Quote:
Originally Posted by coschristi
I’m terrible with the time.
Me: “I’m in a huge hurry! I want to leave by 8 am!” Family: “It’s past 8 am already.”
Me: “Crap! I have to be there by 9am!” Family: “ It’s 9 am right now.” Ugh. God forbid they actually try to reorient me to the time: “ Mom ... it’s 730.” Me: “ I KNOW THAT! I don’t need a kid to watch the clock for me!”
The stove clock is set 10 min ahead & so is the car clock. Standard operating procedure is for everyone to tell me something starts 1 hour earlier than everybody else.
I stagger 3 different morning alarms & 2 before my son’s bus arrives at 4pm to drop him off.
And I’ve been this way since day 1; I’m pretty sure I’m hopeless. I’m aware of all the psychology regarding passive/aggressive tendencies & such but if you knew me, you’d know that wasn’t the case, it’s just me.
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I used to be that way, trained well by my mother who was hopeless, though for her it was kind of a power trip - making people wait on her. But, I did eventually learn to actually be early. It takes a real commitment. The hardest thing to learn is how much you can really get done in a certain amount of time. Because the reason I was always late, was because I had a very unrealistic belief in what I could get done before it was time to go.
It's really weird at first to "only" do a fraction of what you think you should be able to do. But, then you discover that by doing that, you were actually a little early. Then, it starts to feel so good, you keep it up. And then, it beccomes your new belief system and new habit.
I'm very rarely late anymore. I also realized that I really hated the stress of running behind. So, now, I'm often ridiculously early, and I just take along a book. Or I plan on being so early (if I'm driving to another town or traveling very far) that I have time to go to a coffee shop before my appointment. That way, if I actually end up in traffic or whatever, I'm still on time and I just forget about going to the coffee shop first.
It's also harder to be on time if you have a significant other and kids, if you are a woman. Because, they will all be hassling you to help them be on time, so you aren't getting yourself ready - then they're all ready and start hassling YOU for not being ready yet. Nuts.
I used to get up crazy early when I had a husband and a kid - per advice from a counselor - so that I could actually sit and enjoy a cup of coffee, get my shower in - before anyone else woke up. We're talking me getting up at 5am, so I could have that. I was ready to kill my husband and kid, and my counselor helped me work out that I needed time alone and the ability to get myself ready without constant interruptions - in order to find some kind of mental peace.
At any rate, life is so much calmer when you figure out how to manage time better, and what I learned is that it starts by either giving yourself way more time than you think you need, or stop trying to do as much as you think you can do in that amount of time. And if you can somehow get them all to find their own shoes, etc., or make them all wait for your help until you are ready first - it would help.
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