with it, I could see that in my son too.

I also recognised that feeling from my own teenage years. Some of my friends would rock into the holidays with a plan and achieve so much. Others of us would waste the first few days, or week, and then slide into slow panic.

I'm not a teacher. I don't have a background in education. What I do have is years of experience in project management in digital and software, in human-centred design, and workshop facilitation. The human-centred design experience tells me that solutions to problems are often found in analogous spaces.

At work, none of us would work into a new client project without a plan. We break things down, we timebox, we build in checkpoints. It's not exciting or glamorous, but it works. When I listened to the students talking about what they were most worried about with exams, I realised that some of the basic tools and principles we use at work would be amazing unlocks for them.

I started testing my thinking out at home with my son. Not tutoring him in a subject, just helping him build a plan he could follow. If you ask him, he'll say he never really followed it. But watching how he plans things through now, I know some of it stuck.

A core part of my job is workshop facilitation, and teaching and supporting others to do it. Given it's what I know, it made real sense to me to turn this into a hands-on workshop for the students. I tested the workshop with a small group of students last year as part of Stress Less, and it was cool to see them walk out with their plans.

It's part of the reason we've changed the dates for Stress Less to the school holidays instead of during exam season. If we can give the students a way to start with a plan, and use the holidays well, it will give them a good runway to the exams, and help them to feel more in control of their study.

If that sounds like it will be worthwhile for a student you know, we're running the Kick Start Your Study workshop as part of Stress Less again this year: 10.30-11.30am on Monday 28th September. It's a bit of fun and highly interactive - I don't give a lecture on how to do a plan, I give them the space and support to do their own. It gives them that ability to start the holidays by seeing the reality of what needed to be done, break it down into manageable chunks, and plan in breaks and time for fun.

And yes, I'll make sure there's cookies or brownies. Coast Stress Less