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Her daily challenge: Getting to work on time

Posted May 29 2008, 05:04 PM by Karen Datko
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"Finance Girl" at Finance Gets Personal has mentioned her problem with being on time before, but we didn't realize how bad it is until she blogged about "Operation Get Out of Bed." Her efforts to get up and get to work on time are legion, yet she still can't pull it off.

She wrote: "What does that have to do with finances, you ask? Everything! Being chronically late can cost mucho dinero in terms of lost raises/promotions, missed-appointment fees and the like."

It doesn't help that she hits the snooze button in her sleep. To counteract that, she set a $10 timer on her bedside lamp for 6:30 a.m. and programmed the coffee maker to start brewing 15 minutes later. "Although I don't usually drink coffee, I'm hoping the smell/chance of fire will get me out of bed," she wrote. She set the alarm on her cell phone. All of this combined should have the effect of reveille.

In "Operation Get Out of Bed: Debriefing," she reported how it went. She hit snooze again, but at least remembered doing it. She got up earlier than normal and still got to the office 10 minutes late (which she says is pretty much the norm where she works). The next workday morning, she got up the first time the alarm went off, which is major progress. "However, I was still 10 minutes late, so I need to work on figuring out what time I have to leave by to get to work on time," she wrote.

Comments

 

Alot of time is wasted when I am trying to figure out what to wear...so having a plan the night before helps out big time...I am not late for work but I arrive usually right on time when everyone else is there 15 minutes earlier....I feel so much better getting to work early and also driving when you are not under pressure is so much easier, not to mention safer!  So  I suggest having an outfit all set to go...and have an emergency outfit always ready in case things happen to your planned outfit or you do get up later than you should....have your breakfast planned out also....

OK, apparently my Family, (yes, I said FAMILY) are not the only ones with this issue. My Mom (who is 84), still is late, like MAJOR, & yes, she has been sent home from many a Doctors visit because of it. Not saying people cant change, but I have tried a lot of the things people have brought up here, cell phone alarm across the room, alarm clock in adjacent bathroom, even my husband w/get up, turn it off & get back in bed. As a youger adult my father made an alarm clock for me that the actual alarm (made 2 different ones), first was a "horn", that worked for awhile. 2nd one alarm was actually the horn from out of a smoke detector alarm & to turn it off you had to get up & UNPLUG it from the wall, needless to say that woke everyone else up first. Fast forward 30 years, just completed a sleep study, found out that I am waking up over 39 times per hour (& this was WITH sleep aids),  not TOTALLY awake, but enough that it affects my sleep in that I feel tired even after I thought I slept for 10 hours. Not saying this is an excuse for being late, but does explain why it is hard to get up (for me) in the morning. If I dont take a slleep aid, I sleep for about 2 hours, then WIDE awake & cant go back to sleep no matter how still, or how long, or what time it is. Good luck on your finding a remedy.

Oh yea, & as for the programmable coffee pot, & outfits ready to jump in & go, have all that, I'm just not a morning person. I'm OK, just as long as I keep to myself (for about the first hour), & NO (thanks to all those Morning people who ask, nothing personal) I'm not mad at anybody, just trying to come out of my COMA. So PLEASE dont insinuate I "HAVE A PROBLEM" just because I didnt walk in bubbling over w/good cheer & greet everyone. There are some who are morning people, & some who are night owls, we are all different in many, many ways.

Ah, yes...if only the world wasn't structured for morning people (especially super annoying ones).

I go to bed around 11 p.m., but am not usually tired when I do.  I think things would be perfect if I could go to bed at 2 a.m. and get up at 11 a.m.

Like CC, I am not late as often for things that happen when I'm already out and about (unless I get lost, which is a whole other problem...).

I must admit, on a day off, I have trouble being anywhere by noon!  I do believe that by nature, we have the tendency to be either morning- people or night-people.

I recently completed a Dental Hygiene program in which a BIG element with EVERY instructor was punctuality.  Being late would affect our grade and was simple not tolerated in class or in clinic.  As a student, it just wasn't worth it to lose points; being late 3xs could lower your grade by one letter!   Some times you just rise to the occasion, literally!

I don't mean to be unkind, I have to assume that your job is not very strict in this area.  If they were, you likely would have been fired by now.  My brother was once fired from a job from which he was habitually late.  They told him they thought he was a great guy and they really liked him, but they needed someone who could be on time. This was at least 12 years ago and he hasn't been late for a job since!  

I know it's a struggle!  Just figure out when you need to leave the house to be on time and stick to it, without exception!  If you run 10 minutes late everyday, leave 10 minutes earlier!  Know that even if no one says anything, people notice whether or not you are "on time".

Unfortunately, NOBODY is indispensible and a lot of companies are cutting back.  You don't want to be the one who gets cut for something that YOU have control over.   Act as if your job depended on it because it may some day!  I only mean this to help.  Good luck to you!

This is what cured me:  Children with early wake times. I haven't set the alarm in over 3 years.

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