Are You Addicted to Being Late?

Are you really busy juggling work, home, friends, daily tasks, and taking steps toward your goals?

I've heard many people say, "I go, go, go all day long and don't even know what I did all day." Does this sound familiar? How can you eliminate the chaos when your schedule seems to have a life of its own?

The key is understanding that even though your schedule may seem like it runs without you, you hold the power in this chaotic relationship. Being late is a commonly ignored addiction. You've crammed two more appointments into your schedule, and now you don't have time to eat.

I have been late my whole life. It began when I was a teenager and I wanted to rebel against my mother. I would purposely oversleep; I would take 30-minute showers just to drive her crazy. These habits served as an outlet for my independent self-expression. But, as an adult, it hasn't served me well. A few years ago, I was forty-five minutes late for an appointment that ended up changing my life. I had health issues that weren't going away, and I was broke. Despite the monetary setback, I felt a strong urge to meet with a medical intuitive that I had read about in a magazine. She miraculously agreed to conduct a trade with me even though that wasn't her normal business practices.

This incident made me realize that I could have gotten so much more out of the appointment if I didn't encourage my addiction to tardiness. I could have started the personal relationship off on a better footing if I didn't walk in with guilt, shame and anxiety emanating from my face. I vowed to change my relationship with time. Now, when I'm late, I'm calm. And I'm late much less often.

But even still, I occasionally choose to feed my addiction to adrenaline and end up being late to something that's important. That urgent, anxious feeling we get when we are late is a nice hit of adrenaline.

Here are 3 signs that you might be a "tardy addict:"

Do you judge yourself for being late and then obsess over what people will think when you finally arrive? By doing this, you're just making matters worse. It's like carrying an unnecessary luggage case full of guilt, shame, and fear. If you are late, simply acknowledge your mistake and apologize. You will feel better. Don't drain your energy by making lame excuses or being a victim to circumstances you've created. Take responsibility. In addition, once you realize your late arrival is not worth the stress, you will likely be on time more often.

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