Break the Late Habit

How many times in the last year have you been late for work?  Have you ever missed a flight because you were late getting to the airport?  Did you ever miss an important deadline?  If you don't like your answers, read on.  Here are three simple tips for breaking the late habit:

1. Reprogram your brain.  Every time you tell others, "I'm always late," your brain listens in on the conversation.  It responds to everything you say.  Replace these comments with something like this, "Every day I'm getting better at arriving on time."
2. Plan to arrive fifteen minutes early for every appointment.  Tell yourself, if I'm not fifteen minutes early, I'm late.
3. Get 8 hours of sleep every night.  Your brain needs rest.  If you're short-changing your brain at night, it will short-change you during the day and you will lose your alertness.  Your sense of time will be distorted.  Make sure you give yourself a fifteen minute break every two hours to keep your mind fresh throughout the day.

Like any other habit you're changing, remember it takes thirty days of daily effort to make the new habit permanent.  Team up with an accountability partner and report your progress for thirty consecutive days.  It helps to set up start and stop times for each activity.  Let me know if these pointers are helping you.  Please add your own ideas for breaking the late habit in the comments section below.