"How we spend our days, of course, is how we spend our lives" - Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

The meeting was in downtown Boston, about a 25 minute ride with no traffic. For some reason I had reserved only 30 minutes travel time on my calendar. Then it dawned on me, that when I got there I would have the nauseating round and round drive through a circular parking garage; 13 precision point turns of the wheel to maneuver into a Smart Car-sized parking spot; standing in line at the security desk for a photo ID; and a ride up to the 32nd floor with a phone call and another wait in the lobby of that floor. Fortunately I left earlier. Actual time (no delays) - 47 minutes.

I haven’t seen statistics on the percentage of people who are on time, but you can do your own unscientific poll. How many are late for meetings? Conference calls? Project deadlines? You can bet if they do it to you they do it to “important people,” too. They’re also the ones who drive to appointments like they are in the last lap of the Daytona 500, with their middle digits getting plenty of exercise along the way.

There are 1,001 excuses for being late. But there really is only one reason - failure to develop the habit of being on time.

When I worked in television news, I was frequently late. In TV you have plausible excuses - the news day was crazy; the assignment desk couldn’t make up their minds; no camera crew available; side tracked by breaking news, etc, etc.

It wasn’t until I went into business that I finally understood what is meant by, “Early is on time, and on time is late.” I was dressing for dinner in Dallas, meeting a client in the lobby. Took the elevator downstairs, arrived right on time. He was already there. Next morning, I arrived a minute or two early; again, he was waiting. That evening for dinner, you guessed it. There he was again. I asked how he developed this habit. He said when he started working closely with his CEO it was made early that being early was a minimum requirement. In the C Suite, it was simply how it was done.

I used to dial in on conference calls a minute early but I’ve taken to checking in about 5-7 minutes ahead of schedule these days. You just never know. Some hapless client assistant innocently transposes two numbers in the participant’s code and there you are, high and dry. It isn’t worth the stress.

People who are truly punctual are on time even when it doesn’t “matter.” They don’t dash in five minutes late for the morning meeting. They don’t deliver their proposals at 7 pm on the day they are due. They figure out a way to be where they’re supposed to be and do what they are supposed to do, no matter what.

10 Tips on Being Punctual:

1. Acknowledge that punctuality is an issue. You can only address an issue if you confront it.
2. Determine that you will be 15 minutes early for every single meeting; no exceptions.
3. Build in more between time than you think you will need because something almost always happens.
4. Put the due dates for projects, outlines, drafts, proposals and presentations on the calendar the day before they are due, and put your prep time on the calendar in the days and weeks before that.
5. Make it a point to be the first person sitting in the room when others walk into the meeting.
6. Keep your eye on the clock and your watch - be aware of the time.
7. Don’t allow people to grab you in the hallway or ring you for one quick second when you are on the way out the door. A lot of people are happy to chat you into being late.
8. Get better at estimating how long tasks take and schedule ample time to do them.
9. If someone else is running late, let them know that you still need to end your meeting on time.
10. Back time your day; to arrive at 8, for example, get into the shower at 6:20 and on the road by 7:05.

One of my dearest friends always, and I mean ALWAYS gets to a restaurant before my husband and me. She is 15 minutes early, no matter what. In the ten years that I’ve known her I think I beat her once, and it was because I made a point of it. I love this about her. She is utterly, totally reliable. This habit is just one reason why she builds such trusted relationships with her clients. It isn’t about the clock. It’s about respect.