How Not To Be Late At Work
I.am.late.for.work.again!
There is not a day in a week that I do not get late!
And you know what?
I am tired of being late! I am getting frustrated because of my tardiness!
Consequences of Tardiness
Being late is stressful because I tend to hurry which makes me awfully clumsy and forgetful. Not to mention I get deducted five pesos for every minute that I am late!
When I know and have a firsthand repeated experience that being late stresses me out and deducts a portion of my hard-earned income, why do I keep on doing it?
Simple. Because it is a habit. Because I have no self-discipline. (That hurts but it is true!)
Getting up in the morning during the weekdays has always been a chore for me. I hit the snooze button on my phone alarm 4–5 times before I actually get myself out of bed. (Some of you know how that feels.)
Hurry! Hurry! Always Hurry!
Getting up means I am way, way past my wake-up time of 6:00 am. I have to hurriedly take a bath, prepare my meals which I have to bring, dress up as quickly as I can and ran to hail a jeep or a tricycle to the train station.
By the time I get to the train station, I have to hastily climb the stairs, dodging working-class people like me while praying I don’t cause any accidents: me stumbling or me making other people stumble.
As soon as I get to the train platform I am sweating so bad that my shirt and face are so wet with sweat! I have to wipe myself with my already wet with sweat handkerchief then walk as fast as I can, actually ran is a better word, as I get off the train to my place of work.
When I get to work, I looked like I just took a shower — of sweat. I swiftly change into the top of my uniform and eat my breakfast as fast as I can while disoriented-ly and tiredly catch up with my workday.
Done With This Habit
But that was I month ago.
One day, I woke up tired of hurriedly doing things in the morning.
I resolved to incorporate better habits into my day like:
· Preparing things that I need to bring to the office the night before.
· Putting my breakfast and lunch into containers so that all I need to do is to remove the food containers from the fridge into my lunch bag in the morning before leaving for work.
· Putting out the things I have to use to go to the office like clean undies, shirt, and my uniform
· Fixing the messy contents of my bag so that I know where my coins, my train card, my portable fan, and my handkerchief are.
· Making sure that I have to really get up by the time my alarm sounds and I am only allowed to hit the snooze button once.
· Refrain from doing chores that can wait to be done during the time I get home like sweeping the floor or fixing the laundry
· Going to bed not too late when I do not have much to do at night.
Why It’s Worth Not Being Late
Sounds easy?
Well, not quite.
There are times I still struggle to get myself out of bed in the morning. There are also times when I am hard up sleeping at night (insomnia hits me sometimes).
But every time I am tempted to hit that snooze button one more time in the morning, that responsible part of me berates my lazy, sleepy self to get going or else!
I have fewer lates now, once or twice a month due to things that are out of my control like sudden train malfunctions.
I am far less stressed in the morning at work and I get to accomplish more during the workday and go home on the dot which I think is the best result of coming to work early or on time.