A State of Mind Called Time Pt. III

Have you ever met somebody that’s always late for class, work, and everything else, but has the nerve to be mad because he or she didn’t get to leave on time?

Please tell me that’s not you. Are you one of those people that likes to be “fashionably late”?

I know this violates proper nightclub etiquette but…

In the real world, consistently being late is deplorable. It’s irritating or infuriating for the person that’s waiting on you and it’s detrimental to your reputation.

When was the last time you went to a meeting, graduation, concert, or conference that actually started on time? If your answer is: “recently”, I’m jealous.

Of course things happen, but for most people and organizations the “things” that cause them to consistently start and show up late or waste time are the result of disrespect.

Just look at the incidents involving several of the major airlines recently. Literally millions of people—unfortunately I was one of them—were stuck on runways and thousands of flights were canceled because of egregious errors in judgment and flat out disrespect for passengers’ time.

WARNING:

Respect Time…or else.

If Father Time could talk he would be outraged. He’s had his civil rights violated more than anybody. If he had legs, people would be getting their butts kicked on a regular basis.

What causes people to engage in the gross misappropriation of precious moments in one instance, while pleading for “just five more minutes” in another?

It’s ALL mental. It has nothing to do with your planner, Trio, or Blackberry. I know people with all types of time management gizmos and they still waste time or show up late.

The way you treat Time is a state of mind that manifests in the form of a habit. Habits are the physical manifestation of your thinking—conscious or non-conscious.

Instead of changing their thought patterns, people play ridiculous head games trying to trick themselves into being on time.

Here are some popular ways that people, including me, have tried to cover up their disrespect for Time.

1. Set your clock or watch 5-10 minutes early

I used to do this religiously. A lot of people do. So, I know somebody is going to swear up and down that this works. Here’s a clue:

It doesn’t.

If you don’t respect Time this little game won’t change a thing because it’s actually an excuse to be late in disguise.

You know what happens.

One day you’re running late and you realize that you really have an “extra” ten minutes because your clock or watch is fast. Or maybe you wake up and sucker punch the snooze button; after all, the alarm really went off ten minutes early, didn’t it?

So, instead of being twenty minutes late you’re only going to be ten minutes late and ten minutes isn’t that bad, is it?

Garbage.

Note: The thing that really messed me up was the creation of cell phones. Does anybody know how to set a cell phone 10 minutes early?

2. Underestimation and the Idiot Driver Excuse

This is when you know it’s going to take an hour to do something or travel somewhere, but you end up convincing yourself that you can do it in thirty minutes.

Just because it took you thirty minutes during non-rush hour traffic does not mean that’s how long it takes. Of course, this has nothing to do with your disrespect for time. It’s all because of the stupid, idiot driver that was in front of you, right?

Garbage.

3.They don’t start (or leave) on time anyway.

People constantly show up late, meetings rarely start or end on time, and on-time flight departures and arrivals are endangered species. But none of that is a viable excuse for you to disrespect Time.

You should respect Time even when they don’t respect Time because Time and Opportunity are blood brothers. Mistreat one and the other will make you pay—dearly.

Some of my most profitable business deals and quite a few a good relationships are the result of me being early when everyone else was late.

4. I work better under pressure.

Garbage.

That statement is the master procrastinator’s most powerful—or should I say weakest—excuse. I hear it from people all the time and I love it because then I get to respond with:

“Oh yeah? Well, why don’t you put some pressure on yourself to do what you need to do and get where you need to go in more timely fashion?”

The look on their faces: priceless.

Pressure can be the result of procrastination or the moment. Successfully dealing with the pressure of an important moment will help you grow. It will elevate you to a new plateau and strengthen your self-confidence.

Pressure that results from procrastination, however, perpetuates your disrespect for time and keeps you in a rut.

This type of pressure is an excuse for your inability to focus on the task at hand. People try to use “the last minute” as a tool for focusing because they have yet to develop the willpower to focus on their own.

5. It’s Up to God.

I grew up in the church. I love me some Jesus. But I hate these kinds of excuses:

“If God wanted me to be on time, I would have been.”

“It’s out of my hands now.”

And what about this one? “Sorry I’m late y’all…but the Devil is a liar.” (A woman really did say that at a meeting I recently attended!)

That’s just more garbage.

Have you ever heard of a little thing called free will? You should use it to make sure you do whatever you have to do to be on time and to stop wasting time.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any self-development voodoo that you can sprinkle on someone to make him treat time in a respectful manner. It requires something that people seem to be short on these days—self-discipline.

The only way to develop self-discipline is with determination and consistency. If you are consistently determined to respect Time eventually your self-discipline in the area of time mastery will improve.

One of my mentors gave me some guidelines that are very useful:

To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, and to be late is unacceptable. Disrespecting Time is guaranteed to cost you opportunities and relationships.

My philosophy about time is simple:

If you disrespect me, I MIGHT forgive you. If you disrespect my family or my time, we’re done. End of story.

Suggested Reading:
A State of Mind Called Time Pt. I
A State of Mind Called TIme Pt. II