Arriving consistently late all the time or on a regular basis, can cause tension among family, friends, work colleagues and bosses. (Which can get you fired in some cases).
You convince yourself that you have no time to do anything and are always trying to cram as much as you can into your schedule. I know what you feel like, at one point, our family was late nearly everywhere. I can remember one case clearly, when we were meeting up with some friends, and they had been waiting about an hour before we arrived.
Now we seem to be doing okay and are managing to get to places on time or early.
Normally it will start out as being late by a couple of minutes one or two times, and as time goes on, slowly transforming into a monstrous habit that has you trapped and unable to escape!
That may be going slightly over the top, but the point I'm trying to make is that once you develop this bad habit - it can be hard to get out of. Luckily there are some easy steps and guidelines that you can use to get your time-keeping back on track.
1. Schedule
I've stressed the benefits of having a good solid schedule in place before, so I'll refer you to a previous post of mine which explains it better than I think I'll end up writing here. :)
2. Analysis
As you carry out your day-to-day life, keep a record of all the things you do. If possible, it would be even better if you could keep a note of time lengths in representation of the different things you do.
Record for 7 days, and then have a look over them afterwards. This is where you get an insight to what you really spend your time doing.
You can decide which things are not needed or are lower down in priority, as well as looking to see if you can shorter the time you waste.
3. Deadlines
Deadlines are horrible, in this case however, they aren't so bad. When you know that you have an appointment to get to or a planned arrangement, set yourself a deadline in which everything is to have stopped by then.
This could be something like 15 minutes before you have to leave, allowing yourself a chance to get ready.
If you don't want to set yourself a timed deadline, just stop at an appropriate time a bit before when you should be leaving. Be strict with yourself!
4. Aim to be early
When you have somewhere to be, instead of leaving on the last minute or later, try leaving earlier. Leaving earlier will compensate for unforeseen obstacles such as traffic or diversions.
If it's to do with work, showing up early can leave a lasting impression (a good one).
It can also allow you to sometimes start sooner on arrival of your destination. For example: If you're meeting with other parties and you arrive early, and they arrive early, you can get things running sooner....unless if they have a problem with punctuality.
5. The value of time
Learning to value and understand the time you have will lead to natural better time-keeping. You will be able to realise the importance of the time you have each day, making use of time that would otherwise be wasted.
With this new understanding, you can plan around appointments with much more ease, naturally allowing yourself to get to places on time.
6. Commute time
Prior to the finalisation of the designated time that you need to leave by, estimate the approximate commute time. If it is an unfamiliar route, leave yourself more time. Also keep in mind possible hold-ups along the way, so point #3 will maybe tie in here.
The ability to be able to place a time value on a journey will develop as time is manifested (long term wise), building upon the foundations of step #5.
7. Plan before-hand
If you're not a fan of schedules, then just incorporate a list of things you have to do before leaving for the prepared meeting.
Normally I find that planning the night before is the most effective, making use of down time you are likely to have. Or you could write a quick plan in the mornings, though this isn't something I'm a fan of, as I like to get started as soon as I get up and already have a plan set in place.
Being prepared is a key element in upgrading personal punctuality.
8. Early Riser
If you're late because of the huge amount of things you have to get done, then try getting up earlier. Like with the schedule in point #1, I've also done a post showing the benefits of being an early riser.
9. Forward the clocks
I know this sounds strange, but forwarding all of your clocks by five or ten minutes can help in getting to places on time.
The main clock that we run by in my house is about 7 minutes fast, and makes a surprising amount of difference to our punctuality. Although the tendency can be to then say to ourselves: "We don't have to go just yet, we still have another five minutes or so".
10. Minor jobs the night before
Similar to point #7, but instead of planning out your whole day, do minor tasks for the day. For example: Make lunches if going somewhere, pack bags and clothes, get the clothes you are going to wear ready etc.
11. Wear the other shoes
If you are meeting up with someone, try to position yourself in their shoes. Try to understand what it must feel like to have to wait around bored out of your mind. Having this empathy will cause you to speed up.
If you're consistently late, some people may reduce or stop making arrangements with you because of the fact they may need to get on with other things which could be done instead of waiting for you!
12. Time conscious
Although it's great to use all of these other techniques, if you're not conscious of the time, you can (and most probably will) overrun the time and end up being late.
Set all of your clocks to the same time, get a watch (even just a £1 one, it still keeps the time), set an alarm signalling the final ten minutes to go. Make sure you're always conscious of the time.
The amount of times I've been getting ready to go somewhere, looking at the time and realising that I have only 5 minutes left - I would rather forget. :(
13. Avoid the T.V
If you have things to do, do not allow yourself to watch the t.v. T.V is one of the biggest time wasters in our modern lives, and is extremely easy to get sucked in for an hour or more. So whatever you do - avoid the t.v.
14. Read and wait
It can be really boring getting somewhere early and having to wait, so arriving early may be put off. If you have something to do however (like read a book), then you'll find that these periods of time will go much quicker.
15. Organisation
A main reason for jobs and tasks to be done slower than expected, is disorganisation.
Not being organised and having things all over the place, can lead to huge delays, e.g you can't find your car keys or that important document.
Keep major items in allocated places, so that when you need them there and then, you can whizz straight over and get them.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar