Are you always running late everywhere you go? Lots of us are perpetually late and it’s not just frustrating for those around us, but for us as well. That feeling of being endlessly rushed, the guilt of keeping people waiting for you and the stress of knowing you’ve missed the beginning of an event are enough to make you vow to always be on time in the future, but how do you do that?
These tips from Sarah Romain, consumer champion at Late Space, an app that helps businesses fill last-minute appointments, shares her top tips for becoming more punctual:
- Get in the habit of planning your day the night before - Instead of waking up to realize you’re out of milk or don’t have clean work clothes, tweak your evening routine to include planning for the next day. Getting yourself organized and ready for the following day before you go to bed will help you avoid rushing around in the morning.
- Stop trying to cram in “just one more thing” - Sarah says late people tend to misjudge how long it takes to do things, which can lead to not giving themselves enough time for the commute to work or thinking they have time to do “one more thing” before they walk out the door. Avoid trying to squeeze in another task and you’re more likely to be on time.
- Overestimate - Build some wiggle room into your schedule by adding at least 25 to 50% more time than you think you’ll need to do something. “And the longer the task or longer the travel time, the more wiggle room you have to build in,” Sarah advises. “Err on the side of caution even if it sounds like a breeze.”
- Don’t forget about “transition” time - When we’re planning our days or scheduling appointments, we don’t always include time buffers between tasks and end up scheduling things back-to-back. Build in some extra time for transitioning from one task to the other so you won’t have to rush and you’re more likely to be on time.
Source: Metro