Chronic Lateness

Chronic Lateness

You Can Get There on Time

When the Toronto Star asked 1,000 executives nationwide to recount the best excuses that they had heard from tardy employees, one told of a chronically late woman whose excuses grew increasingly incredible.

"One morning, more than two hours late, she called to explain that she'd awakened to discover two male window washers on scaffolding outside her bedroom window," he said. "Because she slept nude, she said, she was waiting for them to leave before she could get up and come to work."

CURES FOR TARDINESS

Her boss may have been somewhat amused by "Can you top that?" excuses, but yours may not. If you're chronically late and running out of excuses for your tardiness, you might try the following:

Apologize. If you're going to be late to your next meeting, plan to beg forgiveness. "If they don't know you well, apologize profusely and then get on with the business at hand," says Sandra Loucks, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and the University of Tennessee Medical Center. "If they know you, and this isn't the first time that you've been late, say, 'I have a problem with being on time, and I'm really working on it. Please forgive me, and know that I don't mean to be rude.'"

Analyze yourself. Try to figure out what's making you run late. While the supply of excuses for chronic lateness is infinite, the reasons are few.

Sometimes we miss deadlines because we underestimate how long projects will take, we get distracted and lose track of time, or we are unrealistic about our limitations and end up overbooking ourselves.

Draw a time line. If you underestimate how long things take, break down a task into its component parts and figure out how long each part actually takes you, says Camille Lloyd, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Be realistic--draw on past experience. Say that you need to be at work by 9:00 a.m. sharp. If you need a half-hour to read the paper, 20 minutes to shower and dress, 15 minutes to eat breakfast and 45 minutes for the commute, set your alarm for 7:00 a.m.

Time yourself. If you tend to lose track of time and forget to put the paper down after half an hour, set the alarm so that it goes off at again at 7:30 a.m., reminding you to hop in the shower, says Lenora Yuen, Ph.D., a psychologist in Palo Alto, California and co-author of Procrastination.

Set priorities. If you tend to try and accomplish too much in too little time--say, you start washing the dishes five minutes before you need to leave for the airport--chances are that you'll get a late start. "Recognize that you can't do everything," says Dr. Yuen. "Ask yourself what's really important and do that." The dishes will wait. The plane won't.

Watch the clock. Overbooking can easily make you late for appointments. On those occasions when you have no choice but to schedule appointments close together, be diligent about finishing each one on time. "When you arrive at each one, say, 'I wish I could spend more time today, but I absolutely have to leave at such-and-such time,'" says Dr. Loucks. "That way, when the time comes, everyone has been forewarned. You can leave early without feeling rude."

Just say no. If you always overbook, don't try to cram more obligations into an already tight schedule. "Women tend to be very responsive to other people's needs and have a harder time saying no when asked to do things," says Dr. Loucks. But saying yes to everything is self-defeating: Chronic lateness makes you look disorganized, inefficient and less competent, says Dr. Lloyd.

Kill time. If you habitually arrive late because you hate to be kept waiting yourself, imagine how you would feel if you were sitting there staring at your watch, says Dr. Yuen. Arrive on time and bring a book, magazine or stationery with you. That way, if you do end up waiting, you can use the time to read or catch up on correspondence.