Being Punctual

There are two types of people, one that likes to dash to the finish line and like to cut the time they arrive at appointments to be on time, even a couple of minutes late. However, those that arrive early will have less stress and live a more organized life.

It might seem to go together, but being organized and arriving on time or early to an appointment is something many people strive but seldom manage. There are no real secrets at the art of being punctual, merely understanding the time of a task and planning this into your daily schedule to ensure that you arrive early.

Taking items to entertain becomes part of the routine, this is me. The thought of being late for an appointment would worry me. I am the person that stresses out over everything and I like to plan, and ensure that I have taken into account every possible scenario. Maybe sometimes, I go overboard, but the times that I have let things go, it becomes too stressful and I find it difficult to manage the stress levels that quickly rise.

There is a point where you can plan too much; it takes over your life, but for me, I need this level of control. It makes me feel in control of the situation. There is evidence that can link some of these symptoms to conditions like OCD and yes I can see that by planning too much it can take over your life, it is about getting the right balance for you.

How to become more punctual

You need to become more realistic with your timings, often you know the true time and live with the hope that if you take 20 minutes to travel to the area of your work when there is no traffic, there is no way during rush hour is it going to take the same amount of time. You need to give yourself time to get there safely. If you dislike being early then take something with you to occupy your time whilst waiting, even sitting in your car for 5 minutes is fine, if you don’t want to be too early.

Plan your day so you give yourself enough time to get to appointments. It is learning routines and tasks that you perform on a daily basis and working them into your day; it allows you to be ready without much thought and worry.

However, there are some people no matter how hard they try, they like the adrenaline rush they feel when they are cutting the time fine to attend an appointment or just to get to work on time. It is not about not being prepared, but it is more to do with how it makes them feel, they get that rush from being close to the allotted arrival time.

Therefore, whilst there are people like me, where being late would cause me undue stress, worry and anxiety. There are people who enjoy the buzz from cutting the time fine and arriving just in time.