6 tips to be punctual and avoid being late

As much as it is known that making others wait is a nuisance and that the time they waste is money, there are some people who have real problems to be punctual in their appointments and meetings. It is a phenomenon that is difficult to explain, it just happens. Before they know it, they leave home with far less time than necessary, ending up consistently late.

However, these behavioral tendencies can be corrected, and anyone can become get used to the habit of being punctual always or almost always. How to do it? For that, it is good to come into contact with the principles of cognitive-behavioral approach.

Changing ideas and habits

This psychological approach is based on a premise that, so simple, seems revolutionary; consists of modifying both beliefs and habits (the habitual ways of behaving, moving, etc.) so that a new way of acting becomes consolidated-

So, if you want to learn to be punctual, you have to change so much the actions, from the smallest details, to the thoughts and the way in which the consequences of those actions are interpreted.

Knowing this, let's see some useful indications to gradually change habits.

Tips to be punctual

This series of keys to be punctual are indicative, and you have to know how to adapt and apply them to each case. They offer an overview of the problem and its possible solutions, but in case many problems appear and these significantly damage the quality of life, it is advisable to go directly to a professional who offers treatment personalized.

• Related article: "The 10 most used cognitive-behavioral techniques"

1. Set alarms systematically

Every time an appointment is set, you have to write it down in an agenda and program an alarm so that it sounds at the moment in which you have to start preparing to go. It is very important not to postpone this phase, because it is easy for it to be given little importance and end up being forgotten.

2. Dismiss optimistic option

The phenomenon whereby some people are always late is a kind of procrastination, or "I'll do it tomorrow syndrome", although in these cases it occupies time limits that instead of occupying several days it occupies minutes. This means that, unconsciously, we make excuses for not having to leave at the indicated time, usually because it's lazy.

Many times you are late because it is assumed that you will have a stroke of luck when it comes to quickly moving forward to the place where you have left off. For example, the belief that the buses will arrive just as we approach the stop. It is necessary to anticipate the appearance of these beliefs so that we can recognize them when they appear in our minds and then discard them immediately, as a rule, so as not to fall under their seductive influence.

3. Record hours of travel

For the most important appointments, it is good to sign up a mini-schedule on the sequence of actions to follow to arrive on time, highlighting the most important phases of a process that can last less than an hour. For example, the time to start getting dressed, the time to comb your hair, the time to leave the house, etc. The initial stages are the most important, and for this reason they must be more numerous and more detailed than the rest.

4. mini-penalties

Every time you are late, even for a minute, you have to pay a small fine, which can consist of a number of coins worth a dinner, for example. If this commitment is made in front of more people, the better, because that way there is more pressure to fulfill it. In addition, you have to pay that fine in the next 24 hours.

5. No running

This rule is self explanatory. In addition, it has two functions. On the one hand, it prevents the possibility of leaving late with the prospect of being able to make up time running. For the other, the stress generated by arriving late to a place and not being able to run It makes it serve as a much more powerful lesson in the kinds of situations to avoid if this happens.

6. fool the clock

At first, it's good to subtract ten minutes from your missed time and take this very seriously as part of the process of learning to be punctual. This will make it possible to experience the positive sensations produced by reaching the places within the timeestablished and that you do not want to return to the previous situation.

Somehow, this situation serves to begin to experience what it is like not to go with the worry that you will arrive late everywhere, and see that it is possible to do it if you follow rules that despite seeming like the rules of a game, do they work.