Procrastination and Being Late
Being late is often a common syndrome for procrastinating people. For me, this area has always been a challenge… I have belonged to the group that Diana DeLonzor, in her book “Never Be Late Again”, so elegantly calls punctually challenged.
I personally think running businessmen look stupid (maybe with the exception of an airport). In the army we also had the saying “Running officers create panic among the troops”… i.e. if you are a boss you should avoid running in the corridors. Or what do you think?
Luckily I am slowly overcoming my lateness habit. For those of you reading this article and having the same challenge: I really recommend you start improving too. Being late really belongs to the group of bad habits. But of course, you already know this in you hearts, don’t you!
Why to Stop Being Late?
By being late…
- you lower your own self-esteem. You are keeping to prove yourself that you are failing, time after time. When people arrive late, they also often even try to arrive as a “nobody”, arriving on their toes without a real presence, and excuse me written all over their habitus.
- you also affect other peoples lives – negatively. If four people wait for you for 15 minutes, one hour of time has been wasted. Time is money. At minimum you will irritate your colleagues.
- you give a bad picture of yourself. The respect for your among your friends will decline. You will become the joke among your friends, when talking about hooking up somewhere. You even give a bad picture to yourself (of yourself).
- you may affect your career – negatively. Bosses do notice!
- you try to deny the fact that in our western culture, being punctual matters!
There are many reasons for people being late. Many are personal. One reason can be bad time management. Other reasons include different negative attitudes, a passive need to control, a desire for attention, or excessive selfishness.
Suggested Cures
In stead of analyzing the reasons for being late, I think it is more important to focus on the cures. Here are some ideas:
1. Decide that you want to change. If you don’t do this, you won’t succeed. Promise a friend a bottle of some preferred Scotch if you are late. You will soon notice that being in time actually feels good.
2. Stop making your schedules according to the ideal situation. This is a funny one. It also used to be my normal trap, as I used to have the following idea in my head: “I can transfer myself from any place to anywhere (within the capital area) in 30 minutes”. With this contaminated mindset I always then left 30 minutes before needing to be somewhere. It was however a real illusion. Admittedly and to my defense I probably managed to do all the distances in 30 minutes… one time out of five. But I always only remembered the ideal times when planning.
If you are in this trap, change any possible illusion regarding optimistic scheduling you have to reality. Leave a little room for unexpected things, like finding a parking place, or not finding your passport when packing.
3. Try to make it early. You should actually change your whole concept of being “in time” from arriving “1 minute before” to “10-15 minutes before”. This is a small paradigm change and will take time. This should stop you from running in the corridors. Good for you!
4. Respect your promises. If you have promised to do something, do it with respect and honor. Don’t start protesting in the middle of a task. In stead, learn to say “no”, if that’s your problem.
Does anybody by the way recognize this often reoccurring phenomenon: 1. You friends ask you to come somewhere and you promise to come. 2. Later, you don’t feel like doing it. 3. You arrive with long teeth, maybe a little late only to show some protest. 4. But wait, you have a lot of fun! 5. Afterwards you ask yourself: what was my problem?
Closing Comments
Learn to leave all kinds of passive protesting behind you. Go with the flow. Don’t try to be in control of everything and all the time.
And by the way: the techniques above really work. Try them.
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