UNITED STATES—Many of us are warned at an early age that being punctual has a direct impact in your career. We talk about that so much in the work arena, but what about in your personal lives. I mean how important is it for someone to be punctual when arriving for a date, a family gathering, or how about just being courteous of other people’s time.
Now that last one really means a lot to me. I have very little tolerance for those people who could care less about other people’s time. My time is just as important as yours, and if you think otherwise, be warned I have no problem letting you know. It boils my skin when someone just randomly informs you of something without giving you notice. To make the situation worse, they expect you to just sit around and wait until they arrive. Let me be clear, unless you’re signing my checks and paying my bills, I have no affiliation to you; I owe you NOTHING!
We live in a world where those of a higher social status seem to dictate what takes place in the world of punctuality. Punctuality applies to all nationalities, all cultures, all races, all ages, etc. If you place an exception on the rule, you allow others to break it. I’m always an advocate for showing up to work 10-15 minutes early if possible. I have that motto, “I’d rather be early than late.”
Think of it this way, you can grab a cup of coffee, grab some breakfast, and have a few minutes of down town before starting your shift. Compared to rushing to get to work and having to start your shift slightly winded or lacking a bit of energy, so tell me what would you choose?
It’s really bad with kids because they could care less about what transpires, as long as they get what they want, when they want, that is all that matters. The slight problem is that epidemic is starting to fester into the lives of many twentysomethings and adults. Being late for work can cause one to be fired, and being late consistently in your personal life can indeed impact how others perceive you.
I constantly ask myself what people think when they cause a rift any another person’s schedule? Well if it happens over and over again, they have little respect for you. So what can one do to remedy the situation, take control of your time! Do not allow those individuals to lean on you. Send them a strong message.
When they expect you to wait around for them, leave, let it be known that your time is just as important if not vital to theirs. Have a conversation with the person to inform them of how you feel. People should not just expect you to be at their beckon call when needed. Punctuality also says a lot about a person’s personality.
It gives the inclination that you are someone who is organized, dedicated and aware of time management. Yep, there goes that term that so many of us do battle with. Time management is all about organizing priorities for those things that are top-notch importance and those that are not.
We have only 24 hours in a day, 8-10 are spent at work, another 7-8 sleeping, so what does that leave most of us 6-8 hours of free time. Now wouldn’t it be a shame to waste a single minute of that time waiting for someone who was just a tinge inconsiderate of your time which is quite precious to say the least.
