All my life, I had to fight . . . to be on time. I come from a household where time was sort of a fluid concept. A request. A suggestion. Not a rule. Someone would tell my mom to be somewhere at 6:00 pm. We might be there 6:30 pm or after. As a result, I grew up thinking this was ok.
Growing up, I just kind of believed I’d get there when I got there. Social things, work, didn’t matter. Whatever time I arrived would be the right time. I’m sure you know that this wasn’t cool with anyone.
Lateness is wrong, plain and simple. No one is so important that they can leave people waiting for them. If you’re told to be there at a specific time, do your damnedest to be there at that time. Sure, there are things that come up that prevent you from being on time, but not all the time.
I had to break myself from this habit. There are so many tools out there to help get you places on time. I use Google Calendar, which is synced with Waze and it tells me when to leave to get somewhere on time. It works 90% of the time.
Lateness communicates to people that you don’t care. Of course, this is likely not the case. You care very much. But the way it comes off doesn’t make you look good. People will doubt you’re taking things seriously and they’ll avoid you. Many great opportunities were lost because of lateness.
Our brains are wired differently, so what works for me may not work for you. But it’s important you make an effort to be places on time. “Fashionably Late” isn’t a thing on a daily basis. Parties? Yes. But when you leave people waiting for you, unable to move forward without your presence, you’re wasting time and being inconsiderate.