I am Always Late

Anxiety is one of the basic human emotions which all of us experience quite regularly, to one or another degree, of course. Just like most of other emotions we, humans, experience, anxiety can turn into something that does more harm than good. In particular, excessive excitement and anxiety are considered among the most common reasons for being always late and too distracted. In the most severe forms, anxiety must be understood as a psychological disorder which should be treated and controlled otherwise it can bring to quite hard and harmful consequences.

Those who think that they experience anxiety too often should not leave the problem unattended and check up with a medical specialist to be sure that the problem hasn’t grown into a real anxiety disorder. Below, you can see a list of easy hints on how to figure out whether your anxiety has become a disorder or not.

1. Your anxiety is rather chronic than occasional. Constant or frequent anxiety can be a sign of serious problems, and if you notice that you constantly worry through the day about the things you’re doing or experiencing, it can be the time to see a specialist.

2. Avoidance can be also a sign in increasing anxiety and related problems. Avoiding things, events, places or activities is considered to be a natural reaction on anxiety disorders. For example, it can be related to some certain fears or phobias, which accompany anxiety disorders very often.

3. A lack of proper social life. Undoubtedly, fears and anxiety have a great influence on our social life, but when anxiety grows into something that pushes a person to isolation and breaking down most of the relationships, it is a clear sign of anxiety disorders. If your friendships and other close relationships are in danger due to your constant anxiety, it is a bad warning sign.

4. Poor performance at work. Sometimes anxiety can interfere and influence the things we’re doing in the offices, in schools and in our life. It is obvious that when your anxiety affects your performance and does not allow you be successful in anything, this emotion should be considered causing disorder.

5. Feeling anxiety even in the most usual and non-dangerous situations. This is the most powerful and indicative sign, because usually we experience anxiety in critical situations, often related to danger or very high importance. If you began noticing that your anxiety follows you even in very simple and usual situations, which are not related to danger at all, this can be a clear sign of anxiety disorder.

I must say that being always late is becoming an easier and a more common practice, maybe because the number of excuses for being late is drastically increasing. “Sorry, I lost my limb right on the way here!” “Oh, those kids, you know – they never let you do anything you need on time.” “My apologies, today’s traffic is just horrible, I was waiting there for a half an hour at least before we moved forward!!” “Oh, God, sorry – I just can’t help being late, it’s something genetic and all guys in my family are just like this!”

Be sure, my dear friends, that being always late has nothing to do with your family habits or the problems you usually mention in all those numerous excuses you are used to cover up your behavior with. Being late is linked with such things as thoughtlessness, laziness, a lack of responsibility for your own life and for the life of other people around you, as well as for certain inabilities or fears. In particular, one of the latest trends in the world of reasons why the people are late is believed to be the fear of coming first and waiting for the opposite side to arrive, which can sometimes be linked to many awkward moments and unwanted situations.

For those who are trying to combat their chronic lateness, who are willing to put some efforts into getting rid of this problem and willing to change something in their life, there are interesting tips to think over.

• Believe that your being always late can never be associated with anything good or positive. Making other people waiting is a thing that will always evoke anger and make you look arrogant in the eyes of other people.
• Never think that other things can be more important than your being on time for a stipulated meeting.
• If you see that you’re getting late and will not make it for the scheduled time, call the people you’re going to meet and let them know that you’re late. It will make you look at least responsible for the other people’s time and help the people who would need to wait for you plan their time in a more efficient way.
• Do not think that coming earlier to the meeting or dinner will make you get bored waiting for the other party. In our epoch of the most advanced technologies, it is possible to take the best of some free time you’re going to have while waiting. You can get a lot of other work done: arrange your further schedule and meetings using your smartphone, read and edit a report, read some online newspapers or other documents, and much more.
• Finally, by arriving to a meeting on time, you’ll get the opportunity to enjoy a stress-free course of the day.

Parents very often have to deal with tardy kids. This problem is very common and even the brightest and the most successful children may be infected with the bacteria of chronic tardiness. As a rule, the problem reaches its peak in the mornings, when the child needs to get up early, have breakfast and make all necessary preparation for going to school. There are many effective techniques and tactics with can be used by parents to assist their kids in fighting against developing chronic tardiness. However, the best way to combat the problem is to unite the efforts with school teachers and administrators.

Most of the schools have very strict policies about the student who are chronic latecomers, making children learn to be responsible for their behavior. Some schools offer the system of rewards and incentives for being on time and never missing classes. Below, check out some tips on what can parents do to help their kind combat chronic procrastination and a tendency to being always late.

1. Do not tolerate your kid’s tardiness. Make your child understand that he’s got a problem which is now small but can turn into something very serious and possibly ruin his whole life. Develop a system of penalties like imposing new chores in addition to usual household responsibilities of your child, or cut your kid’s allowance for 50-80 cents for being tardy in the morning. Do not fall for lame or imaginative excuses: children are very good in creating those.

2. Take a close look at the problem. Is your kid having problems only because of being unable to get out of bed early in the morning? Does he tend to put off tasks and procrastinate? What causes this problem? Too busy or hectic schedules, or the child’s own mind? Maybe he hates school and tries to spend as less time there is possible? Or maybe he is just trying to grab your attention? Pinpoint the roots of your kid’s tardiness, and it’ll be easier for you to create the best strategy for overcoming the problem.

3. Make your kid revise his sleep routine. Be sure that your child sleeps as much as it necessary for the child of his age. Help him to develop a habit of waking up early and explain that those who get up early have less troubles with keeping track of the day. If your child needs to be at his class at eight, let him wake up 6:30 and he’ll have plenty of time for doing morning exercises, having a good breakfast and get himself ready for the day. Set the official time for going to bed as well.

4. Let your kid learn following schedules and setting up goals. Talk to your child and explain the advantages of scheduling and planning daily activities. Help him in creating his own schedule and do not forget to take into account your child’s pace of doing his daily tasks. Give good time frames for completing one of another task or assignment.

5. Create incentives to help your child following the schedules. Be aware about how your child managed with following his schedule and making efforts of being on time. Always praise him and reward your kid for being (or at least trying to be) punctual and develop his discipline muscle. You should use individual reward system to motivate every child for achieving better results.