Okay, here it is. I’m just gonna say it. We’re late. Too often. Andddd, I hate it. I HATE being late. Typically I think we’re gonna be on time till all of a sudden we’re not. We’re leaving 5, 7, 10 minutes later than I expected and ugh, we’re late again.
Because I don’t want to be five years down the road still wishing we were getting places on time, I informally polled my friends recently to ask how they arrive on time. Here are some tips from them on how not to be late :
- Prepare ahead of time. You’ve heard this one before, right? But it’s true. For an early start, pack lunches and backpacks and lay out clothes the night before to prevent scrambling in the morning. Because we’re not quick eaters, I’ve started to plan out simple breakfasts for us to bring in the car with us.
- Plan for an arrival time, not a start time. When I’m heading to an event starting at 9am, if I plan to arrive at 9am, I’m already late. As a family, we need 5-10 minutes to park, walk in, unload and find our seats. So planning to arrive at 8:50am makes us on time for our 9am start time.
- Clock your get-ready routine. When I started to really pay attention to how long each task was taking us in the morning, I realized that putting on shoes, coats, hats, etc. amounted to an extra 5-10 minutes I hadn’t accounted for.
- Set a departure time. While I was paying attention to how long our getting ready takes, I noticed that I was thinking of our walking out the door time as the same thing as our departure time. Anyone with multiple children knows this is not true! Getting everyone and all their things in the car and buckled into their seats takes time – some days more than others! Add in the snow we’ve had lately and I need even more time to prepare us to depart. Which leads me to my final, recently learned tip –
- Give yourself a cushion. I can give you at least a few real life scenarios that have unexpectedly delayed us – a gas tank on empty, construction road closures and getting stuck behind a slow driver. Giving myself a cushion allows me to relax when those things happen, because I’ll have enough time.
Want more help? Check out these helpful articles a very organized, on-time friend shared with me! 🙂
Are You Always Late? 7 Tips to Arrive on Time
Thanks Beth! This is very helpful!