If you have a meeting with a client at 10:00 AM, what do you normally do?
A. Arrive at 10:00 on the dot and take pride in announcing yourself just as the second hand is sweeping past the “12″.
B. Give yourself enough time to provide for any delay, and arrive between 9:15 and 9:45.
C. Breeze in at 10:10 or 10:15 – not a big deal.
How you answer will reveal your attitude about time. I myself am an obsessive “B” person. The mere idea of being late makes me physically ill. Actually being late … well, I can remember those few dismal episodes as far back as the 1980’s.
How I envy the “A”’s and the “C”’s! For business purposes, “A” is the way to go. I’m not so sure about “C” … being chronically late for appointments could be damaging. But for us “B” people, being controlled by the clock is a heavy burden indeed.
Perhaps I should make a New Year’s resolution to be less time-obsessed. Hmm … it’s already 10:31 AM on the 31st … too late!
I know! I’ll make being less time-obsessed my first resolution for 2009 instead!
Happy New Year to Word Sell Readers Everywhere!
Hi Brad, I’m like you, have to be punctual… but a little bit late with this one – happy new year!
Joanna
Hi Brad,
For me, theory and practice differ in this regard.
In theory, I would like to be there around ten to fifteen minutes early, so that I do not feel ‘rushed’ and arrive in a calm, relaxed state of mind.
In reality, unfortunately, I am more like a “c” person for non important things and a “b” person for important meetings.
I think it’s important to be in plenty of time for important meetings. This puts you in the right frame of mind to start the meeting and put your best foot forward.
With respect, I disagree with your comment that “For business purposes, A is the best way to go.”
I would think that most people who arrive “just on time” would be highly unlikely to present themselves or their company in the best manner. The person who arrives feeling ‘rushed’ runs the risk of presenting a slightly less professional appearance than the person who arrives in plenty of time.
Accordingly, I would say that when dealing with important clients or perspective clients, arriving in plenty of time is the way to go.
Cheers
Andrew
(P.S. If people are “too busy” to arrive in plenty of time, maybe an adjustment of schedules is in order.)
Hi Andrew, you make a good point about people rushing to be on time. You’re right – it’s got to detract from a person’s performance. I guess the people I was thinking about were the ones who show up spot on time effortlessly. Being early absolutely gives a person time to collect himself, but I sometimes worry that arriving too early (15-20 minutes?) may annoy the customer. I try to get around that by asking the receptionist not to announce me until the appointed time. It doesn’t always work, though.
Brad,
Great idea! Why do anything in 2008 that you can put off until 2009! (LOL!)
Come to think of it, the very act of putting off tackling that time-obsession goal until 2009 will–in one sense, at least–actually help make you less time-obsessive in 2008!
Happy New Year!
Jeanne