I am Always Late

A lack of control, inability to stick to plans and schedules, being absent-minded and irresponsible for the time of other people who are waiting – those are several most common reasons why people turn into chronically late and make the life of their friends and loved ones somehow harder. Being always late is very often linked to inability to take control of own bad habits like procrastination, laziness, putting things off all the time and trying to avoid doing what we have to do but do not want to. On the other hand, those are the habits which are really hard to get rid of despite of all vows and promises we usually give to ourselves. What to do and how to take control on ourselves and our bad habits?

Undoubtedly, these situations are very often complicated and not linked only to bad habits alone. In many cases, our bad habits are being formed as a response to certain personal difficulties, or certain problems with the surrounding environment, both physical and social. The sad fact is: many of us do not understand negative consequences of such habits or behaviours, and one of the greatest ways for obtaining control of our self and changing our bad behaviors is analyzing and understanding the consequences. Below, there are several more tips and tactics on how to change our bad habits and take more control of our life in order to become a better and more responsible person.

• Start with small changes and keep your goals attainable. Do not start working on changing your behavior completely or trying to plant new habits in your daily life – you’ll most likely fail. For example, 2 days a week start doing more things than you usually do, or plan doing 2-3 tasks that you were avoiding to do for many months. If you are trying to learn a foreign language or get involved in other activities, schedule small lessons (not more than 30-40 minutes) 2-3 times a week, and do whatever possible to stick to this schedule. Otherwise, what kind of a person you are? Get real about the things, do not try to go so far, but at the same time do not let yourself stand on one place all the time.
• Change the context of your daily actions for combating your bad habits. Starting a new routine is reported to be very effective for changing certain behaviors and bad habits. For example, if you are fighting with a habit of eating too much and gaining more and more weight, change your route from work to home and, instead of talking a bus and heading home for a dinner, take a walk and reward yourself with buying yourself a book in a local bookstore or buying a new widely advertised hand cream or other type of cosmetics. Try to change the context and switch your attention to something else – this may help.
• Connect two activities together. This is one more excellent strategy which can help us start making things we avoid or delay doing. For example, if you always have no time or forget brushing your teeth in the morning, you can connect this activity, for example, with your morning shower. The best way would be to link the activity you avoid or delay with the activity you enjoy doing very much, in this situation it is possible to receive the best outcomes!