Question for you Karl- what are your thoughts on perpetual patterns of lateness? I have a problem with rushing in the morning, eating my breakfast as I drive to work, and arriving to work exactly 3 minutes late! This morning I committed to getting up much earlier, had a wonderful morning routine, but still clocked in at 9:02! For some reason, I am not clear on a knee-jerk reaction to get out of the house at a specific time. I am still functioning on a time-scale of getting out of the house after I have everything done that I need to do.
Ideally, I would like to allow enough time for me to be done with breakfast, and still have fifteen minutes to meditate before I go to work. It’s obvious I need support around this issue. Any encouraging thoughts on how to make this happen?
Thanks, Mariah

My Reply:
Mariah, I believe that you have to find out the root cause of your lateness issue, then plan a schedule that balances out your needs. You probably like your job, but there is something holding you back at home. Down deep you would rather be spending time with your family, enjoying a breakfast, sleeping a little longer or meditating before work than showing up five minutes early. You’re going to have to decide what’s more important to you: arriving to work on time or your morning routine. If you want to arrive before 9am then you’ll have to give up some of your “Me Time” and try to arrive five minutes before work starts.

Try recreating this mock schedule so it fits your morning schedule needs.

Example Morning Routine:
7:00 – 7:10 Wake up
7:10 – 7:45 Shower and Body Prep
7:45 – 8:10 Breakfast+
8:10 – 8:25 Meditation+
8:25 – 8:35 Dress
8:35 – 8:50 Drive to work*
8:50 – 8:55 Arrive at work and enjoy that you don’t have to rush inside

At the bottom of the schedule try listing reasons you want to arrive to work 5 minutes before 9am:
- Less stress
- Looks good to my manager
- Good habit for future
- I can drive to work more slowly and take my time enjoying the beautiful trees
(You want to try to make your desires stronger for promptness instead of letting your need to be at home dictate your schedule.)

+ When you are eating breakfast or meditating try using a timer to keep you on schedule. When you have a timer going off it lets you know that you must get yourself moving to stay on time.

* Try leaving a five minute buffer zone for any unexpected lost keys, shoes, or a kiss from your husband. By leaving five minutes earlier you are giving away your “Me Time” to your job, but you’ll reduce your stress and you’ll be accomplishing your goal of arriving before 9am.

Desires are a hard habit to break, so expect some lateness here and there. Be encouraging and eventually you’ll wonder why you were ever late.

On the other hand, some jobs don’t mind that you are a couple minutes late and if your job is okay with it then I say, “Why change?”

Show some Love:

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 21st, 2007 at 7:45 pm and is filed under Stress Management, sleep.