Pilot Study of Let’s Get Organized: A Group Intervention for Improving Time Management

Abstract

Importance: There is a need for evidence-based occupational therapy interventions to enhance time management in people with time management difficulties. Objective: To pilot test the first part of the Let’s Get Organized (LGO) occupational therapy intervention in a Swedish context by exploring enhancements of time management skills, aspects of executive functioning, and satisfaction with daily occupations in people with time management difficulties because of neurodevelopmental or mental disorders. Design: One-group pretest–posttest design with 3-mo follow-up. Setting: Outpatient psychiatric and habilitation settings. Participants: Fifty-five people with confirmed or suspected mental or neurodevelopmental disorder and self-reported difficulties with time management in daily life. Intervention: Swedish version of Let’s Get Organized (LGO–S) Part 1, with structured training in the use of cognitive assistive techniques and strategies using trial-and-error learning strategies in 10 weekly group sessions of 1.5 hr. Outcomes and Measures: Time management, organization and planning, and emotional regulation were measured with the Swedish version of the Assessment of Time Management Skills (ATMS–S). Executive functioning was measured with the Swedish version of the Weekly Calendar Planning Activity, and satisfaction with daily occupations was assessed with the Satisfaction With Daily Occupations measure. Results: Participants displayed significantly improved time management, organization and planning skills, and emotional regulation, as well as satisfaction with daily occupations. Aspects of executive functioning were partly improved. ATMS–S results were sustained at 3-mo follow-up. Conclusion and Relevance: LGO–S Part 1 is a promising intervention for improving time management skills and satisfaction with daily occupations and should be investigated further. What This Article Adds: This study shows that LGO–S Part 1 is feasible for use in psychiatric and habilitation outpatient services. The results are promising for improved time management skills, organization and planning skills, and satisfaction with daily occupations and need to be confirmed in further studies.

One-year follow-up after the time management group intervention Let’s Get Organized

“…The study is a one-year follow-up of a single group pre-test-post-test design [8]. Ethical approval was granted by the Regional Ethical Review Board in Uppsala, Sweden (2015/015).…”

“…Another six optional sessions can be added and have a focus on organization and planning. An initial evaluation of the first ten sessions of LGO-S was carried out in an earlier pre-test-post-test study in Sweden showing that the participants had improved their time management skills and rated higher satisfaction with their daily occupations after the intervention [8]. The result was maintained three months after the intervention and the findings were confirmed and illustrated in a qualitative study where the participants described emotional changes after the intervention, e.g.…”

“…To give efficient support to people with ineffective time management skills, there is a need to establish interventions with sustainable results. An occupational therapy group intervention that has been evaluated and has shown promising results is the Swedish version of Let's Get Organized (LGO-S) [8]; however, the long-term results of the LGO-S are yet to be explored.…”

“…LGO is a manual-based occupational therapy group intervention developed in the United States, which has been translated and adapted into the Swedish cultural context (LGO-S) [8,25]. The goal of LGO-S is to train and develop effective time management-and organizational skills in daily life; it has been adapted for persons with neurodevelopmental or mental disorders.…”

Effect of Web-Based Time-Use Intervention on Occupational Balance During the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…To our knowledge, a time management intervention protocol for pandemic conditions has not been previously described in the occupational science literature. Therefore, the current intervention protocol was designed according to previous time management studies in occupational therapy (Edgelow & Krupa, 2011; Holmefur et al, 2019; Krupa et al, 2003). This individualized intervention was designed by an occupational therapy practitioner with 15 years’ professional experience.…”