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1. Time Yourself
When I
don't want to be late for an appointment, I set the timer on our
stove to beep a few minutes before I need to leave. If you
choose to do the same, don't forget to allow for what Marcia
Ramsland calls "transition time."
On page
11 of her book,
Simplify Your Time: Stop Running & Start Living,
Marcia offers readers this advice: "Allow yourself the few
minutes you need to find a coupon, get your sunglasses, fill
your briefcase, close the blinds, lock the doors, and make sure
the dog is OK ... These 'out-the-door' transitional tasks are
often the culprit that turns being on time to being late.
Estimate how long they take, and add those minutes to the
overall time needed."
2. Put Last Things
First
If you
find that unexpected tasks require more than the transition time
you've allowed yourself, try putting last things first by
completing as many last minute To Dos as possible before you set
your timer.
Let's
pretend, for example, that it's 8 a.m. and you need to leave at
10 a.m. for
a doctor's appointment. You are looking forward to
having two hours to work at your computer before it's time to go
but, before you sit down at your desk, you decide to gather up
everything you will need for your appointment. As you look up
driving directions on mapquest.com, you notice that you will be
passing by a post office. Because you put last things first, you
now have the time you need to wrap and address a package you
have been meaning to send to a friend. At 8:30 a.m., you sit
down at your computer knowing that, when the timer goes off at
10 a.m., you are ready to head out the door.
3. Avoid 'One More
Thing'
A timer
only works if you stop what you're doing when it goes off.
If you find yourself doing "one more thing" one-too-many-times, remember this rhyme
to keep yourself on time:
Before
you do just one more thing,
consider the stress that it will bring.
It's not okay to be late; instead be early,
and do one more thing while you wait.
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