The Cost of Being Late

Most of us feel that it’s important to be on time for work, school and other engagements, but there are some people that have a hard time making it all work.  Since the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result” I thought it might be useful to shed some light on something more tangible with regard to being late, the cost. 

I believe that if you can actually see the costs associated with tardiness it might be a stronger motivation for making some minor life-hacks to become a timelier person. 

Travel

Being late when travelling can be extremely expensive.  Imagine that you’re headed to the airport and are running late for your flight.  You’ll be tempted to drive like you’re in the Indy 500 to make sure you make your flight.  If you’re lucky enough not to get a speeding ticket you’ll probably have to park in the closer hourly section once you arrive.  Additionally, if you miss your flight you could have to pay additional fees for rescheduling or moving other connecting flights.  It can definitely create a huge mess.

Finances

The effects of tardiness with your finances are typically pretty obvious, but it wouldn’t be right for me to leave them out.  Not only do most companies charge you for being late, but one of the worst cases is that many credit cards will increase your interest rate on top of charging you late fees.  It pays to make sure your finances are addressed in a timely manner.

Work

Aside from the fact that you might be fired if you’re frequently late for work, managers are less likely to promote someone who is frequently late.  Many employers will track your tardiness over a period of time and may eventually terminate you for it.  You might be lucky enough to  scoot by for a time, but eventually it will catch up with you.

Personal

As if the items above aren’t terrible enough, you should also keep in mind the personal costs.  First, it can create added stress for you and the people around you.  Second, it begins to eat at your reputation.  People that are chronically late are typically viewed as having less integrity that their timely peers.  Remember that you are what other people think you are so guard your reputation!

Late Personality Types

Dr.  DeLonzor, the author of “Never Be Late Again”, knows her subject, because she was once chronically late, too.  She places the chronically late into seven categories:

The rationalizer has a hard time acknowledging responsibility for lateness and tends to blame outside circumstances.

The producer wants to squeeze as much into every minute as possible; they are always busy.

The deadliner subconsciously enjoys the last-minute sprint to the finish line; they feel more alive when running out of time.

The indulger exercises less self-control; tends to procrastinate.

The rebel resists authority and everyday rules; might run late as a form of control.

The absent-minded professor is easily distracted, forgetful and caught up in their own introspection.

The evader feels anxiety about his or her environment and tries to control it; their own needs or routine come before being on time.

Ways to decrease chances of tardiness

Keeping the personality types above in mind in would require much more space to delve into many suggestions for how to alter your life, but I would be pretty rude to sit here and whine about people being late without providing some suggestions for how to make it better.  

·         Don’t check e-mail / voicemail right before you need to leave – This one is pretty simple, but many people still want to check their messages near their exit time.  If you’re leaving in the next hour avoid checking.

·         Set your clocks ahead by random amounts – If you can set 3 or 4 clocks ahead by 5 to 15 minutes each you’ll always leave early.  After a while you’ll learn what the “real” time is and that’s your signal to readjust the clocks again. 

·         Fill your gas at ¼ tank –If you’re having issues being on time then you don’t want to risk needing to fill up on the way to an important appointment.  If you make sure to fill up every time you reach a ¼ tank of gas you’ll never have this happen to you.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article.  Please leave your comments and ideas for other ways that we pay for being late.

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Are e-mail gremlins trying to ruin your career?

How many times throughout the day do you find that you're spending more time tending to your e-mail than actually getting your daily work done?  Lately I've found that I’m spread too thin across many tasks and that e-mail has turned into an anti-productivity tool.  Here are a few tips for reclaiming your precious time. 

Turn off notifications

Normally,  I see the little outlook message notification in my toolbar or the preview notice window, hear the evil little new message chime or my cell phone  beeping to kindly remind me that I'm not giving it enough attention.  This happens to me about 300 times each day.  I know that I'm not special and there are many of you out there that see these even more frequently.  I recommend turning these reminders off completely, which will ensure that during times when you're being productive you aren't continually distracted with issues that will pull you off task. 

Set pre-defined times for reading e-mails

After you've turned off the notifications you should set one or more specific times during the day to jump into your preferred e-mail client and begin knocking away at all of those little electronic monsters.  During these times, your goal should be to pick off the easy ones.  If the message only requires a few lines of response then don't hesitate shoot back a response and get it out of your inbox. 

If you prefer phone contact setup an auto-responder

Many people still prefer to use phone as their primary form of contact.  If you happen to be one of these people then it might be a good idea for you to setup an auto-responder in your e-mail client letting people know that it might take a while for you to get back to them via e-mail, but they can quickly contact you by phone.  Doing this will help them immediately understand your preferences.  This will help to ensure that they don’t get upset while having to wait for your response. 

Don’t use email as instant messenger / text messaging

It may be perfectly reasonable to assume that you can send one of your IM buddies a message that says "plz git meh sum coffeee", but how would you feed if a prospective employer or customer was to read it?  There are many e-mails I've seen that have glaring spelling issues or poor grammar.  While it is mildly annoying to me, there are some people that actually take offence to e-mails where it is obvious that the writer did not care enough about the content to spend a few extra seconds doing a spelling and grammar check on their e-mail.   

If you’re asking a question, place it first and add supporting details afterward

Following this simple rule will not only make things easier for the recipients of your e-mails, but it will ensure that your questions are answered promptly.  Simply start your e-mail with the questions you have and add any supporting information afterward.     

Keep on topic

Many times it is very difficult to try to find a certain topic or block of text in my e-mail box.  You can make this easier by keeping the subjects of your replies up to date.  If the subject of the e-mail is no longer relevant to the body you should update the subject of the message.    

Take another look before you send

I love email. It's much less intrusive than a phone call and faster than a letter. It may be your introduction to someone you never met before. Take your time putting together a well-written message. Once you hit the send button you won't have another chance.

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The Charlie Schulz Philosophy

I typically don’t repost content that I did not write, but I felt that this e-mail I received today was very insightful.

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip.

You don’t have to actually answer the questions.   Just read straight through, and you’ll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is , none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.

These are no second-rate achievers.

They are the best in their fields.

But the applause dies..

Awards tarnish.

Achievements are forgotten.

Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special!!

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson:

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials..

the most money…or the most awards.

They simply are the ones who care the most.

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New Year’s Resolutions

I can’t remember a year in the past where I ever came up with resolutions, but for some reason this year feels different. I feel like there are some things that I should be better about this year and in the future. I’ve also been debating as to whether I should share these publicly or not.   I decided that my friends and family that happen to see this can help hold me to these.

So here are the items I came up with:

1) More time for family – I know that I am a total work-a-holic and need to find better ways to balance my work and home life. I’ve definitely done a better job of this over the last few months and I plan to continue the trend and make sure that I’m not missing out on any birthday parties, family events or small get-togethers unless there is a dire emergency that requires my attention.

2) Get my home businesses moving – Both of these businesses are moving much more slowly than I would like. Maria and I have had good intentions for moving these along more quickly, but I would like to kick these into high gear so we can get ourselves debt free and increase our freedom. Initially I am working to get Maria up to speed on the details for both businesses and we are going to try to introduce 1 new person to either business every day which we feel should be a good start. We’ll see where they go from there.

3) Drop 15 pounds – I did a good job of sticking to my workout plan until right before I left for Mexico. Since then it’s gone completely to crap and I’m still about 15 pounds heavier than I would like. I’m going to get back on my exercise plan and try to get those other 437 miles of walking / running / jogging out of the way before Miranda’s summer break. If I can average 15 miles of exercise per week I can make this goal by June at some point.

4) Increase my Spanish skills – I have the perfect opportunity to get good at this. With my girlfriend and her daughter speaking Spanish fluently I would be dumb to pass up this chance to learn the language and have many opportunities to practice it. I’m thinking that I might try to get into an evening class or something similar to jump-start this. If any of you reading this can recommend someone, I’m happy to listen to suggestions.

I guess since I took the time to put this together I should probably do some follow-ups throughout the year to see how I am tracking against these goals. More later…

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