How To Stop Being Late

It’s 7:29 am. You think to yourself “It takes me exactly 23 minutes to get to work. If I rush, I can make it on time. I can make every green light then I surely can get there on time.” But then there’s an accident on the highway, you can’t find your keys and you forgot to let the dog out. Does that sound familiar? You are definitely not alone. Millions of Americans have this exact same issue. But why are we always late? If we have the same schedules every day, why is it so hard for us? Take a look at my findings below about how to stop being late. 
First and foremost, it’s important to know that this has a huge impact on your finances. If you have an issue getting to work on time, how can people trust you with more things (in other words no additional responsibilities means no higher pay or even worse possible job loss…yikes!). Given the fact that you don’t want that to happen, you’re not going to let that happen and this is what you need to do about it!

There is a lady by the name of Diana Lonzer. She had a horrible time getting to her appointments as a sales representative for Reuters. After a lot of soul-searching, she decided to make it a mission of hers to not only be on time but to spread the word about punctuality. In fact, she decided to write a book about it. According to a press release, she made an astonishing claim about the number of people that have frequent tardiness.

“Approximately 15 to 20 percent of the U.S. population have trouble getting to where they’re going on time”

That is a huge number in the American population to struggle with such an important yet seemingly simple problem. An article mentions her book having 3 major categories of people that have chronic tardiness.

1 ) The Adrenaline Seeker

Just imagine the thrill of “beating time”. It’s almost as if it’s a person you’re competing with. It definitely beats getting there early to be bored. She hates the thought of being there 15 minutes early only to hear the boring stories of her co-worker talking about her 5 rambunctious kids and husband that “never listens”  at the local “watering hole (i.e. getting morning coffee)”. Sound familiar?

My Suggested Solution

Take a look at why you are seeking this adrenaline. Is what you’re going to really boring or you don’t value it enough to be there? For instance your job. Think about whether or not your subconscious is trying to tell you don’t really value it enough to be punctual. If that’s the case is it time for a career change?

2 ) The Producer

You know this person that loves to schedule every minute of every day. You know in the back of your mind that they would love to have a laminated to do list scheduled out for every minute of the day. She’s the teacher’s pet of the office that has volunteered herself with all of the projects only to find herself incredibly stressed out due to over-committing, thus making herself late on everything.

My Suggested Solution 

Think about why you are trying so hard to have every minute filled up. Is there something terrifying about having a moment to breath? Force yourself to think about whether or not it’s an overcompensation of something you feel like you’re lacking. Is it coming from a place of insecurity?

3 ) The Absent Minded Professor

This one is probably the easiest one to spot. The girl with the purse that they refer to as a black hole, that can never find their keys. The one that has instantly been diagnosed by other people with severe attention disorder and has given her a 30-minute bump up from the actual time just because everyone knows there’s going to be a “you guys are never going to believe what just happened to me”.

My Suggested Solution 

Try mapping out your day the night before and setting reminders for yourself. It’s amazing what a little planning can do for you the night before.

Wrapping Up

Basically, these are a couple of categories of reasons why people are late and a few things you can do to help with your timeliness issue. What is a couple of things that you have done to help with your timely situation? You never know, it may help someone else out with their timely issue!