Five ways to stop being late

Every one of us has a horror story about being late to work, a wedding or another important function. So how would it feel to never be late again?

You’re not alone. Let’s be proactive about our timing by acting on these five tips:

1. Transitional activities

Consider traffic, parking, children walking to school … anything that might get in the way of you getting to your destination on time. We typically take Google Maps’ journey estimation as gospel – but we shouldn’t. Always allow extra time for complications.

2. Beware of “I’ll just do things quicker.”

It’s very tempting to press snooze when you haven’t had a good night’s sleep, or you might need to fit one more task before work. This rarely ever works; it simply makes us more frantic (and late). So you really do need to get up on time.

Try reorganising your evening so you get to sleep earlier, or fit in ‘morning tasks’ before you go to bed. This will help beat the rush and ensure you get to work on time.

3. Change your perspective

Instead of thinking “we need to be there at 7:30”, try “it starts at 7:30”. There’s a massive difference between arriving early and arriving dead on time and then frantically looking for a parking space.

4. Get there 10 minutes early

Punctuality only works if you get it right. If you aim to get to your destination with one minute to spare, you’re not giving yourself enough time for any errors. This can increase your stress levels. If your event starts at 12:00, aim to get there for 11:50 instead of 11:59.

5. Think ahead

Plan your journey. If you need to get to a job interview in a part of town you haven’t visited before, plan a route and expect things to go wrong. This way if your route is blocked by road works, you can easily revert to your contingency plan or reroute the Sat Nav.

If you think you need help with certain personal development issues, like your punctuality, a life coach may be able to help. To find a life coach in your area, please use our advanced search tool.

Read and comment on the original Huffington Post article.