Ten o’clock Jamaica time.’ If you are Jamaica you immediately get that joke. It speaks to an old tendency of Jamaicans to start functions or arrive at events significantly late.
But setting all jokes aside, some persons have a huge problem with punctuality. Even with the best of intentions to change, they still somehow leave you waiting, seething in frustration long after their scheduled time of arrival. If you consider yourself among the guilty and are desperate to change but don’t know how to keep reading.
Diana DeLonzor, author of Never Be Late Again, conducted research on chronic tardiness. It turned out that most of the persons she interviewed actually hated being late! An important key to the problem, “she noted”, is that tardy people view time differently than those who are punctual. As such, telling a person who is always late to be on time, is like telling a chronic overeater not to overeat. She points out that the first step toward ending habitual lateness is to admit to yourself that you have a problem and want to change. This being the case, efforts to alter the habit will effectively bring transformation.
Learn to leave spare time between important appointments and tasks. Determine transit time in-between, then add 10 – 30 minutes for unexpected delays.
These are 6 ways to affect the change you want.
1. Always plan to arrive early.
Leave earlier than you usually do when heading out to an event. You could be miscalculating the amount of time you need to get somewhere. Say you usually leave at 8:00 and tend to be 20 minutes late, leave no later than 7:30 instead. The same goes for when you start to get ready for an event. You may estimate that it takes 40 minutes when in reality it’s 90 minutes. Time yourself for a more accurate figure and adjust your start time accordingly.
2. Try using alarms:
Set an alarm to remind you of when to get ready and another with the time you need to leave. Importantly, stop what you are doing, make a note of where you left off and obey the alarm!
3. Stop over scheduling your day:
You plan to do the dishes, pick up the kids, prepare dinner and get ready to go out all in the space of an hour. Yet you are still surprised when you arrive late feeling stressed out and tired? Do
an honest evaluation of your daily activities. Is your calendar filled with promises that have you rushing around to fulfil? Can you rearrange your schedule? If some things are not necessary, drop them and take fewer chores in the future. Also, delegate tasks. If a family member or friend is available and can do it equally well, let them.
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Ten o’clock Jamaica time.’ If you are Jamaica you immediately get that joke. It speaks to an old tendency of Jamaicans to start functions or arrive at events significantly late.
But setting all jokes aside, some persons have a huge problem with punctuality. Even with the best of intentions to change, they still somehow leave you waiting, seething in frustration long after their scheduled time of arrival. If you consider yourself among the guilty and are desperate to change but don’t know how to keep reading.
Diana DeLonzor, author of Never Be Late Again, conducted research on chronic tardiness. It turned out that most of the persons she interviewed actually hated being late! An important key to the problem, “she noted”, is that tardy people view time differently than those who are punctual. As such, telling a person who is always late to be on time, is like telling a chronic overeater not to overeat. She points out that the first step toward ending habitual lateness is to admit to yourself that you have a problem and want to change. This being the case, efforts to alter the habit will effectively bring transformation.
These are 6 ways to affect the change you want.
1. Always plan to arrive early.
Leave earlier than you usually do when heading out to an event. You could be miscalculating the amount of time you need to get somewhere. Say you usually leave at 8:00 and tend to be 20 minutes late, leave no later than 7:30 instead. The same goes for when you start to get ready for an event. You may estimate that it takes 40 minutes when in reality it’s 90 minutes. Time yourself for a more accurate figure and adjust your start time accordingly.
2. Try using alarms:
Set an alarm to remind you of when to get ready and another with the time you need to leave. Importantly, stop what you are doing, make a note of where you left off and obey the alarm!
3. Stop over scheduling your day:
You plan to do the dishes, pick up the kids, prepare dinner and get ready to go out all in the space of an hour. Yet you are still surprised when you arrive late feeling stressed out and tired? Do
an honest evaluation of your daily activities. Is your calendar filled with promises that have you rushing around to fulfil? Can you rearrange your schedule? If some things are not necessary, drop them and take fewer chores in the future. Also, delegate tasks. If a family member or friend is available and can do it equally well, let them.
Share this post: