By Mary Lynne Murray
Reprinted from Contra Costa Times, October 26, 2002
Correction: A recent column on recycling listed Pacific
Rim Recycling as a resource for old office supplies. The service
is for businesses only, and only in Central Contra Costa County.
IT'S THAT TIME of year again -- daylight-saving time is Sunday.
Don't forget to "fall back" (set your clock back one
hour) tonight so you won't be an hour early wherever you go on
Sunday.
"Arrive early?" you say. "Are you kidding?"
Most people have the best intentions of arriving on time, but
still run late. Arriving late can reduce a normally calm person
to a frazzled, embarrassed wreck. Time is spent apologizing and
thoughts are distracted.
The first step is to realize that you can manage yourself in relation
to time. Picture yourself on time and affirm your intent to be
on time. Ask a person you respect how he or she manages to always
be on time. Test those practices on yourself, and see what happens.
Is it always by the same amount of time, or varying
amounts? If you're late to events by different amounts of time,
you have trouble calculating how long things take. But there is
hope -- the solution is a skill that can be learned. Estimate
how long you think tasks take, and then compare your results to
the actual times. Also, pad the time you would normally allocate
-- if you arrive early, enjoy the spare time and your added relaxation.
There's
not that much you can really do in a second, yet we use the phrase
all the time.
One person discovered that she was forgetting to account for
travel time, lunch, checking messages or buying gas during her
day. Accounting for these time-eaters gave her a realistic schedule
and helped her start arriving on time.
If you are late by the same amount of time, it's probably self-sabotage.
You know it's important to be timely, yet continue to be late
because your time-management problem serves you at some level.
Your comfort zone includes tolerating lateness because you are:
You keep a schedule packed beyond Superwoman's scope. You've been
living that way your entire life, and are an excellent crisis
manager. It feels good to pull off the impossible, yet it's not
without a cost.
For some, free time brings anxiety, and fear of being alone with
one's own thoughts. To avoid these quiet moments, the Dodger develops
the late habit.
We get off track when we constantly interrupt ourselves, stopping
here and there instead of staying on course to be on time. TimeDesign.com
teaches that "most interruptions are in your mind."
Some people get completely absorbed in a task to the detriment
of all else. They literally lose themselves in the task. While
focused concentration is a powerful tool, in the extreme it works
against you, causing lateness and other problems. If this is you,
allot a reasonable amount of time for the task, and set a timer.
If you need more help, have a person remind you when time is up.
Tardiness can be a subconscious way to rebel against doing things
you'd rather not. The answer is to say no to such activities,
or figure out how to make the event desirable for you or compatible
with your schedule.
A common obstacle to timeliness is doing "one last thing."
Instead of walking out the door on time, we squeeze in one more
task. Resist the urge, even if it's the phone ringing. Few things
actually take only one minute to do.
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