Advice on being late

syklops

Hi,

All through my life I have had trouble being on time for things. Its like its a gift I wasn't born with. As a smart and hard-working individual, it has affected my performance reviews in work, and has gotten me down. I have just started a new job and its quite a professional place, requiring me to wear a shirt and trousers, and I am meant to start at 9.30. It seems the few minutes on the far side of 9.30 registers with them much more than in the last place I worked and someone has said they have noticed my late arrivals. Which a week into the job is embarrassing.

In previous places I have worked 50-60 hour weeks, and delivered great work, but still had people complain that I started at 10.15 not at 10. To be honest I think its a bit backward to tie people down so specifically, because if I have to be at my desk by 9.30, then I'm going out the door at 5.31, where as if I am not working a specific shift, or need to cover a phone(which i don't), then I will put in more time and more work will be done for the same money, but thats just philosophical thought.

The fact is, they have a strict time schedule here and I have to stick to it. So I was wondering does anyone have any advice on being on time everyday?

I suppose most people have a rhythm that they get into, and go to bed at the same time everynight, and get up at the same time every morning, and just go to work at the same time everyday, so maybe I just need to do that.

I should point out that I am not at all a morning person but a night owl. So a late night, turns into a sleepy start to the morning. Maybe I need to fix my night time habits and my morning habits will fall into place.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome.

listermint

Set your alarm.

Make sure the alarm clock is actually on the other side of the room - dresser / TV stand.

and get up to turn it off.

Simples.

Doctor DooM

syklops wrote: »

Hi,

All through my life I have had trouble being on time for things. Its like its a gift I wasn't born with. As a smart and hard-working individual, it has affected my performance reviews in work, and has gotten me down. I have just started a new job and its quite a professional place, requiring me to wear a shirt and trousers, and I am meant to start at 9.30. It seems the few minutes on the far side of 9.30 registers with them much more than in the last place I worked and someone has said they have noticed my late arrivals. Which a week into the job is embarrassing.

In previous places I have worked 50-60 hour weeks, and delivered great work, but still had people complain that I started at 10.15 not at 10. To be honest I think its a bit backward to tie people down so specifically, because if I have to be at my desk by 9.30, then I'm going out the door at 5.31, where as if I am not working a specific shift, or need to cover a phone(which i don't), then I will put in more time and more work will be done for the same money, but thats just philosophical thought.

The fact is, they have a strict time schedule here and I have to stick to it. So I was wondering does anyone have any advice on being on time everyday?

I suppose most people have a rhythm that they get into, and go to bed at the same time everynight, and get up at the same time every morning, and just go to work at the same time everyday, so maybe I just need to do that.

I should point out that I am not at all a morning person but a night owl. So a late night, turns into a sleepy start to the morning. Maybe I need to fix my night time habits and my morning habits will fall into place.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome.

If you're showing up 15 minutes late, aim to be 20 minutes early in the morning. It'll save a lot of questions long run!

syklops

What sort of alarm clock do people use. I normally use my phone but yesterday for some reason it didnt go off.

Would I be better off getting a static, normal alarm clock?

Perhaps start by cataloging on paper for a week or two exactly what you are doing each morning and how long it is taking you. From when you start (wake up) to when you finish (actually sit down at your desk in work). Then read over it - or even post it here - and see which things are taking the longest or which things are not even necessary at all.

Then you - or we if you post it all here - can work through it to see what can be optimised - moved to the night before - or left out completely.

Other than that my advice generally to people trying to make a life change is not to try and do it over night. Set a target for yourself and work towards it over a period of time. For example if you are now arriving at work at 9:45 when you should be there at 9:30 then set a target to start arriving at 9:15 instead.

But rather than doing this over night do it over a number of days. Aim for 9:44 for the first day or two, then 9:43. And so forth. It will take you 30 to 60 days to get to your target but when you get there it will be done. Whereas a lot of people trying to make changes try and do it over night and fail and give up. If you need to get up 30 minutes earlier than so be it but do it 1 minute a day over 30 days. Set that alarm one minute earlier each day only. You will hardly notice the transition at all.

Excercise is a great example of this. Many people try - and fail - to go from couch potato to running an hour a day or an hour in the gym over night. It wrecks them - the let it slide - and in the end they fail. What I did was I got up one day and did 1 minute. Then the next day I did 2. And so on.

It felt ridiculous at first of course. It took longer to get my kit on - or my bike out - or whatever - than I actually spent doing the thing for the first couple weeks. Picture how silly you feel / look spending 5 minutes getting your bike out and then you cycle 30 seconds down the road and turn around and do 30 seconds back.

But few months later when I reached my targets all the people who were laughing at me being ridiculous at the start (including myself) wonder how I do it. "How do you get up and make yourself do all that in a day - I can not do it!" is something I hear often. "Where do you get the energy / motivation".

Yet it seemed (and still seems) effortless as I get out of bed and run an hour in the morning and one hour after work I cycle. Thats 14 hours of good excercise a week.

thegreatiam

stick to a bed time and wake up time, no matter what.

changing your schedule unpredictably can make it harder to get up.

get a good, reliable alarm clock and use light to wake you up, so leave the curtains open or get a light alarm. or do what i do and set a timer on the bedside lamp with a 25 watt bulb. have this light up a few mins before your alarm goes off. This way you wake up more naturally and don't feel so rough.

Earthhorse

syklops wrote: »

I should point out that I am not at all a morning person but a night owl. So a late night, turns into a sleepy start to the morning. Maybe I need to fix my night time habits and my morning habits will fall into place.

It's the other way around; fix your morning habits and your night time habits will fall into place. You need to start getting out of bed even though you're tired, to ensure that you'll be tired when you go to bed earlier that night. It might take a few days but eventually your body clock will adjust. Going to bed earlier won't work without the early start because you won't be tired enough to nod off.

D'Agger

Moving to Personal Issues as I think it's more suited here. PM if there's any issues with this.

Explosive_Cornflake

Avoid caffine in the evening. You might feel tired earlier and sleep better without a cup of tea at 10.30 PM.
I start work at 8AM, and I need to be at my desk by then. When you are work in time, it becomes really obvious when someone comes in late.

Tryt to leave work on time. I used to stay late, but no one really cares about that. Come in 10 minutes early and leave when you are supposed to. You'll notice your evening is much freer and you can get to bed early.

I cycle to work, and by the time I get in, I am wide awake and alert. If you can get some exercise in on your way to work, it should help a lot.

As for alarm clock, I use alarm clock plus on android. It's pretty custimizable. My favorite feture is 1 minute snooze. 9 minutes that my nokia had is too long. Set your alarm for a realistic time, and not 1 hour before you really need to get up.
Set an alarm for the ngiht also, to remind yourself to go to bed ~8 hours before you need to get up.

D'Agger

I'm not exactly Johnny-up-and-at-em in the morning but a piece of advice I can give you is this - water.

Have a bottle of water by your bed and when the alarm goes off start drinking it, it'll wake you up. I have back trouble and something I've been trying is stretching/yoga in the morning too - it's a nice way of chilling out but waking up fresh in the morning so might be worth checking out too, takes 10/15mins only and well worth it

Merkin

I always had this problem too and you're just going to have to get yourself to bed earlier. I know it's hard when you're a night owl but if this issue has already been red-flagged to you after a week then I'd be looking to resolve it sharpish. What is delaying you in the morning? You need to have a look at what you do in the morning that's delaying you. Do you spend a ridiculous amount of time in the shower? Do you turn on the TV and time runs away? Does making your breakfast take ages? Or do you get up at the last possible moment and rush to work? I know for me I would literally press snooze about twenty times over the course of an hour and nearly break my neck rushing into work (late) every morning. This was because I was going to bed late and that's fundamentally what it came down to. In any event you need to sort this out asap. Punctuality is a bugbear for some bosses and if it's already been said then you need to change things and quickly.

Neyite

Have absolutely everything laid out the night before - iron your shirt, clean your shoes, belt, trousers, socks, right down to your wallet, keys, paperwork that you brought home. These are the little things that hold you up. Add 5 mins onto each thing you would do in the morning - if you think that shaving takes you 10 mins, make it 15. Same with breakfast, shower, and so on. You are probably underestimating the time each task will take, so you need to adjust it.

Assume that your start time is 9.15. I know that if I leave the house at 8.10, I'm usually 20 mins early for work, but if I left at 8.20, traffic has built up to the point its usually 9.10 or later before I'm at my desk.

Set several alarms, around the room so you have to physically get up to turn them off, and instead of falling back into bed, go out and stick the kettle on.

And Congrats and best of luck in the new job.

syklops

Some great advice already. The reason I was late 2 of the mornings was my alarm on my phone didnt go off / I didnt hear it. To avoid this happening again i have bought a clock radio, and will use my phone as a back up. I like the idea of leaving the curtains open, so thats its bright out when you wake up. Otherwise my room is dark, improving the chances of me over sleeping. This morning I was on time, but there was still quite a bit of snoozing done in the morning.

Instead of aiming to be on time, Im going to aim to be in for 9 and get into that rhythm. That way, if 9 is my regular start time and Im ten minutes late, I'm still on time. Even if I am 30 minutes late, Im still on time.

Anymore tips are still welcome.

D'Agger

syklops wrote: »

Some great advice already. The reason I was late 2 of the mornings was my alarm on my phone didnt go off / I didnt hear it. To avoid this happening again i have bought a clock radio, and will use my phone as a back up. I like the idea of leaving the curtains open, so thats its bright out when you wake up. Otherwise my room is dark, improving the chances of me over sleeping. This morning I was on time, but there was still quite a bit of snoozing done in the morning.

Instead of aiming to be on time, Im going to aim to be in for 9 and get into that rhythm. That way, if 9 is my regular start time and Im ten minutes late, I'm still on time. Even if I am 30 minutes late, Im still on time.

Anymore tips are still welcome.

Put the phone on the other side of the room so you've to get up to turn it off.

If it's an android phone then I'd recommend getting this - you have to shake the phone to snooze it and enter a capcha to disable the alarm.

Also, stop giving yourself room with the alarm time - don't set it for 7am with the idea, I'll snooze and be up for half past, rather, set it for half past and get up when it goes off first, safe in the knowledge that if you don't get up then, you'll be late.

kat.mac

I had a serious problem with this as well, until I started a job that required me to be at my desk *no later* than 7am.

It used to kill me at the start. I had to change both my night time and morning time routines. In the evenings, I got into the habit of laying out my outfit for the following day, making sure my handbag had everything I need in it and was by the door, same for any work documents etc that I bring home, and I even began to take my shower in the evenings instead of the mornings, which I actually way prefer. I also quickly realised that despite being a night owl like yourself, I absolutely need 8 hours pretty much every night, so I always have that in the back of my mind and go to bed early enough to allow for that.

For the mornings, I got an alarm that is violently loud, and set it on my dresser across the room from my bed. Don't trust phone alarms. Once I'm out of bed I actually manage to move quick enough so that's the key for me. I don't turn on the radio or TV or anything, just do what needs to be done to get me out of the house in a presentable manner.

Finally, I think it's important to have a deadline for when you leave the house, as opposed to when you're supposed to be in work. So for example, it takes me ~45 mins to get to work, so my deadline is 8.45 (to be in for 9.30 - no longer work at the 7am job!). As long as I'm in my car by 8.45, everything else takes care of itself.

It was a big change, and I way prefer being up and around late at night, but you gotta do what you gotta do...

Spudmonkey

syklops wrote: »

What sort of alarm clock do people use. I normally use my phone but yesterday for some reason it didnt go off.

Would I be better off getting a static, normal alarm clock?

This one.

looksee

Stop thinking 'life starts at 9.30' or 'the meeting is at 3'. As soon as you know what time something is going to happen, mentally work back how long it will take you to get there, plus a few minutes for emergencies and that is the time you aim for. So if you have to be at work by 9.30 and it takes you 20 minutes to get there fix in your head 'I leave the house at 9pm, therefore allowing for time to pick up my coat/find my keys/put the cat out I need to be getting sorted at five to 9 and actually closing the door behind me at 9. Or to get to the meeting at three the crucial time is 2.45, that is when I stop doing whatever and leave for the meeting.

So many people think, I have a meeting at three. Then at three they say, oh yes I have a meeting, better go. Think, the time I need for the meeting starts at 2.45.

Morgase

Get up at the same time each day, even at the weekend. It makes it much easier on the body.

WumBuster

Make sure you go to bed a minimum 8 hours before you are due to get up. The biggest problem i had in the past was only sleeping 5 or 6 hours for a few nights and then it all catching up on me and sleeping in til noon, ignoring all alarms and snoozes. Just get enough sleep and you'll be fine.

syklops

WumBuster wrote: »

Make sure you go to bed a minimum 8 hours before you are due to get up. The biggest problem i had in the past was only sleeping 5 or 6 hours for a few nights and then it all catching up on me and sleeping in til noon, ignoring all alarms and snoozes. Just get enough sleep and you'll be fine.

I think this is where I am falling down. Staying up late only getting 5-6 hours. I dont have much to show for it either.

^ That is one where each person has to find their own window. One can over sleep too which makes one feel tired and cranky and unmotivated. 8 Hours can be perfect for one person and "over sleep" for another. Each of us has to find our own niche. The BBC had some article recently on the subject of the 8 hour sleep too.

Worse just when you think you have found the perfect window of time - these things change as you age so you have to be concious of this and learn to look for signs. My father laments comically that now that he has finally retired and can sleep as much as he wants and when he wants - he finds he does not need more than 6 hours sleep any more. Nature has a sense of humour at least.

5 or 6 seems perfect for me and has been for some years. I am up at 5am every day to run for an hour with my wolf. It keeps me fit and keeps him from eating things important to me - like my walls. I go down somewhere between 11 and 12 at night. So over all I average 5-6 a night. Back when I was getting 8-9 I was tired and exhausted all the time. It simply was not right for me.

But activity has a lot to do with it too. Never under estimate how much doing nothing can exhaust you. If I sit around for a day lounging on the couch doing nothing I end up more tired than on a day I was out running, playing sport, cycling, working, cooking, gardening and more.

RubyWoo83

I had the same problem as you OP and the best bit of advice I was ever given was already mentioned. Place your alarm somewhere, where you have to get up out of bed to turn it off.

I just use my phone & have never had a problem, if your phone isn't broken there is no reason it should not go off so get out the manual and make sure you are setting it correctly.

The routine is important too, I don't go to bed at the same time every night but in general I get up at the same time every morning even if I don't have to be anywhere.

It's self discipline really, you have to decide you are doing it and do it.. the above will just make it a little easier.

castle

Quick way is to put every clcok you own 15 mins fast,or see below
It is so true if you are 3 minutes late you hear all about it but if you stay back a couple of hours you hear nothing it is just expected, but know ing this is the case then I suggest you give yourself a new start time in your own mind, So if not average you are late by eg 10 minutes so get to work at 9.40 you must say my new start time is 9.10 which in turn means you will be 10 minutes early for work, also you might do yourself a chart for the month abot like a child gets from parents to monitor there behaviour and if they get a tick for every day of the week then they get a reward,
You could apply same system to yourself so if you go 5 days in a row to work on time then treat yourself to something you deserve might sounds silly but it is proven to work in adults aswell as kids,
I remember I worked with a guy who could never get to wotk on time our start was 8.15 and he was a super workers by all accounts, so manager was left with an option to sack him or come up with something else so he put this guy on the late shift which meant in turn he was never late and same guy ended up as a supervisor himself,

iusedtoknow

TBH i think it depends on two things - your morning routine and the time you get to bed.

I always have everything I need on the table before I go to bed (wallet, keys, ID badge) and my laptop is always in the bag near it. I need to get a shuttle to work at 7:15 which is 10 minutes from home. I leave at 6:55 on the button every day even though the shuttle is never early, and I am never late.
I am up at 6 to make sure I have time for a shower, a coffee and a 10 minute sit down. My bedtime is always 11pm Sunday->Thursday (Friday is my WFH day, Saturday and Sunday are variables)

Even though I don't have a set start time I am sort of OCD about my morning routine because if i run late, it sets my whole day back and I feel rattled.

beks101

I had this problem for years.

Complete night owl, would sit up until ridiculous AM like some kind of teenager when all my housemates had long since gone to bed. Then I'd go through that little SNOOZE dance every morning, physically unable to get out of bed when the alarm went off literally a few hours after I'd hit the hay, give myself half the time I actually needed to get ready, then do the Walk of Shame into work every morning praying to God no-one would notice (they always did). Shift work definitely didn't help.

I had a big wakeup call when I overslept one morning by FOUR HOURS and missed a big deadline (I work in news...big breaking international story that I specifically was assigned to, while I lay in bed snoozing in total ignorance). Goes down as one of the most mortifying days of my life and I knew things had to change.

I hate to break it to you, but your complete disregard for your company's set working hours and self-righteous claim that it's stupid, makes no sense etc...is just rude and completely arrogant. Shows a lack of respect for other people's - in this case your colleagues, clients, all the people you work with's time, and that's what's at the root of this problem. That's what's making you go to bed so late, that's what's making you snooze through your alarm if you're doing that, that's what's making it physically impossible for you to leave the house in good time. You don't care enough because you don't care for the idea of being on time and what's more, you've gotten away with your lateness for years.

What if it was a flight you had to catch at 9.30 every morning, or a close relative's funeral, or a giant cheque you had to cash before 9.30 or else you'd be out of pocket? You can be damn sure you wouldn't be a second late, because the option wouldn't be there for lateness, lateness would mean missing out, screwing up.

Think of work the same way. Your job may well be on the line, or at the very least your professional reputation. You'll be known for it. No-one likes a late person, they're considered unreliable, disorganized, a bit of a mess.

I had to completely revamp my sleeping pattern. I know from experience that if I don't get eight hours sleep, I'm working at half capacity - including sleeping in and turning up late. I probably walked around half asleep for half my life. So I had to re-order my life to make it possible for me to be in bed eight hours before I had to get up. On my 9am days, that means bed by 11pm. On my 12pm days, that meant bed by 12pm (so I could get up earlier for the gym). I'd do the maths in my head, set my alarm every week for when I had to be up and make it my life's mission to get in bed even when it felt ridiculously early and I wanted to stay up watching TV.

I also started bringing lunches and dinners to work, so that I wasn't getting stuck in the office when things got busy and putting food off til I got home (and spending those later hours wide awake)

And finally - I figured out how long I need to get ready in the morning. Shower, ten minutes. Hair, ten minutes. Makeup, 15 minutes. Getting dressed, ten minutes. Breakfast, 20 minutes. Then, transport. 30 mins on subway. Altogether that's an hour and a half. I've never been out of the house in less than an hour (not a morning person either so working at about 50% capacity), and yet for years I'd give myself 20 minutes to get ready and then wonder why I was eternally 20 minutes late.

It's all about maths really. Maths and an attitude change.

It's NOT acceptable for you to be late for work every day - even if it's 'only ten minutes' - any more than it is acceptable for you to hand in shoddy, half completed work. Turning up late IS shoddy, half completed work and it will affect how people see you in your workplace. It doesn't matter how efficient or talented or hard working an employee you are, this will ALWAYS be a problem for your employers and co-workers.

So be honest with yourself and re-evaluate your night time and morning routines. Do it like you have no choice, because you don't really. You don't really deserve to consider yourself very highly in your workplace if you're regularly strolling in the door late every morning, that's showing a fundamental lack of commitment, even if that commitment is your inability to get to bed on time the night before.

It's not easy, but it is certainly possible. And essential.

Miss Lockhart

It might sound harsh, but I think what beks says it so true. It doesn't matter how inflexible you feel your company is - the fact is you have a start time and you MUST be there on time. No ifs, no buts, no excuses. If you change your attitiude in this regard it will help you with this problem. That's not to say you shouldn't heed some of the great advice on routines as well though.

I know how hard it is to get up. I have Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder so I absolutely cannot go to sleep before 4.30am. It is beyond my control. It is a medical condition.

However, I am up on time every morning and have never ever been late. For me the driving force is that I value my job and I could not live with the embarrassment of being seen as constantly late and therefore, not doing my job properly.

If this remains an issue for you though, and flexibility in start time is of fundamental importance to you, then there really will be no other option but to look for another job with hours that suit you better. Only you will be able to decide whether your job is important enough to put in the effort to sort this out.

skyfall2012

if You have to be at work at 9.30 and you are always 15mins late. Then mentally aim for 9.15. You will still do what your normally do and probably miss your 9.15 deadline but will make your 9.30! It works for me.

Big Bag of Chips

I'm the same, and what I noticed about myself lately is I aim for the time something is supposed to start... so if work starts at 9am - I aim to be there at 9am.

If a show starts at 8:30 - I aim to be there for 8:30.

Usually always ending up in me either rushing and stressing, and/or being a few minutes late.

So now I don't aim for the time things start - I aim for 20-30 mins before.

If a show starts at 8:30, I aim to be there at 8. Because you need to get to your seat, settle in, get a drink - whatever.

Someone once told me that their grandad always had a saying - it's better to be 30 mins early, than 5 minutes late.

Since I've stopped aiming for the exact time something happens I am much better - and much more relaxed - It also allows for unexpected delays! Aim to always be 20 minutes earlier. Some days you'll be 20 mins early, somedays you'll be 5 minutes early, some days you might be a few minutes late.. but they'll get less and less

callmepetardu

What always helps me is saying to yourself: "Right, I've to be there for 8:45" and planning yourself around that, even though you're supposed to be there for 9. It means that if you're a tiny bit late, it's ok, but if you stick to it you're early and have time to relax first.

RossFixxxed

Everyone has given great advice. I just wanted to add a little that also helps me. I start at 9 in town and nowadays (after being the worst for lateness years ago) I end up in town at 8. I go to my favourite cafe and get a coffee and a croissant and the newspaper. It's a little routine before work starts, and because I enjoy it I'll get up a little easier for it. Even if everything goes wrong and delays me I'll still be in mad early.

Get up at the same time EVERY day. No exceptions. If you have a very late night, get up at your usual time for a bit, you can go back to bed for a lie in after, but always get up. It gets easier and easier and I enjoy 6 a.m. on Sunday now, peace and quiet in the crisp cold morning.

Korvanica

Use http://sleepyti.me/ to tell you when you should get up / goto bed.

Most people sleep in 1.5 hour cycles. If you wake up at the end of one of these cycles you'll be less likely to snooze. I use this all the time and it really helps. You can get android apps that calculate it too and set your alarm.

username123

Totally agree with beks101, its an attitude issue more than anything else. Ill bet people who are constantly running a few minutes late dont miss flights or trains - because they cant.

I once broke up with someone because he was always 20 minutes late. Its rude. The older I get the less patience I have for it. Its plain bad manners and a lack of consideration for other people. If I hired someone who was showing up late in the first week Id be having serious reservations about keeping them on. Whats the point in a staff member who cannot even get the basics of showing up when they are supposed to right? What if you were depending on them for something important at 9am? You couldnt.

Go to bed at a reasonable time. Dont sit up all night like a bored teenager. As adults one of our responsibilities is to look after ourselves and that includes feeding ourselves, cleaning ourselves, and getting a proper amount of sleep to be able to function in our jobs the next day.

Incidentally, I always had alarms set 10 minutes earlier than the real time - you know it, but it still seems to help.

Reesy

syklops wrote: »

...people complain that I started at 10.15 not at 10.

This bit stood out for me. If a 10:00 deadline gets you in at 10:15 and a 9:30 deadline at 9:45, then perhaps it's not just about tiredness.

I had a colleague who always leaves it late going to the airport - seems like he likes to gamble. I stopped getting lifts with him because it was too stressful (and to my mind, he was being irresponsible). Felt like he liked the buzz of gamling that he could still catch the flight. Sorry, if you feel this might resonate for you, I can't tell you how to think differently about it, but maybe it triggers some ideas.

Big Bag of Chips

Also, I think, anybody can be 5 minutes late. Consistently 5 minutes late would either start to annoy people, or they'd just accept it. Consistently 15 minutes late is taking the mick to be honest.

Only a week in the job and strolling in everyday 15 mins late, is giving a really bad impression. Do you apologise for being late, or look hassled, or do you just stroll in like there's nothing wrong?

If you think that set times don't suit you, maybe you could discuss flexi-time options with your boss. But even with flexi-time you would still be given a latest time that you should be in. So if your boss says you can have flexi, but your latest starting time is 10... Would it still be 10:15, before you'd show up?

I am regularly late for things so am not getting at you. But it is bad manners. I hate if I'm waiting around for someone! So I am really making the effort to be ready. My problem was I never gave myself enough time. So now, if I'm to meet someone at 7 o'clock. And its a 25 minute journey. I know I need to be left before 6:30, to get parking etc. So I need to be ready to walk out the door at about 6:20.. so I need to start organising myself at 5:30 at the latest.

It took me a while to get my head around getting ready at 5:30, to meet someone for 7. But it works, I'm not rushing, I'm not stressing, and my friends aren't annoyed at me!

syklops

So I got a plug in alarm clock and have set it up, and I was in bed last night by 11. I got about 7 and a half hours sleep and even though I was still very tired in the morning I was in work on time, even enough time to have tea and eggs before I got to my desk, and now, I feel better at 10.30 than I normally do.

If I can keep this up I should be fine.

This bit stood out for me. If a 10:00 deadline gets you in at 10:15 and a 9:30 deadline at 9:45, then perhaps it's not just about tiredness.

That was the last job which was flexible on time. In that job I often worked 2 or 3 hours extra and I was complaining in my opening post that despite working extra hours people still grumbled that I started at 10.15 not 10. In my new place it is a strict starting time, and it is that time that I need to aim for. I can't see being allowed flexi-time, unless I bring some big bit of new business to the company.

The reason i was late 2 mornings here was that my alarm did not go off. I've been living abroad for the last few years and for some reason my phone switched back to the timezone of Bratislava which is 1 hour ahead, instead of GMT. Last night I wiped the phone and set its time to Irish time, so im hoping that wont happen again. That, coupled with my new alarm clock will definitely help things in the future.

Thanks for all the advice.

Ando's Saggy Bottom

People being late really grinds my gears and your attitude in the OP where you seem to resent the fact that your employer dare insist on you being on time made me bite my lip! A very childish and immature attitude tbh.

I worked with someone in the past who was constantly late. She was agreat worker and a lovely person in every other way but she was ridiculously bad at timekeeping. Sometimes wandering 30 inutes late. It made the rest of us resent her, even though as I said she was lovely, and she gained a reputation for being unreliable even though everything else she did was exemplary and she was often the last person out of the building at night.

People do notice and people do resent it, even if they don't say. It gives of the impression you don't really respect whoever is waiting for you and makes everyone question why they bother making the effort to be on time every day, when you never do.

Cop yourself on and plan the time it takes to get ready in the morning and actually get to work, add ten minutes to it and get the finger out. No more making excuses (which is exactly what you're doing with all this stuff about alarms not going off and time zones - what was your excuse every other day!?)