Is being on time really that important? I mean, what’s a few minutes once a week or so? The customers at the Customer Service desk can hang on for a few more minutes. What does it hurt? Surprisingly, it may hurt your chances of an advancement and possibly an increase in income. By being on time, it shows you value your job and you believe it’s important. Here’s some tips to make sure you aren’t late again.
1. Prepare the night before: This really saves time in the morning. Lay out your clothes completely down to your shoes. Check for loose buttons, broken zippers, spots or whatever else could slow you down in the morning. When you get up, you have everything ready and you don’t have any unexpected surprises.
2. Put a basket by the door: You can place your keys, phone charger, phone, wallet, PDA and anything you’ll need in it or by it. Everything is in one place and there isn’t any desperate search for your car keys when you can’t find them. Also have an emergency supply of breakfast items that you can grab and go if things don’t go smoothly. Anything that can be eaten in the car is good. Make your lunch the night before if you take your lunch so you don’t have to spend time making it in the morning.
3. Go to bed earlier: You need eight hours of sleep to properly function at peak level. If you have to get up at 6am then you need to be in bed at 10pm. Getting a full nights sleep will leave you alert and ready to take on the day. Watching the 11 o’clock news can wait, you can always hear about it on the way to work.
4. Your alarm clock: Yes, birds singing and waves splashing are a pleasant sound in the morning but does it wake you up? If you are one of those people who keeps punching the snooze button, then you need a change. A loud obnoxious alarm clock that clangs like a fire bell would be perfect. Putting it on the other side of the room on a dresser is even better yet. Once your feet hit the floor, you have a better chance of staying up. If your alarm is electric, have one with a back up battery or set your phone alarm. That way, if the power goes off at night, you’ll still be on time for work. Oversleeping is not a good excuse.
5. Other ways to help: Play music to get you moving while waiting for your morning caffeine. If you watch TV or go online, stop it for awhile. Sometimes people get so involved they lose track of time. Make sure you leave at least 15 minutes early to counteract any unexpected delays on your morning commute. Always make sure you have enough gas in your tank to make it to work. If you’re running late already, you don’t want to take a chance on running out of gas.
Hopefully these tips will make your morning a little smoother and get you to work on time.
If you have any helpful suggestions, please let me hear from you.
By Linda Lee Ruzicka
Linda Lee Ruzicka lives in the mountains of Western PA , happily married and with her 6 cats and three dogs. She has been published in Twilight Times, Dark Krypt, Fables, Decending Darkness, Writing Village, June Cotner anthology, The Grit, Reminisce , the book, Haunted Encounters: Friends and Family. She is an Affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association. She also does freelance work for Beyond and for CSJobs.com. More of her blogs can be found at CSJobsblog.com.
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