Time is important in our lives. It allows us to know when to start and finish a task or an activity. Without time, life would be impossible. Time allows us to measure the duration of an activity; it helps us make plans for our days, our weeks, our months, and our years. A daily schedule or a daily routine is the combination of all the tasks or activities a person does every day at specific times. In many countries, people say time is money, which means that knowing how to manage one’s time is important. If an employee is late for work, he or she can get in trouble and in some cases get fired when it becomes a habit. Public transportation like trains and buses run on schedule, and travelers are usually at a train station or bus stop a few minutes early to make sure they don’t miss their ride. Read the daily routine of the following people and answer the questions below.

Alyssa is a nurse. She works from three o’clock in the afternoon to eleven thirty at night. From Monday to Friday, Alyssa wakes up at seven o’clock and takes her daughter Stephanie to school. When she gets back home, she goes back to bed when she is too tired, or she does some chores around the house. At two thirty, Alyssa leaves for work. She works in a nursing home. Sometimes, she takes a fifteen-minute break at four fifteen when she is not too busy. She has dinner at work at six o’clock. She finishes work at eleven thirty at night, gets home, takes a shower, and goes to bed around one o’clock in the morning. She stays home every other weekend.

Rob, Alyssa’s husband, is a high school Spanish teacher. His duties start at seven twenty-five. From Monday to Friday, Rob wakes up at six o’clock in the morning. He takes a shower and gets ready for work. He makes his coffee and leaves the house at six forty-five. From seven forty to nine thirty, he prepares his lessons. His first class is from nine thirty-five to eleven fifteen. His second class starts at eleven twenty and ends at one thirty. From twelve twenty to twelve fifty, the class takes a lunch break. Rob’s last class of the day starts at one thirty-five and ends at three oh five. Rob leaves work around three twenty, picks up his daughter Stephanie from middle school, and arrives home around four fifteen. He eats dinner with his daughter and goes to bed around eleven at night.

Stephanie is thirteen; she is in eighth grade. From Monday to Friday, she wakes up at six thirty. She takes a shower and gets ready for school. She likes eating breakfast at school with her friends, but sometimes, she picks up a croissant or apple that she eats in the car when her mother is driving her to school. Her classes start at eight o’clock. Her school runs on a block schedule just like her father’s; that means every class lasts ninety minutes. Stephanie has lunch at eleven forty-five. Her father, Rob, picks her up after school around three forty-five. The family spends some quality time together when Alyssa is off with a nice dinner at home. The family goes shopping and goes to the movies on weekends when Alyssa is not working.