When Scott and I got married he told me one thing that he appreciated was that I was on time. It is something I have cultivated very specifically over my lifetime. It is important to me. And timeliness makes me feel good. I view it as a sign of respect for myself and whoever I am meeting with.
If you read Monday's post I have some tips in there for being on time too. Like figuring out the time it will take to get to an appointment and putting that as the start time in your calendar.
It is rare for me to be late to something. I love my schedule. I love my routine. Adapting my routine to fit my schedule is so easy for me.
Get Things Ready The Night Before: This has become a game changer since I met Jaycee at My Mind Body Kitchen. She does what is called "putting the house to bed" which includes getting everything ready for the next day ready so you can leave when needed. I make sure that I have my purse ready to go, or the diaper bag if I am dropping my kids with someone to watch. This has been instrumental when we have early doctors appointments, I make sure I have the immunization card ready to go the night before.
Focus on Getting OUT The Door: This is where a lot of people get stuck. Focusing on what the schedule is doing for them. I don't try to fit anything else in what I am doing when it is scheduled for me to leave my home. Focusing on getting out of the house and being on time. Don't let putting that load of laundry in the washer get the best of you. Do not allow yourself to think "I have 3 more minutes and I can totally get the floors vacuumed in that time." Because you cannot. When you are supposed to be out the door, be out the door. My rule of thumb is to not start anything within 10 minutes of leaving my house.
Space Between Appointments: When scheduling appointments, play dates, grocery shopping pick up I always factor in drive time plus 10 minutes. Especially play dates. It always takes a bit to get my kids situated to leave their friends. That way you know that if you have an appointment at 11:30am and you also planned a play date prior. I know it takes 20 minutes to drive from this house to the doctors office, and I know my kids will struggle and be slow with getting their shoes on so we will plan on leaving at 11am. That gets us there on time (even early!) so we are respecting the doctors and other patients time.
And while all of this is easy to say "oh yeah! That is perfect, I can do it." The thing is YOU have to do it. It takes actual work and effort to be on time. If you want to schedule a time to meet up and get in depth with your pain points and come up with solutions I would love that! CLICK HERE to set up your introductory meeting.
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