“Sorry babe, I’ll be a few minutes late. Traffic this morning is CRAY CRAY!”
We’ve all sent the text. You’ve sent the text. I have. We’ve even lied, maybe a little, “sorry had a crazy morning, it’s been going none stop.” Has it really? Or were you just disorganised?
Somewhere in our over stimulated ‘got to be everywhere and do everything‘ world we are always late to things. We leave our friend waiting by herself at the bar. Or arrive at the dinner party at 8pm, instead of 7pm. We get to the movies as the trailers are starting. We all do these things, and occasionally it is a mistake or the traffic but most of the time, it’s not. It’s us. We don’t think things through and we don’t honour and respect the person on the other side of the equation.
It may be a little late for New Year’s resolutions, but perhaps let’s make May ‘not a minute late May’. Or something like that. Make it a month where you intentionally work on not being late. I know, I know – it takes forever to do your hair and select an outfit. Tough. Toughen up and get better, you really can.
Here are some pointers on how to stop being the one who is always late:
Plan from the bottom up
When you sit down at your computer or desk at the beginning of the day make a plan of everything that you need to do for the day. Having a list of everything from the get-go will help you to be prepared and time manage your day well.
Just say “No!”
We don’t have to say Yes to every dinner date, coffee date, meeting request, movie offer or whatever else gets thrown our way. It is better to say No to something you aren’t sure you are going to make than say yes and let everyone down at a later stage. Be firm and keep to your commitments and think through your schedule.
Factor in the emergency
If you know traffic is bad on a Monday, don’t push it and hope that it will be better. Instead leave early and be willing to wait on the other side. If your dinner date is a 30-minute drive away leave 45 minutes early. This way, you will always be either on time or early. You will also arrive less stressed and a whole lot more calm and collected.
Do this bit by bit
You don’t have to become an overnight Nazi. Nope, the key is to try make it on time for one or two things and once you have become better at this then you can try add a few other things into the schedule. Create a list of all the commitments you have in a month and select the top 3 to try be punctual for. The next month you can select another 3.
Set a reminder
If you know you always forget something then set up a reminder on your calendar app or on your phone. If a reminder goes off 15 minutes before the event is due to start then you will be able to pack up and make your way to the next thing in good time.
Factor in the in-between time
Very often we plan our journey around the key information. The train journey takes 30 minutes so I’ll leave at 6:30 to get there at 7. Yes, that’s true. But what about getting out of your house and locking up the gate. What about parking the car and trying to find the venue on the other side. What about the 5 minutes you need to go over your key points before the interview.
Don’t be that person. Let’s rally and change the status. Being late isn’t cool and it isn’t okay. Be someone who is on time, all the time. Stand out as a person who has got their stuff together.