There was a point in my life where I was just, like, never late again. I actually know that I've been late for (or downright missed) 4 meetings in 2022, because when it happens it sits with me.
Are you late a lot?
And if so, what's the underlying reason?
I live in Taipei now and that simply doesn't happen. My theory for the difference is in LA it's culturally acceptable to be late because people can blame the traffic for everything. Also, LA is a lot more transitive, with people moving in and out all the time.
Taipei is on an island, there's a lot less people who move in and out compared to LA so it's a lot more likely you'll bump into the same person multiple times. Also, everyone takes the metro, which is always on time, so you have to take responsibility for being late. (You can't just blame "traffic").
Then one friend called me on it - "You don't value my time."
So I made it a priority - but the learning curve was steeper than I thought.
It's hard to be on time. You have to figure out how long it really takes to do things - not just fastest I ever did it. You can't be distracted, and you have to do things like say "no" or "i have to go".
Actually having a car nav system helps me be on time (provides arrival time) and I can text ahead my ETA.
I'd rather lose 45 minutes of extra sleep and take my sweet time getting out the door than any of the alternatives.
Investors, board members, advisors, customers - they can all arrive late.
You must not.
My wife calls it "Warot Time", and usually multiples my worst case estimate by 3. ;-)
It's a good thing I'm pseudo-retired
I do think (at least for my wife) it's the estimate of time required to get to The Thing at a Specific Time that is inaccurate or overly optimistic, like all the time.
My first class in the morning, I'm usually always at least a few minutes late. It's a bad habit. Later classes, since I'm already on-campus, I find it really hard to be late, and am usually several minutes early.
If it's a work meeting, I'm usually always early or right on-time. This goes for one-on-one meetings in any circumstance, or in general events where I'm expected to contribute something.
The thing about being late to lecture is that it goes on with or without you. You're usually not letting anyone down by being late.
Now that I take public transportation (tramway, bus, train, city-bikes) I have a lot less control about the exact time of arrival (even though I use a pretty good app).
I need to adjust.
A good habit is doomscroll your calendar once a day instead of $socials.
-Work hours are long, goes on too late into the day
-Revenge night burn
-Sleep too late
-Rolls into weekends, very hard to be ready for plans.