Sorry I'm lateEveryday life

unbry

Sorry I'm late

A short book about running late as a habit, and the optimism about time that causes it

23 chapters12,059 wordsAbout 55 minFirst edition

What's inside

·Before you startThis is a short book and you can read it in two or three sittings. It's about one habit. You're late. Not always, and rarely by much. Five minutes to the…2 min
1Tuesday, twenty to nineIt's twenty to nine on a Tuesday morning. There's a team meeting at nine, in the building across the park. You've walked there many times and it takes…3 min
2Why running late seems sensibleI don't want to begin by telling you that lateness is disrespectful. You've heard that, and it makes you defensive, and it also misses the point. There…2 min
3"It only takes fifteen minutes"Start with the estimate, because everything else rests on it. The walk to the meeting takes fifteen minutes. That's what you'd say if asked, and you'd say…2 min
4"I've done it a hundred times"Here's the puzzle. If the estimate is wrong, and you've walked that route a hundred times, why haven't you learned? You have a hundred data points and you…2 min
5"I'll just do one more thing"The estimate is one half of the habit. The last thing is the other, and I think it does more damage. At twenty to nine you had five minutes in hand.…2 min
6"I can't stand waiting around"We've come to what I think is the belief underneath the others. If you leave enough time to be sure of arriving on time, then most days you'll arrive…2 min
7"I'm quicker when I'm pushed"Some people will say that they need the pressure. If they leave with time to spare they dawdle, and if they leave late they move. The dash gets them out…2 min
8"It's only five minutes"The habit lives on small numbers. Five minutes late to a meeting, eight to the dentist, twenty to dinner. Each one seems too small to be worth anyone's…2 min
9"I'll be down in a minute"The habit doesn't only operate on appointments. It runs all day, in the small promises about time you make to the people you live with, and I think this…2 min
10"But I always apologise"You do apologise. You mean it. You're not one of those people who swans in as though nothing happened. So it can feel as though the account is settled…2 min
11"I'm just not a punctual person"By now you may be thinking that this is all true and doesn't apply, because you're simply not made for punctuality. Some people are, and they're a bit…2 min
12"Everyone's late these days"Another defence is that the world has moved on. With phones, being late is nothing. You send a text, the other person has a coffee, no harm done. Only the…2 min
13"Something always comes up"This is the most sincere objection, and it's the one I'd most like to take apart. You leave in time. Then the phone rings, or the child can't find a shoe…2 min
14"I'll make it up on the way"There's a belief that the dash is a genuine tool. If you leave five minutes late, you can walk faster, drive a bit harder, take the stairs, and arrive on…2 min
15What running late costsYou may think of the habit as costing the odd apology. I think it costs a great deal more, and most of this chapter is my own reckoning. I'll say where a…2 min
16Finding out how long things takeThe first practical step is to replace the estimate with a record. The estimate comes from a picture and leans towards the best case. The record comes…2 min
17Leaving timeThe second step is to move the target. You've been aiming at the place, which means aiming at nine o'clock in a building twenty minutes away. From now on…3 min
18What to do with the spare minutesIf you do what chapters 16 and 17 ask, you'll arrive early, often, by five or ten minutes. Chapter 6 argued that this isn't waste. This chapter is about…2 min
19The decisionThis chapter asks you to decide something. It comes late because at the beginning it would have sounded like the advice you've always been given, which is…3 min
20Children, traffic and the friend who's later than youWhen you have small children to get out of the house. The record is still the method, and the record will be long. Getting two children into coats and…3 min
21Tuesday againIt's twenty to nine on a Tuesday morning, some months on. There's a team meeting at nine, in the building across the park. The record says door to seat is…2 min
·NotesThis book gives general information about an everyday habit. It isn't medical advice. The NHS guidance I mention is for England as I found it in September…5 min