Avoid Being Late
If you have built yourself a reputation for being late all the time, whether it is with your friends, business associates, or clients, then you will soon see why such a trait can be detrimental to these relationships. Of course there are reasons as to why you may be late now and then, but at some point these random instances will become a bad habit if you don't do anything to change your ways. Therefore, doing the best that you can to avoid being late should be your ultimate objective. If you have created a habit of being late and you want to change that behavior, consider the following steps.
Contents
Steps
- Give yourself enough time to get ready if you want to learn to be on time. You don't want to rush because that will likely make you forget something. If you have an early appointment, prepare the night before by getting your clothes ready and making sure that everything you need, such as car keys and cell phone, is ready to go.
- Don't give yourself permission to be late by making excuses for it. You may think that it's just a few minutes, but tardiness is a habit that often gets worse, and minutes will grow. Therefore, take tardiness seriously and recognize that it is a bad habit that should not be excused.
- Allow ample time for your journey. Take into consideration the time of day that you will be traveling, and always add enough time for travel delays and other problems that could crop up, such as finding parking or getting lost if you are heading out to an unfamiliar destination.
- Avoid overextending yourself by scheduling too many appointments around the same time. By doing this, you are setting yourself up to being late. If you do have more than one meeting at a time, then make sure that you schedule enough time in between so that you can travel from one to another without rushing or risking being late.
- Refrain from accepting invitations that you cannot realistically fit into your schedule. Not only will you be creating a stressful situation for yourself because you will be forced to follow through on the invite, but you will most likely be late and upset the person you are meeting. It's better to decline the invitation and risk disappointing the person, than risking offending them by being late.
- Always give yourself more time than you need to get there. Better safe than sorry, and it's okay to be a little bit early. For Example, if you have to go to a wedding that starts at 5:00 and you know it takes 20 minutes to get there,leave at 4:30. You WILL get there on time!
Tips
- Set your clock forward by an odd number of minutes. (Setting back by 10 or 15 minutes is too easy to calculate instantly). For example, if the real time is 10.10, change yours to 10.17. This way, you think you have less time than you do.
- Empathize with the person who is waiting for you. Even if it is not intentional, it is not fun to be kept waiting. If you put yourself in the position of the person waiting for you, you will better gain a sense of urgency and try harder to avoid being tardy.
Warnings
- Recognize that tardiness, especially consistent tardiness, is a trait that illustrates your lack of respect for others. It also suggests that you think that you are more important than those who are waiting for you. Ultimately this arrogant nature will eventually create feelings of animosity from the people who you consistently keep waiting.
- On the flip side, your tardiness may be illustrating lack of self-esteem. Perhaps you think that your presence doesn't really matter. If that were true, why were you included in the planning/invitations? They want you there, so don't disappoint them.
