If You Want to Stop Being Late (And Worked Up) all the Time, Try this!
The other day, I had to go wait in the car while I waited for Chuck to finish whatever it is he was doing. We go in the same direction for work so we leave at the same time by car. We usually step out of the house together. But not on that day. It was either that I left the house and sat in the car and waited, or I finally wore the long awaited badge of being a time nagger!
“Chuck it is 7:15”. “Chuck, it is 7:23!!” “Chuck it is 7:29, we have 1 minute more if you gonna catch your train”. “Chuck, it is 7:34, just pray there is no traffic on the way, well….!!!” (We have to leave home at 7:30 a.m., if Chuck is going to catch his train; I drop him off at the train station few miles away!).
I am seldom late. I hate lateness if the truth be known. In the recesses of my heart, I often have equated lateness and sloppiness as the twins separated at birth. Now, I am not saying Chuck is sloppy, I could not possibly think it because Chuck is Mr. Wonderful.
However, lateness is something that… grrr. Well you get the gist. So when someone who is punctual marries someone who thinks time stands still and waits for them, there has to be a lot of patience. And when that is expiring, long suffering. Just so the day starts well and even ends well and our marriage sanity remains in check!
So, Chuck you have inspired me to write this post, I have learnt so much from you! By the way, I can’t fathom why you would think to load the washing machine, when it is 7:27 and you have not finished dressing yet?
##1 Plan your day ahead
The night before, we should try as best as possible to plan our day ahead. These are some prompts to consider:
Where are you going to be?
How are you going to get there?
What do you need?
What are you going to wear?
Do you know the route of how to get to where you are going?
Don’t just roll out of the day and suddenly have all these thoughts crash landing on your head! You will end up stressed out before you swing your left foot out from under the covers. Trying to find the appropriate clothing for your meeting or day adds more unexpected time. It may not be ironed. It may be at the back of your closet. You may not find it!!! Check the train times. Plan your route.
##2 Plan for the unexpected
In planning, we should always plan for the unexpected. My lovely Chuck is so cool. “How long will the journey take, Chuck?” I ask. “Oh 20 minutes”, he replies. (Bearing in mind this is somewhere we have never been before. And because it is only a few miles away, Chuck anticipates that the journey should be a dream. Or worse, we have a plane to catch!). But then my mind is swimming with questions like, “What if there is traffic?” Surely it is better to arrive early than late.
Plan for eventualities. Traffic delays, train cancellations (especially if you live in the UK), unexpected weather conditions and so on. You don’t want to be jumping traffic lights and getting penalties, all because you did not make allowances for circumstances outside your control. Remember poor planning impacts our mental health.
##3 Get up on time
Set your alarm clock (if you use one) appropriately. And get up when it sounds! If your body clock wakes you up, ‘speak’ to your body clock the night before if there are any new waking adjustments. If you want the Holy Spirit to wake you up, He will definitely do so but you got to have trained your spirit to be in tune with Him and know that He is waking you up. Don’t start doing this for the first time on the day you have to catch a flight or have an exam.
##4 Don’t get distracted
Keep to your plan! If you have planned your day effectively, then stick to the plan. Don’t get distracted by some phone notification. The next thing you are on Facebook getting replying to some post on some photo your friend posted of her wearing something that you thought was a little too small for her. Stay away from the phone!!!!! Or Chuck, forget the laundry. I really appreciate you are so considerate. But loading the machine when you need to catch your train does not sound like too much of a grand idea.
With getting distracted, you don’t want to find you are wearing odd pair of shoes when you are just about to board the bus. And believe me, someone has actually stepped out with odd pairs of shoes before. Stepped out of their house only to discover that they were wearing the left and right of different pairs of shoes! He now had to make a choice. Either go back and change and be late(!), or be the clown of the day!
##5 Keep to the plan or adjust appropriately
Yes you may need to refine your plan because that is just how life goes, but make sure you are compensating for any prolonged periods you have spent on a task. Perhaps you discovered that is some water spilled on the floor that you got to mop up to prevent your little one from slipping. Go ahead to mop up and prevent a hazard.
But after that you may not have time for that big breakfast you were thinking of. Just grab a toast instead. Don’t overspend too much time on a sub task. Every minute added counts up. If your flight is at 10:15, getting there for 10:16 still means a missed flight. I’d rather skip breakfast mate!
##6 Have a changed mindset
If you are always late, you need to renew your mind and have a new mindset. You got to stop telling yourself that is just the way you are. You got to say that you can change and expect to change. There is nothing special about people who are always on time. It is not a unique gift. Keep at it even when you are late again in the future. Keep perfecting and refining your schedule, your planning. See yourself as being someone who understands the concept of time, and that time is currency and don’t give up on you. And you won’t have to be late tomorrow!
Are you someone always late? Can you share what makes you late? Or are you always on time? How has it worked for you?
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