"Sorry. I am Late"

"Sorry. I am late" Does this sound like you?

Being late sucks. It's stressful and it makes you really unproductive. Ironically, I'm one of the people who always-come-late-at-school which really makes me feel like a crappy person.I'm ridiculously a late person. Well, I'm not afraid to admit that. It's the truth. I know there are some people who are just like me. And the truth is, there are many reasons why people just can't get somewhere on time.

"People are late because they don't want to be early" this was said by Adoree Durayappah-Harrison, "People are late because they are afraid of being early". These anti-early birds really want to be punctual -- they just prefer to be right on time.

Why do these anti-early birds hate being early? What are the reasons?

According to PsychologyToday.com:

a. It's inefficient. People who are afraid being early have tendencies to think that being an early bird requires having to sit around and not doing anything.

b. They hate the uneasiness of being early. Anti-early bird often feels awkward and uncomfortable of waiting. "Arriving a few minutes early makes you feel proud and confident, but arriving too early can make you feel foolish". They fear that the people around them would think that they have no life aside from a particular event they attended to. And of course, you don't want people to think that your time isn't valuable. Perfect example is a date: If you get there 5 minutes early, that's okay. But if you arrive 20-30 minutes early, suddenly you're worried that you come across as desperate.

c. There is an opportunity cost associated with getting somewhere early. As stated above in letter a, People who are anti-early birds don't want to spend their time sitting around the corner and have nothing to do because they are 30 minutes early. They would rather use it productively than wait around inefficiently.

d. Sometimes, you don't want to be early to be polite. "You may not want to disturb someone by getting there too soon--say a friend's dinner part-- so you would rather get there a little late

Other people may see that "Time is gold" but others just don't. The word "EARLY" isn't just in their vocabulary. For them, being early i just a waste of time.

A study performed by Jeff Conte, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, looked at the "Role of Multi-tasking"--attempted multi-tasking, at least--in making people late.In short, "IF YOU ARE SOMEONE THAT LIKES MULTITASKING OR POLYCHRONICITY (in the scientific literature) YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE LATE TO WORK OR TO SCHOOL.And I think that's the reason why I am, most of the time, late. I always multitask everything. I work as a part-time home-based secretary and I am a student at the same time which makes me feel really restless.

No one seems to be late on purpose. The person doesn't feel as though he is better than whoever he's making wait, or that his time is more important, these people usually feel shame about their habitual tardiness, whether or not they show it outwardly. "They feel misunderstood by people and misjudged, then they become resentful of other people,"

However, there are consequences of being late :

According to a Psychologist, Linda Sapadin, PhD, author of Master Your Fears "You are creating a reputation for yourself, and it's not the best reputation to be establishing. People feel they can't trust you or rely on you, so it impacts relationships. It also impacts self-esteem."

There isn't one solution and surely there isn't one reason for lateness either. If you're always late, you have to dig deeper within yourself and figure out why. If it's because of distractions, eradicate them. If it's being overly polite, toughen up. If it's being optimistic, take a hard look at how the world really runs!! It is a person-by-person problem, without a universal remedy.

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