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There are those among us in the working world (this author included) who would rather die than be late for anything. In fact, it’s so bad that the earlier I can be sometimes, the better. Of course, this is not recommended behavior and, is just as problematic in its own way as being chronically late.
Anyway, when you are coming to work or involved in business affairs, to be late reflects badly and is a classic faux pas no-no. Just consider why someone should trust you with an account or any other type of job situation if you don’t have your wits about you enough to even keep an appointment.
Apart from being annoying and inconsiderate, lateness makes one wonder what one earth were you doing that you couldn’t make this lunch on time. Besides, the very least you can do if you are going to be unavoidably late, is to call the person who is waiting for you and tell them so. Unfortunately, for many of us unavoidable lateness is usually synonymous with unexpected maiming or death. Unless you are in a terrorist type of situation, there is always the phone, and to call is the very least you can do to save whatever remains of your business soul.
If you are chronically late in your personal life as well, there’s little I can say that will change things for you. In the words of Dr. Phil McGraw, what’s the payoff for your behavior? I know that my “payoff” for being early is the neurotic satisfaction that since no one will wait for me anyway, I will beat them there. In the case of someone who is always late, perhaps the payoff has to do with hostility. A famous doctor once said, “If you are early you are anxious, if you are on time you are compulsive, and if you are late, you are hostile.”
My friends, how can anyone win at this game? Perhaps the idea is just to keep playing, which is fine. Remember to call if you can’t find the stadium.
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How to Be Punctual
1) Acknowledge that you are a person who is having a hard time being punctual. As with any problem, you cannot fix it if you’re in denial that it’s a problem at all. But if your chronic tardiness is beginning to strain your job and/or your relationships, the first thing you need to do is acknowledge this as a weakness so you can begin to work toward correcting it.Although if it is a rational problem,like traffic or small children,there is no need to feel bad-just keep working on it!
Be conscious of the time.
2) Keep your watch accurate. For some people, moving up the time on their watch will help them be earlier. For others, they will subconsciously know that the time is wrong and so they just disregard it altogether.
3) Keep a clock, phone, computer or anything that displays time in each room of your house. One of the easiest ways to run late is simply by not realizing that the time is going by as quickly as it is.
4) Don’t be an optimist. Things usually take significantly longer than you’d expect, even without major delays. If you have a dinner date at 6:30 PM, don’t think you can work in your yard until 6:00, then shower, change, and drive across town and make it on time. Realistically assess the time you will take on each step and then add 10 minutes more to allow for unexpected delays,or you can get to the restaurant first and get a good seat, or if your date’s early too, you can spend more time with each other!
4) Wake up when you’re supposed to wake up. Don’t hit the snooze button, linger in bed, and watch TV at the very start of your day.Maybe even try setting your clock 10 minutes earlier than you need to. If you have difficulty with this, move your alarm clock to somewhere out of reach from your bed; that way, you have to get up to turn it off. Acquire the habit of sitting up, stretching, and getting out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off. If you can’t get out of bed on time, you may be going to bed too late. Try sleeping earlier to allow yourself at least 7 hours sleep. By getting up late you are setting a pattern of lateness for the rest of the day.
5) Commit yourself to being 15 minutes early for everything. If you have to be to work at 8:00, don’t even tell yourself this. Just tell yourself (and everyone else who listens- but dont annoy them or make them think that they are late or early!) “I have to be at work at 7:45.” If you do this, you will be on time even with little unforeseen interruptions. You will be on time even with a traffic jam. And on those rare times that you actually show up 15 minutes early; you will get kudos for being an enthusiastic employee.You can also chat with others who are early,and that will make you happy before work!
6) Bring something you can read in short segments almost everywhere you go. This makes it easy to be early, since in the 10-15 minutes you have before an appointment/event, you can get a few pages of reading done. This makes it feel like you’re getting something done (and you are) while you are waiting, if you do have to wait. You can get a ton of reading done this way, too.
7) Re-examine how long your daily tasks really take. For example, you might be under the impression that you take a 15 minute shower, assuming that starting at 6:30 you can leave at 6:45. But, what about the time you spend before and after the actual shower? It’s quite possible you really spend 20 or even 30 minutes in the bathroom, and that’s why you can never leave by 6:45. So, think about the things you do every day, and try and keep an estimate of how long it takes you.Just saying to yourself”Right about 15 mins for that” can fix your lateness and takes about 5 seconds.
Watch yourself for a few days to see where you often waste the most time. These “time sinkholes” (such as getting distracted while checking emails) are often unnoticed by us and can throw off your daily planning. Try to change your habits around these activities. For example, standing up while quickly checking your emails makes it hard to lose an hour randomly surfing the web.
8 ) Make a note of where you should be in regards to time. For instance, if you have to leave your house at 8 for work, tell yourself, “It’s 7:20, I should be getting in the shower.” “It’s 7:35, I should be brushing my teeth.” This will help keep you on track. It is useful to think up a morning schedule to get used to this habit.
9) Keep organized. Disorganization is directly related to lateness. How often have you been late because you were looking for your car keys or couldn’t find an important document? Keep the things that you use everyday in some resemblance of organization and your routines will go smoother.
Plan ahead.
10) Schedule something unimportant right before something very important. If you have an essential interview at 4:00, plan to meet a friend for coffee at the coffee shop next to your interview at 3:30. Then, even if you are late to meet your friend, you will be poised to pounce on your meeting.But remember to tell your friend that you may miss your coffee(they might feel that you are ditching them.)
11) Pick out your clothes the night before (don’t forget your underclothes and shoes!). If you need to bring something with you, set it with your car keys or purse.
12) If you are going to some unfamiliar place, look over a map, or even drive there once if at all possible. Have your transportation planned; if you drive, keep your car in good order and refill gas in the tank. If you ride a bus, know the route, have your fare, and keep cab money on hand in case of emergency. If you are depending on another person for a ride—have a plan B!
13) Go to sleep on time. This makes it a lot easier to get up on time and helps you stay on task during the day. Unless you know otherwise, assume you need eight hours of sleep every night. By far the majority of people need at least this much sleep. College students and younger need more. Most people underestimate their sleep needs.
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I admit I’m not a very punctual person myself. But I do have the basic courtesy of informing the person I made plans with if I’m late. I think it’s really annoying and rude if people come 2 hours late and don’t bother informing anyone before that. It’s worse when it happens over and over again.
FUCKIN’ ANNOYING.
I’ve another week of holidays before I start.
