One Simple Way To Be On Time.

I wish Godzilla would come and smash all of the cars and trucks in front of me. And crush them. And breathe fire. And do that ROAR thing that he does.

That’s how I feel when I’m sitting in traffic.

And I’m blaming the traffic for making me late.

But I knew traffic might be a possibility, because it’s always a possibility. If it’s any time on a weekday, it’s more like a probability unless one lives in a small town or rural area.

The truth is, a lot of times I could have left earlier and given myself a cushion of time in case the traffic gods treat me savagely.

But why didn’t I?

What’s going on?

I’ve pretty much struggled with being on time my entire life. I was the kid whose mom was honking the car horn for me in the driveway as I ran through the house collecting my things and making my brother and I late for school.

And I think I was late to high school every day my senior year. I wrote and signed so many excuse notes supposedly from my father, that when he actually did sign something, the school administrators thought it was fake.

My lateness isn’t just for going places I don’t want to go. I’m also in danger of being late to places I really do want to go, and to see people I really do want to see.

Part of it is ADHD and distractibility. And also just having “time blindness” or simply no concept of time.

And part of it’s because I try to fit too many activities in before I leave. Like when I’m getting dressed and see that pile of clean laundry on my bed and I think maybe I should put it away now. Or I see the trash can is almost full and think that maybe I should handle that.

I have to remind myself that everything takes longer than I think it will. This is a law of the universe. And I remember that the stress of being late is worse than coming home to unfinished chores like trash and laundry.

This has been proven to me over and over again through personal experience.

If I really want a life that feels less like crap, I sometimes have to be brutal with myself and say, “Hell no! Get in the damn Jeep, dude!”

And when I do get in the Jeep on time, or maybe even 20 minutes early, I have a better chance of some traffic not making me late.

The drive is much more pleasant because I’m not stressed and in a hurry. I’m not looking at the ETA on my GPS and considering it a challenge. And the more I practice punctuality, the more the pleasant, stress free feelings reinforce themselves and encourage me to leave on time.

Traffic will still happen. There’ll be accidents, weather, and broken down cars in front of me.

But I won’t have the shame and guilt for keeping the people I care about waiting because I didn’t leave when I should have.

And I won’t need Godzilla to smash stuff.

He and I can still hang out if he wants to, though.