Don't Be Late to Work

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Don't Be Late to Work!
By Andrew D. Carson, Ph.D.

Ever since you were a child, you have been warned to be on time. "Don't be late to school!" "Don't be late to practice!" And now that you are preparing to enter the world of work, get used to hearing, "Don't be late to work!" Being on time is a key habit to develop if you want to hold on to your job, much less excel in it.

The fact is that when you work for someone else, very few things will make a worse impression that repeatedly showing up late. This is true whether or not the job provides a salary or is simply volunteer. Most employers have some sort of policy governing tardiness, so learn your employer's specific rules. Also, individual managers vary in how strictly they enforce such rules. It is therefore wise to get to know the company's culture and policies, and to not run afoul of them in relation to timley arrival.

There are several reasons why individuals may be late to work, but no reason provides a completely effective excuse:

1) Unreliable transportation: "My car doesn't work well." If you do not have reliable transportation, give oneself more travel time, or get a different job. This may sound harsh, but one of the challenges in any job is to assess one's resources objectively and to make the best out of what one has. Part of what makes one a reliable and valued worker is simply figuring out how to get to the job. People living on a tight budget may face real difficulties in this area, but the answer remains the same: deal with it. And if you find yourself needing to rely on public transportation (as is true for an increasing percentage of teens and young adults), be sure to give youself plenty of commute time, and the vote for candidates who promise better support for public transportation.

2) Poor self-management: "I can't seem to get myself going in the morning." What would you do if you had an employee whose excuse for getting to work late was that it was difficult to wake up? You would probably suggest some of the following: go to sleep earlier; get a good alarm clock; drink a cup of coffee; write out a schedule and required steps, even if you need to go down to the minute; and perhaps exercise more (that helps one to get going in the morning). If you cannot manage such basic things as your personal schedule, how will others trust you with more important things?

3) Neurotic need for superiority: "I contribute so much on the job, I don't need to be there on time." There is an aspect of self-importance conveyed by those who are often late. They seem to be saying that their time is more valuable than that of others. Being habitually late is like saying that they carry extra clout, that they are above the rules and duties that apply to others. Where does such arrogance come from? For many individuals who are tardy for this reason, it comes from a neurotic need for superiority. Such people (usually at an nonconscious level) feel a need to be better or more important than others. Even when—or perhaps especially when—they lack real evidence of their excellence, they may try to reassure themselves of their relative importance through little games such as chronic tardiness. Rather than fall into this trap, ask yourself: what really communicates a desire to become excellent? In addition, practicing the virtue of humility may help to keep the raw desire for superiority in check.

4) Poor motivation or job disinterest: "So fire me." People who do not like their job, or who do not particularly care if they lose it, may be more likely to show up late again and again. The job has little hold on them, and they could take it or leave it. They probably communicate this lack of commitment through many ways, of which tardiness is only one. There are several paths to low motivation and disinterest. One might simply be too bright for one's job; if the complexity of the work is too low relatively to one's abilities, boredom is always a risk. At the other extreme, a job might be too complex for one's abilities, in which case continued frustration might lead to a loss of motivation and interest. Finally, one's pattern of interests may just not provide a good match to the work. But regardless of such issues of person-job fit, one can still try to manage how one emotionally reacts to it. Martin Luther King one said that even if one finds oneself doing the work of a street sweeper, then one should try to be the very best street sweeper that one can be. It is one's personal decision to achieve excellence in one's work, no matter how low one starts, through which one defines the sort of worker that one is and develops the habits that will lead to long-term career success. One's will to achieve can conquer one's flagging motivation. However, over the long-term it makes sense to find work that provides its own passion.

5) Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: "I thought I was on schedule, then lost track of time, and then boom, I was late!" Not everyone who is late has ADHD, of course. However, ADHD is frequently diagnosed in children and adolescents, and increasingly it is also recognized as a disorder affecting adults. It is primarily a disorder of self-regulation of planning and attention. Individuals with ADHD often find it difficult to plan their schedule and to attend to a schedule once planned. If you suspect that you have ADHD, consider going to your doctor for help. Many individuals with ADHD receive prescriptions from their physicians that seem to help with symptoms. On the other hand, ADHD may be overdiagnosed, and there are controversies surrounding the use of medications. Other medical conditions may also affect one's ability to attend to schedules, and your doctor will be able to carry out a complete evaluation. This being said, consider what you would do if you did have ADHD. What then? You would still need to be on time for work. In general, the same sort of solutions proposed for the earlier issues apply: give oneself more time; add more external structure (alarm clocks, written steps and schedule), exercise, practice humility, develop one's willpower, and over time find work that best suits you.

6) Role strain. Other role obligations, such as parenting or childcare, may intrude into one's normal schedule and make it impossible for one to get to work on time. In such cases, one makes the judgment that one's other role is more important than one's work role. One cannot leave one's child stranded. If one's employer cannot make allowances for this, then perhaps it is time to look for a new employer; although it may not seem fair, the employer may still decide that there is no good excuse. Many employers and managers do make reasonable allowances for tardiness due to specific role conflicts. But it may be possible to negotiate various role obligations with others in order to help one prioritize work when one needs to. For example, if the role conflict arises from childcare roles, one might stagger job arrival and departures with a spouse, or one might arrange for regular childcare, and so on. Such distribution of role assigments may not be possible for all individuals, in which case one is simply left with the question: which role is more important? What do you value the most?

Regardless of the reason you find yourself late to work, try to put such behavior in your past. But the best rule is: don't merely be on time--be at work early.