Working World

It’s five minutes before that weekly 9 a.m. meeting starts, and you’re going to be 10 minutes late—again. You tried hard to be on time today, yet it still didn’t quite work out the way you had hoped. But you figure, “What’s the big deal? It’s only six minutes, right?” as you pull into your parking space and dash to the company elevator.

Wrong. Being the lone latecomer in a team of fairly punctual personalities can wreak havoc on professional advancement. You might be perceived by some as rude, disrespectful, indignant, selfish and disorganized (descriptions typically not associated with being first in line for a promotion), and your lateness may also be over-generalized to predict how well you can meet deadlines or handle direction—in short, your work performance.

Thankfully, you can turn that perception around with an understanding of your own unique motivations that leave you trailing behind most co-workers’ time clocks. By making a few necessary adjustments, you’ll be able to redeem yourself in the eyes of those around you, including your boss. So what’s your real excuse for being late?

You have undeveloped time estimation skills

Incorrect estimation of how much time is required to do one or several tasks is a common trait of the chronically late. You may also be easily distracted, perhaps even without realizing the extent. For instance, you might estimate that it takes about 10 minutes to shower, when in fact, it takes closer to 20. Or you might think that your commute only takes 22 minutes, but in reality, it takes 28 to 30, and that’s without substantial traffic or surprises along the way.

Having undeveloped estimation skills doesn’t mean that you are incapable of judging time accurately—you’re simply choosing not to. But the good news is that you don’t have to inject stress into your daily routine to get timely results. You simply need to overestimate how much time it will take to do something in advance. If you assume your commute takes 22 minutes, allow 30 minutes and make sure that you leave in the morning with at least 30 minutes to spare. For a combination of tasks, such as eating breakfast, showering and driving to work, overestimate each one and then add them together, making sure that you allow enough time to comfortably complete each task. Set your alarm early enough to complete them all, with a little breathing a room just in case.

Conventions may not resonate with you

While routines may sometimes appeal to you in theory, when it comes down to the practice, a set schedule may make you feel caged in—as do inflexible things like exact meeting times. No, the gears of work won’t come to a grinding halt if you’re not there for six minutes, but if everyone else arrives on time, your chronic lateness will likely distance you from your team because it sets you apart as not having to be as accountable as your teammates. Perhaps you’ve never been reprimanded officially for being late, but those jokes your peers and maybe even your boss utter at work are more harmful than good because they describe your work performance.

A 9 a.m. meeting is a tragic meeting time for some, but it is an agreed upon time—as one of the invitees, you have agreed to meet there at 9 a.m.—consider it a professional contract, and be as good as your word. Don’t agree to a meeting and then show up late because you practiced poor time management. You may not be accountable to yourself most of the time and prefer to live life as it comes on a fairly free-spirited, hour-to-hour basis, but making plans and keeping them is a matter of being responsible to other people.

You don’t necessarily need to sacrifice enjoyment of your life at the pace you would like to, but you do have to budget more time beforehand to enjoy that pace in order to meet your work commitments. To enjoy the less-stressful road taken in the morning, allow for the extra time it will take to do that. If you like to surf the Internet before work, make sure to get up slightly earlier, and be sure to remove yourself from the screen to get ready to walk out the door at a certain time—no matter what. If you can’t live without your morning latte, you’ll have to make time for that as well, being sure to include both time to park and wait in line.

You can still look at your life as one big unfolding journey, but at least around office time, you’ll need to take your enjoyment in moderation. After the meeting, you can be as late with yourself as you want.

You have social shyness

When arriving at most other commitments, you’re actually pretty early—except when you’re in a situation that makes you feel socially self-conscious. Instead of being early to a meeting and having to feel uncomfortable when making small talk with co-workers, who perhaps are in positions higher than you, you’d rather be precisely on time or just a bit later so that there’s no chance for conversation. This is not a good approach.

If shyness is the reason that you are chronically late, work to overcome it. Just on the other side of being uncomfortable (and you’d be surprised how quickly that feeling goes away the more you do it), there is a huge advantage in breaking the ice with others whom you feel you might have very little in common. For starters, you have where you work in common, and after breaking the ice, you will be able to establish enough common ground that you won’t feel uncomfortable anymore. Plus, you’ll get the chance to let people whom you normally might not talk with in your usual day-to-day tasks get to know you. These may even include superiors who are in a position to recognize your talents and consider you when a position opens up that they think you’d be great for.

You are rebelling against authority

Unlike happy-go-lucky types who find much enjoyment in living life by the moment wherever and whenever it takes them, you choose to be chronically late because you are rebelling against authority. Perhaps it is out of contempt for the job or for certain co-workers—maybe even your boss. No matter the object of vindication, being late somehow feels like you’re punishing the company that enslaves you for eight hours per day. But the sad reality is that the only person it hurts is you, because being chronically late for work is professional self-sabotage.

In this type of situation, you must take steps to correct whatever is making you unhappy, because this sort of rebellion is an unhealthy expression of unhappiness and frustration. You may need to talk to your superiors about your dissatisfaction, have a meeting to smooth things over with co-workers, or you may need to reassess your priorities and goals in life.

After some thought, you may conclude that it’s time for you to make a career change. Life is too short to play games and feel bad about work, especially when they’re your rules and you’re the only one playing. So get in where you fit in happily—and get there on time.

Chrissy Coleman is a freelance writer and editor living in Los Angeles, who herself has overcome stopping to smell every rose that appears on her way to most 9 a.m. meetings.

1 COMMENTS

• Catherine Rhodes

  People who are chronically late assume their time is more valuable than the time of their coworkers. This is extremely selfish and unprofessional.

  Jan 03, 2009