For the deadline junkies: this is the reason why you always arrive late

You don't want to be late all the time, but it damn happens to you again and again. You were that person who submitted your book report in class a few milliseconds before the deadline. Now you slip in just five minutes before the store closes to ‘shop’ and you always arrive at work with a sweaty back. Being late is in you. It's a bad trait that you fight against every day.

But how is it that one person is always late and the other is always on time? The reason is actually very simple: because people have a different perception of time. Diana DeLonzor (she wrote the book ‘Never Be Late Again’) researched people who are often late. She had a group of On Time People and a group of Late People read a number of pages with the instruction: stop reading when you think ninety seconds have passed. The On Time people all stopped before the ninety seconds were up, and the Late people all stopped only after the ninety seconds had passed.

Do you find yourself in category 2? It has been proven that you are not considered chill by others when you are always late. The personality trait of chronic lateness is literally linked to ‘being an unpleasant person’. Aii. Time to work on that. Coming from psychologists, experts, and here and there a scientist: the 3 best tips to be on time from now on.

1. Assume that everything takes longer than you think

That breakfast you want to eat before you leave the house, the journey to your appointment, your preparation, and maybe even a quick trip to the toilet: overestimate the time you will need. Overestimate it generously. Latecomers underestimate tasks by about 40 percent, research shows. Do you know how freaking much that is?!

2. Never look at the time on your phone again 
Because before you know it, you suddenly click on that WhatsApp icon, you are scrolling on your Instagram or updating your email, and suddenly you are doing ‘one or two things’ for which you absolutely do not have the time. A watch on your wrist does only one important thing: tells you what time it is and how much time you have left before you need to leave. Please buy the thing.

3. Work on your conscience

Think about what it is like for someone else to wait for you. How does that feel? Does your environment not find it very annoying now? Does your employer get angry when you show up last for the umpteenth time? Is that friend already waiting alone on the terrace for half an hour, awkwardly holding her phone? Build some conscience towards the person waiting for you and towards yourself. The On Time people realize how it feels for others when they are waiting for them and want to avoid that. Can't you do that too?