5 Ways to stop being late
By Penelope Trunk
The reason I know so much about being late is because recently, I have been
late a lot. So I have been telling myself that each time I am late I have to
honestly think about what sort of behavior is causing me to be late, and
write it down.
The write it down part is important. For me, writing something makes it more
serious. Like I am taking more responsibility for changing something if I
write it down. I know I am not alone in this.
Here are things I've come up with for myself:
1. Schedule the event into your calendar.
If you block out time to be somewhere then you won't be doing something else
when it's time to go. I amazed myself when I tried to do this. I discovered
I had enough on my schedule to last 48 hours a day. It would have been
impossible for me to be on time for anything.
2. Practice saying what you need to say.
Here's a great thing to say: "Excuse me, I hate to cut you off, but I have
an appointment." It is hard to cut someone off, but they will respect you
for sticking to a schedule. The higher up you go in corporate life, the
stricter the people stick to a schedule. The good news is that this means
it's perfectly acceptable in work life to say this short speech. Get
comfortable doing it at work and then you can do it at home, too. Often
saying no takes forethought and practice
3. Be a time pessimist.
Assume everything will take a little longer than your first estimate. This
will either make you right on time for everything, or it'll make you a
little early. People who run early are calm, organized, and always ready.
Not a bad place to be.
4. Prioritize.
Some people are late because they simply don't have enough time to do
everything. The only way to change this is to stop doing so much. Face the
reality that you cannot get your whole list done. Figure out what's most
important and just get that done. Tell the people who depend on you - like
your boss - that you can only do what you have time for, and things at the
bottom of the their list of priorities will not get done: a reality check
for everyone in your life.
(Another Getting Things Done note: The only people I know who are really
good at prioritizing have read the book. Here's an overview of the book for
the uninitiated.)
5. Be honest with yourself.
Why do you let yourself be late? It is disrespectful and makes you look
unorganized and out of control. Why are you not getting control over your
time. So much about being on time is actually about self-knowledge Often,
we are scared to make the decisions that we must make in order to get
control over our time and become someone who runs on schedule. But there is
no other way to run a life. To run on schedule is to plan the life you want
to live and execute that plan.
source: blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/03/12/5-ways-to-stop-being-late/