Being late sucks. If you have the unfortunate habit of being late, you probably just don’t plan your time well. These time management tips will help you with that.

Whether you are late for your job, meeting a friend for drinks or simply to pick up your child from school, no one looks at you favorably when you’re perpetually late. What’s more, you’ve got to dash around and forget things.

As a result, you’re giving your body and mind way more stress than it actually needs. Is it really that hard to be on time?

For some, it’s never easy, but there are some simple time management tips you can employ.

Hopefully, they should make your life easier, and in turn, make you not late all the time.

1. Get Out of Bed Earlier

Yes, we know how hard it is to get out of bed, especially in winter when it’s so dark and cold outside. However, prolonging your time in bed only makes getting to wherever you need to be a lot more complicated.

You have a meeting at 10:00 am and think about getting up at 9:00 am will give you enough time? Wrong. Things always take longer than we think, so set that alarm for 8:00 am instead, knowing that you don’t have to rush.

2. Get Up When Your Alarm Goes Off

The ‘snooze button‘ is perhaps one of the worst ideas ever created, and research has confirmed that.

Why? It simply makes people that little bit lazier. Instead of jumping out of bed as soon as your alarm flares, many of us hit the snooze button 50 times before realizing we’ve been laying about way too long and have to begin the standard ‘freak out‘ before rushing out of the front door.

Avoid the snooze function in the future by setting up your alarm several feet away from your bed, that way, you’re not tempted to linger in those warm sheets. This is one of the simplest and most effective time management tips.

3. Get Creative With Your Alarms

Does your alarm clock have to be a beeping noise or those terrible songs on the radio you always hear? Not at all!

Alarm clocks have come a long way in recent years, and some can wake you up using light therapy and soothing sounds.

Waking up should be gentle and relaxing, rather than the often brutal nature of hearing a noise, which is why most of us simply want to sleep longer when we wake up annoyed.



4. Use Clocks To Help You

Clocks and watches are useful little inventions! So why not make use of them? It’s best to have some sort of time-keeping device in every room of the house, especially the bathroom, where you’re often oblivious of how long you’re actually taking.

Knowing that there’s always some sort of device with the time on it, even if it’s your microwave, should ensure that you’re aware of how late it’s getting. Owning a watch is certainly a must for anyone who merely glances at their smartphone every now and then to track the time.

The problem with phones is that we store them in our pockets or bags and can forget about the time. Even worse, when we do look at the phone, we get distracted by some app notification and, you guessed it, become late.

5. Plan Your Day The Night Before

Do you ever stop and think about why you might be constantly late? It could be a lot to do with indecision and poor planning. If you find that you’re wasting nearly 20 minutes every day trying to decide what to wear, decide the night before and lay it out on your sofa – no exceptions!

Tell yourself that you’re going to wear those jeans with those shoes and that T-shirt. Likewise, prepare any lunch (if applicable) and place it in the fridge or freezer and simply take it out when it’s time to leave. That’s a good 15 minutes to save right there!

6. Have Someone To Keep You in Check

As humans, we simply hate to let someone else down. If your problem is getting to work on time, see if a colleague lives near you and arrange to meet them nearby at a certain time every day.

That way, you can walk together to the train station or even carpool depending on how far the workplace is located. The idea that someone will be very annoyed with you (other than your boss, of course) if you’re late to meet them should ingrain in you a desire to not let someone else down.

7. Stay Aware of Transport Changes

Don’t always assume that your route to work or college will always be the same every day. If you drive, check traffic reports online or on the radio to see if there are any roads or highways to avoid.

Similarly, check online to find out if there are any transport strikes, and even though these are often reported ahead of time, some can come out of the blue to ruin your morning and make you late.

Knowing as much before your trip is one of those time management tips that will always help you out in the long run.

8. Start Off Slowly And Build A Routine

Will these time management tips work every single time? Will you never be late again in your entire life? Probably not, but the idea is that over the years, you will get better at time management and cease to be ‘that person‘ who is simply never on time – a reputation that’s not one you’d like to keep.

Like any skill, you need to practice and keep at it until you get the hang of things. Keep trying and don’t give up.

Does this video look like you in the morning?

If so, start adapting the above time management tips and change! If it seems hard at first and you fail a few times, to begin with, don’t worry, it’s natural.

Simply keep going and eventually, you will stop having that reputation of being the person who is always late.

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