Hey, you! Yes, you. The person who’s about to go rushing down the hall to a meeting that started fifteen minutes ago. Well, run along, and we’ll chat later.
So, now that you’re back and I have your attention, let’s talk about promptness. Yes, we’ve all heard about being “fashionably late,” but that concept is pretty much reserved only for Oscar parties in Hollywood. In almost every other arena (including non-Oscar parties and celebrations), promptness is a highly valued personal trait that others—from your mother to your supervisor—will appreciate in you. Not only is it vital to your career growth (trust me, bosses notice latecomers), but it also shows respect for the people around you—both at work and at home.
So, in today’s article, let’s discuss why it’s important to be prompt and how to cultivate the habit of promptness—even if you’re not naturally inclined to be on time.
The importance of being prompt
There are many interesting studies that reveal our attitudes toward prompt (and not-so-prompt) people. For starters, prompt people are viewed as more reliable. Makes sense, doesn’t it? But wait…there’s more. Prompt people are also viewed as more trustworthy, better able to handle complex tasks, meet deadlines, and to finish tasks ahead of schedule. And—get this—on-timers are seen as more likable. Wow! That’s a lot of positives for simply showing up on time.
Being prompt can also help you get ahead in your career. Promptness studies conducted in work settings have found that employees who are punctual tend to get promoted more quickly than employees who are perennially tardy. In addition, prompt workers are more likely to be trusted with increasingly important tasks, and more likely to be offered new job opportunities. What’s more, being on time inspires confidence from your co-workers and supervisors, making others more likely to want you on their team.
Finally, being prompt shows respect for other people’s time. You’ve heard the phrase, “Time is money.” Well, simply put, time is also…time! No one wants to waste it while waiting for someone who’s late, and promptness lets the people around you know that you take their time seriously.
How to cultivate the habit of promptness
Being on time requires good, old-fashioned discipline, coupled with some real-life organizational skills, of course! Here are some tips to consider:
1. Set a regular schedule: Create a “by-the-numbers” schedule and do your best to stick to it. This includes both your work and personal life, and yes, it even includes weekends. (Why weekends? Because you’re training your brain to be consistently timely.) Setting a realistic schedule will help you prioritize your tasks and maintain a sense of order.
2. Build in extra time: When planning your day, be sure to allow for “buffer time.” This means factoring in a few extra minutes (or hours, if possible) in case you get caught up in a lengthy-but-important conversation, or a project takes longer than expected.
3. Manage distractions: Perhaps you’re already thinking that this is easier said than done, given the overwhelming number of distractions most of us face in a day. However, this is one of my favorite pieces of advice: manage your environment for success. This means controlling and limiting distractions such as social media, texts, emails, phone calls, and chatty workspace neighbors while you’re attempting to complete a project or task. If you can reduce the number of times you’re interrupted by a text, a call, or even a random thought (“I wonder where Tunisia* is on the map…”), you’ll be better able to focus on the task at hand and accomplish it more quickly.
(*Tunisia is in Northern Africa and is bordered by Algeria and Libya. So now you don’t have to get all distracted and look it up. You’re welcome.)
4. Prioritize: How does prioritizing relate to promptness? It builds discipline into your schedule! If you’re serious about becoming prompt, it’s important to prioritize your to-do list and address the most important things first. Set a goal or deadline for each task and focus on completing it within the established timeframe. Prioritizing means having a thought-out, laid-out plan for tasks ahead of time, breaking them down into doable steps, and then…doing them!
5. Get yourself organized: This is probably the most important tip of ‘em all: becoming organized is an unrivaled tool for creating promptness. Some people just seem to be naturally organized; others may need help. If you fall into the latter category, don’t go it alone. There are many useful (not to mention super cool) tools out there, from calendar apps that track your meetings and appointments (you can even set 15-minute warning alarms so that you’ll be on time), to customizable project management software that’ll track the progress of your projects and tell you how close you are to completion. Go shopping! For organizational resources, that is, and make use of what’s out there.
6. Become personally accountable: It’s possible that being prompt might feel like one of those “why bother?” goals in life, especially if there’s no one to hold you accountable. If that’s the case, then become accountable to yourself. Set an intention and make promptness your personal goal—one that you value in yourself, for yourself. Set reminders, create a schedule and stick to it, stay focused and on target, meet your deadlines, make use of the tools that will keep on track—and then reward yourself for your successes! It’s well worth the effort.
That’s it for today! Please send me your thoughts, comments, and suggestions for future topics—I love hearing from you!
