Addressing lateness begins with understanding what some of the contributing factors are. Here are few questions you can begin with to understand this better:
- When are you most likely to be late? What type of task were you doing right beforehand?
- What thoughts do you notice are causing you to arrive late?
- When you arrive on time, what sequence of events enabled you to be successful?
With a better understanding of your lateness, you can develop strategies to manage it:
- Externalize Time: Use visual timers or alarms to keep track of time and set reminders to help orient you to how much time is passing or when you need to act
- Time Estimation: Time yourself completing common tasks and travelling frequent routes, keeping a record as you go. Once you have several entries, you can get an average estimate of how long these tasks take, enabling you to plan more effectively.
- Pause before Agreeing: Review what you’ll be doing before that time, what planning or prep is required, and whether you can realistically meet that deadline.
- Overestimate travel time: Always add extra buffer time to your estimated travel duration to account for unexpected delays.
- Prepare in advance: Lay out clothes, pack bags, or gather necessary items the night before.
- Implement the "ready, set, go" technique: Break departure preparation into three distinct phases.
- Create detailed schedules: Break down your routines into specific, timed steps. Make sure you have visual reminders or alarms to help keep yourself moving through these steps.
- Practice backwards planning: Start with the arrival time and work backwards to determine when to start getting ready.
- Leverage technology: Use apps designed to help with time management and punctuality.
- Adjust your clocks: Set clocks slightly ahead to give yourself a time buffer.
- Use transition rituals: Develop specific routines for shifting between activities.
- Address underlying anxiety: Sometimes, lateness can be linked to anxiety about the event itself. Address these feelings if present.
