How to stop being a late person and start arriving on time

Sometimes, arriving “fashionably late” just won’t cut it—and certainly not “better late than never.” No matter if you’re late by five minutes or late by an hour, the habit can lead to stress, frustration, and a reputation among your friends, colleagues, and potential clients that you’ll be keeping them waiting. It may be time to rethink your approach to showing up.

The downsides of being late

The key to self-improvement is identifying the problem. Whether you’re running behind for meetings at work, doctor’s appointments, or social get-togethers, leaving people waiting can negatively impact your personal and professional relationships. Depending on the occasion and the people you’re meeting, being late can feel disrespectful—like a broken promise that you won’t keep your word.

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In addition to hurting your credibility and reputation, overcoming being late can cost more, in terms of needing to rely on faster and more expensive forms of transportation, such as taxi rides over public transportation. If you’re speeding in your car to make it to an appointment, you increase the risk of being pulled over and fined for driving too fast. And if miss a flight or an appointment, you can lose hundreds or thousands of dollars on something you’ve already reserved.

Steps to building punctual habits

It can seem like the trait of being late is an innate character flaw, but don’t fear—with some planning and forethought, you can break the habit! Here are some tips you can follow to work on eliminating your tardiness:

Learn to schedule effectively

The foundation of any successful day is knowing exactly what you’ll need to do, and how long it’ll take. Use an effective scheduling app such as Microsoft Outlook and its powerful calendar to anticipate your events at a glance. Learn to manage multiple calendars and stay on top of everything that your family does. You can break down your day into manageable chunks and allocate enough time for each activity as well as the time it needs to get there. By prioritizing tasks and sticking to a schedule, you’ll naturally become less tardy.

Manage your time effectively with realistic goals

The key to showing up on time is understanding how long it might take you to reach a destination. Use traffic planning resources such as Traffic Assistant for Microsoft Edge to anticipate delays in advance, and see how much longer it might take you to traverse a familiar route. If it’s too far away, or you’re rushing between appointments, don’t feel bad if you have to cancel or postpone. After all, they haven’t invented teleportation yet!

Plan for the worst

Anything can happen when you’re en route. If you’re relying on public transportation, leave plenty of time for delays. If you’re driving, check the traffic well in advance before you head out of the door. Know when the rush hour in your area is; while it’s usually between the hours of 7-10 a.m. and 4-6 p.m., it may vary depending on your region, during holidays, or in the summer hours. And pay attention to announcements on whether the routes or trains you’re taking will be impacted by construction or other delay-causing events.

Communicate your delays effectively

If you’re running late, be sure to notify your friends and colleagues. Tell them that you’re going to be late well before your event or meeting starts. Letting them know where you are and how long it might take for you to arrive is a simple yet effective way to seem responsible for your travel and also indicates respect for the time of others.

Set alarms and reminders that work for you

Be sure to set alarms and reminders that will notify you well in advance of your event. This may take some experimentation: if you’re a heavy sleeper, you may need to set louder or multiple alarms just to rise out of bed. And if you need more time to get ready before you head out of the door, budget this time into your alarm: set an alert for 10 minutes or half an hour before your actual event.

Understand what might be causing you to be late

Finally, there may be subtle or unconscious forces at work that are impacting your ability to get ready on time. Maybe you’re stressed out in your work or personal life. Or you’re dreading going to an appointment or an event: perhaps you’re taking a class that you’re not interested in, for example. Identify the source of your lateness so you can make changes, such as shifting your priorities at work and streamlining your tasks so you can embrace upcoming appointments with less dread.

Being late might seem like a permanent component of your personality, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Learn more organizational tips and tricks for making the most of your day, such as how to run your home smoothly and how to overcome procrastination.