Are you someone who is always late for an important meeting or even to something simple as a get together with your friends? Well, it’s time for you to change that attitude. Being late is disrespectful, unprofessional, and can earn you a bad reputation. Whether you are an employee or the boss of a franchise in the Philippines, your position is not an excuse for you to be tardy. Here are some tips on how you can finally be punctual and change things up in your workplace:

Calculate the time for commute to your workplace

Avoid giving vague estimations of the time that will take you to arrive in the office. Take the time to thoroughly calculate everything, including walking and even the act of waiting for a cab or jeep. If you estimated the commute will be one hour long, give yourself one hour and thirty minutes of travel time just in case of traffic or anything that may cause you to delay in reaching the office in one hour.

Get things ready beforehand

Prepare your bag, outfit, shoes, and plan your breakfast the night before so you won’t go rushing around when you wake up, which can lead you to forgetting something important like your ID or mobile phone. Set your morning routine so you can spend time wisely and be out of the door without having to waste five or ten minutes worrying if you forgot something.

REALLY get up

It’s very tempting to hit that snooze button or turn off your alarm especially when the weather is cold or you slept late last night (which is something you should avoid especially when you have an appointment early tomorrow). One suggestion is to put your alarm out of reach. That way, when it rings, you will definitely get out of bed instead of crawling back under your blanket. And if you’re still sleepy after your shower, eat foods that can perk you up like whole grains, eggs, and bananas.

Synchronize all of your devices

And that means your watch, phone, laptop, and even the clocks back in your house. This will avoid confusion for your part. If you set the time too advanced, this may cause you to think ‘Oh, I still have ten minutes to spare’, which can probably make you leave your home late because you were very aware you still had ‘time to spare’.

Be early

While it pays to be on the dot, nothing beats the fact that you arrived at work early. That way, you can use the few minutes to calm yourself down and rest for a bit especially when you experienced the hassles whenever you commute. Besides, there are a lot of unpredictable things that can happen on the way that it’s sometimes hard to come on time. And it’s easier to be early so you can engage in other stuff while waiting for the time to pass.

Although there are times being late is unavoidable, it’s best that you contact your superior immediately as a form of good etiquette. But as much as possible, minimize the attitude of being tardy. Increase your desire of being on time. Besides, who wants to always experience the panic one would feel when he’s already late?