Confession

I'M ALWAYS LATE

One of my most annoying traits is that I'm almost always 5 minutes late by default. I really hate that about myself because I find it incredibly irritating when others make me wait, yet it still happens to me far too often. I must say that I'm getting better at it, but still, meeting at 1:00 PM often secretly means 1:15 PM for me (unless it really concerns important things like job interviews or catching flights, then I'm always way too early). One of my best friends has this too, and there was a time when if we said to meet at 5:00 PM at our local pub, we both knew that in practice it wouldn't be much earlier than 6:30 PM.

Being late for me often means that I've simply left too late. I'm an absolute planner, and in my head, I'm calculating what time I need to change clothes, pack my stuff, whatever, but I often forget to factor in travel time. So when I have an appointment at 1:00 PM, I'm just then completely ready to leave, I text at 1:05 PM that I'm “almost there” and then arrive a quarter of an hour later with a mouthful of excuses and justifications. Terrible. I really need to stop it.

Now, I have found all sorts of little ways to minimize the damage as much as possible. Not that they work equally well, as you can imagine, but still, sometimes they are quite handy. I'm sharing them here with you in exchange for any tips you might have, and who knows, maybe we'll all be on time soon.

1 – Set all clocks 15 minutes fast. My house is a sort of parallel universe where time runs 15 minutes ahead because all the clocks are fast. The downside is, of course, that you know this yourself, so it's best to ask a friend to do this for you so you don't immediately know what time it really is.

2 – Set alarms. I set an alarm for 12:45 that says, “LIES YOU HAVE TO LEAVE NOW OR YOU'LL BE LATE.”

3 – Agree with your friends that they must force you to arrive on time. I have enough friends who I know are also late, so the pressure to arrive on time quickly diminishes. Make the deal that no one is allowed to be late, and if you are late, you have to buy an extra round.

4 – Never use public transport. I do everything by bike, and the rare times I have to take the tram, I'm always late. Trams are the HELL and just like buses, always late, and you just can't rely on them.

So. What are your tips?