Better To Be On Time Than Early!

            That should be my mantra. For real. When it comes to time management, nothing makes my blood boil more than being early. Why would I want to be EARLY? So I can sit around twiddling my thumbs wondering exactly what I’m supposed to do now? When I’m early, I feel like a volcano on the verge of an eruption. In my head I’m screaming, “Do you know how many things I could be doing RIGHT NOW?” Who am I yelling at, you ask? The universe… God… the MTA, for finally getting me somewhere AHEAD of schedule. Take your pick. I mean, come on. Other than dinner specials, why would I want to be an early bird? Certainly not to catch a worm, I assure you. Gross. The problem is, in New York City, being early usually means you’re right on time.

            Everyone in NYC is on the go. Sometimes I have so many things to do, I almost lose track of WHERE I’m going at any given moment, but darn it, I’ll know when I get there! One thing that doesn’t stop during all my “to do’s” is time. Time. Sigh. Sometimes I truly feel like time is out to get me. I never have enough of it and I always want more of it. It’s a theme I’ve mentioned before in terms of my productivity. What hasn’t been discussed, however, is my TIME-liness. And how I struggle with it every single day of my life. Most of it is my own resistance to being early. Did I mention I loathe being early? Someone used to call me Just-In-The-Nick-Of-Time-Dina, because I’d roll in at the last possible second. My college economics professor used to look at his watch every time I walked into class. Apparently I always turned up ten minutes late and it was his way of telling me he could set his watch by my tardiness. Hey, at least I’m consistent in my lateness… that’s gotta count for something, right? (Yeah, I didn’t think you’d buy that either.)

And it’s not just my own personal disgust at arriving somewhere early. It’s a whole other level of hell experiencing SOMEONE ELSE who consistently arrives everywhere ahead of schedule. These folks are compulsive about their timeliness in a way that makes my skin crawl. And as much as I may love these people (hello, mom), planning an outing with one of them can make me insane. I become equally compulsive, planning strategies to ensure that my entrance is precise down to the exact second. So picture me meeting one of these “early birds”, in which the stars align and I proudly stroll into my destination right on schedule. Now, imagine my fury when I see friend XXX (names are omitted to protect the guilty) already sitting at our table waiting for me! (Friend XXX got there ten minutes earlier.)  Doesn’t friend XXX realize that by being EARLY, he or she has made me LATE? Here I was, reveling in my “perfect” timing, but I was immediately crushed when I discovered the person I was meeting was ALREADY THERE! Oh, the humanity!

But in all honesty, the opposite scenario isn’t any better. Being perpetually tardy isn’t fun. And in many cases, it pisses people off. Other times, you might miss out on opportunities. I even missed a flight once because of it. (Okay it was twice. In my defense, when you’re only 5-10 minutes late, missing a flight is a rare occurrence.) I’ve also missed the beginning of a few shows, not been there to yell “Surprise!” at several birthday parties, and arrived at a wedding just as the bride was walking OUT of the church.

The fact that I’m usually only a few minutes late shows my true desire to be ON TIME. I just don’t want to be EARLY. I really don’t. I have zero interest in sitting somewhere, playing on my phone going through the most recent Facebook or Instagram posts. I want to be accomplishing something on my to do list, rather than passing the time idly. Part of my punctuality problem is a refusal to give an excessive margin of error for any unexpected issues. This is NYC, after all. Anything can, and usually does, go wrong. So why not leave myself an ample cushion?  As William Shakespeare said, “Better three hours too soon, than a minute too late.” Put a sock in it, Bill. There is NO way I’m ever going to want to be THREE hours too soon. Are you kidding? My to do list is bleeding at the prospect of that madness. While I recognize that I may need to widen my cushion, I’m not going to allow two hours for a trip that should only take a half hour. I just can’t do it.

But the events of this weekend give me hope. I had two auditions on the same day, in roughly the same area. No surprise, I was 5 minutes late to my first audition. But then I had two hours until my next audition. What to do, what to do… would I be 5 minutes late to the second one? I went to a coffee shop around the corner from my second audition, and wrote this blog. That’s productive, right? It felt good. I was already where I needed to be, so I could sit back and accomplish something I knew I needed to do. Yet when it came down to the wire, I still resisted getting up and heading to the next audition. I kept thinking “One more minute… one more minute.” In the end, I dragged myself out of the coffee shop and even made it to the audition with a few minutes to spare!

And guess what? It didn’t feel so bad. I think the takeaway is that if I can prepare more in advance and make sure I have things “to do”, being early might be almost tolerable. I just need to know I’m doing something I deem valuable with my downtime. That said, you might be shocked to learn there is an upside to being late (I know I was). According to an article in Business Insider magazine, latecomers are often more successful, creative and OPTIMISTIC. The article goes on to say, “If you’re an optimist, you tend to think you have more time on your hands than you actually do.” Wow, I never thought being a positive person would be tied to my lateness… there’s hope for me yet! It’s not to say I don’t want to work on my time management skills, or lack thereof. And a big thank you to all of you who, like my economics professor, set your watches by me (and tolerate it). I truly do appreciate your acceptance. Perhaps, however, I shouldn’t berate myself endlessly when I breeze into somewhere a few minutes late. Instead I should simply remind myself, “Better late, than never!”