It is 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, and Jane is waking up to prepare a dinner for eight of her close friends. Last Monday, after checking with her parents, she decided to invite them over for a 6:00 p.m. dinner. She proceeds to spend the entire day grocery shopping and preparing a sizeable meal.

Six o’clock rolls around, and no one has yet arrived. Jane stares at the clock, watching every passing minute. Finally, at 6:30 p.m. her friends arrive. They provide no explanation for their tardiness, and seem not to even care. When she asks them why they were 30 minutes late, they inform her that they were busy shopping and lost track of time.

Jane labored all day to prepare a wonderful dinner for her friends. She showed them appreciation by sacrificing her time. In turn, her friends showed a lack of appreciation by being late. How would you feel if this happened to you? Even if it was not their intention, Jane’s friends were disrespectful. After Jane explains to her friends that their tardiness upset her, they apologize and feel embarrassed.

 

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Throughout your life, you will encounter similar circumstances that require punctuality, such as handing in homework assignments; arriving at school, a job, or a meeting; picking up someone from the airport, school, work, etc. Avoid embarrassing moments by ridding yourself of any tendency to be late.

Here are some tips:

• Learn to manage your time wisely, which includes setting deadlines. There are a fixed number of minutes in a day—and only one of you. Taking on too many responsibilities ensures that something will not be finished on time.
• Make sure others are aware of your deadlines. This ensures they do not assume that you will be available for other projects.
• Procrastination is a thief of time—avoid it at all costs! This includes waiting until the last second to start a task simply because you find it unpleasant. If a task is difficult, do it first. Worrying about it will not accomplish anything!
• Compose a list of all the circumstances for which you are consistently late. Examine the list, asking yourself what your reasons were, and how you can improve.
• Before agreeing on a particular time for something, think about other events that might interfere.
• Try counting back from the scheduled time to figure out when you should begin getting ready. Do not worry about the particular order of events; just assign time values to each. For example, if you are scheduled to be at work at 9:00 a.m., a 30-minute car ride makes it 8:30 a.m., 15 minutes to eat breakfast makes it 8:15 a.m., 30 minutes for grooming makes it 7:45 a.m., and so on.

Always overestimate the time for a task, and strive to arrive at least 10 minutes early. Remember, it is almost always better to be early than late.

• On rare occasions, circumstances beyond your control may cause you to be late. When this happens, make sure that you let the affected parties know as soon as possible.
• Avoid making excuses. They only serve to make matters worse, as most people are able to see right through them.

Review these tips from time to time, always keeping them in the back of your mind. Doing so will help ensure that you are a punctual person—and set a good example for others.