Are you frequently late? If not, congrats! You can skip this post. For the rest of us we may be late from time to time, or all the time. I’ve been late several times in my life. As the time management expert here, I know that sounds bad. Remember, I have ADHD! So, let me break down the difference between being late on purpose or by accident. Spoiler alert, I have definitely done both. Honestly, most of you have done both, there are very few people who are punctual to every single thing they do in their life. So what is the difference you may ask? I’m guessing you are thinking that those who late by accident don’t mean harm and those who are late on purpose are just self-absorbed jerks. OK, you are not entirely wrong there, but let me break this down a bit more to explore the motivation (or lack of) behind your lateness.
Let me start with late by accident. The person who is late by accident is the person who is usually always late. Like I said earlier, this person usually doesn’t mean harm. It is not that they don’t value your time by making you wait. It is just that they don’t value their own time! That’s not always the case, especially if you have ADHD. There are many reasons someone can run late. A chronically late person just has a different mindset. They are more optimistic about their time. They will say they left the house before 10 minutes they leave and then blame phantom traffic. Speaking of traffic, they will think about how it normally may take 30 minutes but not take into account about how much worse traffic can be at certain times of the day, or if there’s an accident. It could really end up taking 55 minutes but he or she has 30 minutes in his or her mind and hence end up being 25 minutes late, and possibly even longer because they probably didn’t leave on time. I also want to note that a person who is always late, doesn’t mean that they are irresponsible. It is just a different way of thinking. I have been here several times. When I have too much going on, I tend to run late.
Now, let me discuss about being late on person. Before you begin throwing stones, let me give a few examples when being intentionally late isn’t being a jerk. Say you have a meeting that is regularly scheduled at 7:30 PM, but doesn’t normally start until around 7:45 PM, then showing up at 7:35 or 7:40 is technically late but also technically early. Especially if you have a lot to do, why show up on time if it’s not going to be started yet anyway. Of course, every situation is different. If going somewhere early leaves an important impression as it may, it won’t hurt to be early. In fact, I would say it’s honorable to strive to be on time or even early to everything. However, it may always not be necessary. If you do struggle getting to places on time, you may want start by picking and choosing which commitments are most important to be on time for. I also want to point out situations that are out of your control. When this is the case, even the most puntual people are late.
This may be one of my controversial posts and I am open to ideas, thoughts, and suggestions. If I did want to sum all of this up, I would say it is best summed up that if you are never or rarely late, keep doing what you are doing. If you are only late sometimes, just make sure you are only late when it doesn’t really matter or make a difference. If you are always late, you have work to do, but if you can first start by being on time to the most important commitments, then you are making progress. I have pondered over this concept several times and wondered why I was late to things or not and what goes behind it. I am striving to be on time and as close as possible to as many things as I can. It still doesn’t always work out but at least I have made progress and will continue to make progress. The first step to improving is acknowledging your need to improve.