From the day she was born, three weeks after her due date, Genah Gist has been late.
She has been fired from five jobs, missed airplanes and gotten lectures from her 15-year-old son about being on time.
A typical morning goes like this: “I’m trying to check my e-mail and have breakfast while I’m curling my hair.”
She’s far from alone: Many people struggle with punctuality. And though it may seem a simple matter of people being rude, it’s far more complex, said Diana DeLonzor, author of “Never Be Late Again: 7 Cures for the Punctually Challenged.”
“It’s really more than poor time management. It tends to be a lifelong pattern,” DeLonzor said. “It’s something that goes across activities–most late people are late for everything.”
The toll can be heavy. Lost relationships, jobs, promotions. Daily stress. A reputation for being flaky. DeLonzor found that workplace managers were less likely to promote a late person. Being late 10 minutes every day for a year is the equivalent of one week’s paid vacation.
DeLonzor said there are too many downsides to chronic lateness for most people to do it willfully. Some, she said, like the adrenaline of rushing. “It’s the same reason we like sports,” she said. “The suspense: Are you going to make it?”
Some may have difficulty internally motivating themselves. Other theories include nature or nurture or a combination of both.
DeLonzor places the chronically late into seven categories:
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– The rationalizer has a hard time acknowledging responsibility for lateness and tends to blame outside circumstances.
– The producer wants to squeeze as much into every minute as possible.
– The deadliner subconsciously enjoys the last-minute sprint to the finish line.
– The indulger exercises less self-control and tends to procrastinate.
– The rebel resists authority and everyday rules; might run late as a form of control.
– The absent-minded professor is easily distracted, forgetful and caught up in introspection.
– The evader feels anxiety about his or her environment and tries to control it; their own needs or routine come before being on time.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Kris Karnopp ([email protected])