i have a real struggle with tardiness!?

Question

i am always running late or behind. i feel as though it is affecting my relationships... employment... school. everything. how can i reset my inner clock?

Answer 1

Leave yourself more time to get places if you're a slow person.

Answer 2

How about going with Dr. Phil and respecting other people's time? Others do not have time to wait on you or deserve to be interrupted by your late arrival. There are certain things in life you have to do. You probably get angry if your Dr. or teacher is late. Feeling overwhelmed? If there are things you don't have to do, clear some things off your plate. It's really hard to focus on 500 things. That would help with your problem. Also, try to get organized and it will take you less time to do things. My rule of thumb is to always plan more time for activities than you know it will take. Then if something happens, you're probably not going to be late because you've got more time to work with. And if nothing happens, oh darn! you actually have time for that latte or whatever you'd like to do for a few minutes. It's mostly about planning. It will reduce your stress greatly. And you'll sleep better.

Answer 3

Maybe you could "train" yourself to always start early? For instance, if you know something starts at 2:00, maybe you could convince yourself that you have to be there at 1:30 for some reason. Maybe you could just keep telling yourself that you have to get there early so you can get a good seat, talk to people beforehand, etc.

I would suggest setting your clocks several minutes ahead of time, but personally, I would think that if you know your clock is fast, you wouldn't feel as rushed. That's how I would be, anyway.

Answer 4

First of all, make sure that your life is not overscheduled. Sometimes if I book my appointments too close to each other, that can make me late because something didn't go quite according to plan (one of them lasted longer than I thought, traffic, whatever.) If this is a problem for you, make sure that you have a time management system in place, and then discipline yourself to plan an appropriate amount of time between things so you have "wiggle room" for unexpected occurrences.

Second, make sure that you are getting enough sleep. If I don't get enough sleep, it sure makes it hard to get up in the morning and be on time for whatever my first appointment of the day is. In my case, this means that I need to go to bed earlier so I can get enough sleep.

There are also some tricks that you might be able to use to help you get to stuff on time. For example, you could set your clocks fast so it appears to be 10 minutes later than it really is. You could also set your cell phone or your PDA to beep to remind you of upcoming appointments. Of course, you will still have to discipline yourself to listen to the beeps and stop what you are doing so you can get ready.

If this is affecting so many areas of your life as you mentioned, this is obviously a serious problem for you. You may want to enlist the help of a professional, such as a psychologist or counselor, to work on this with you.

Answer 5

It has nothing to do with your inner clock, it has to do with how valuable you find others time. Plan on leaving fifteen minutes earlier than you need to to get where you need to go. It never hurts to get somewhere a few minutes early. Get up earlier in the morning and go to bed at the same time. Also refrain from alcohol or downers.

Answer 6

Start off with a routine that will get you set for the morning. Try something before your first responsibility for the day - whether it's getting up early to exercise, or just stopping off somewhere for breakfast...but plan something nice for yourself in the mornings. Then you'll enjoy getting up, and if you can start the day on time the rest will fall into place. And if you don't get up early enough to do the first thing, then you miss your little personal pleasure as punishment, so you'll be encouraged to get up and going the next time.

Answer 7

it has nothing to do with your inner clock. that's only for sleeping.
being late all the time is lack of responsibility. learn to leave earlier , set the clocks 10 min ahead.. better to be early than late. except for your funeral

Answer 8

You better be careful when it comes to your employment, as that can cost you your job. You could try getting up a little earlier so you can get ready without rushing around and get it in your head what time you need to be walking out the door to get where you need to be on time and do it

Answer 9

You know, I'm the same way and have been all my life. I put off getting ready for something until the last minute, then race to get there on time. I've been late for work many times, had family dinners getting cold because they have to wait for me, the whole bit. Dr.Phil claims someone who is like this is self centered! (NOT ME!!! lol) He said if we think other people don't matter enough for us to care if they wait...blah blah blah all we think about is ourselves. I love Dr. Phil, but he's so wrong on this one. I'll be watching your question to get the answer! But we are definetely not self centered! Have a good day and good luck!

Answer 10

Is not the clock is lack of responsibility. You need to respect other people's time. You probably tend to focus on yourself.

Answer 11

What this really boils down to is "control". Chronic tardiness is most apparent in people who seem to FEEL they have no control over their lives. Thus, the only control you have is over your arrival time. Sit down and really think about if you feel in control of your life or is your life controlling YOU.