Are you one of those people that can never seem to get anywhere on time? Every work meeting, party or dinner reservation is followed with the lines “sorry I’m late… (insert lame excuse here)”
Well, stop blaming your lateness on traffic, or problems with transport.
Turns out the reason you’re always late is your personality.
Psychologists have determined there are four personality factors that make you a chronically late person.
You have bad planning skills
If you are always late you may be bad at planning. Signs are that you always over-schedule your days, but then can’t manage the work load.
This is a really common trait, with studies showing an average of 40 percent of people drastically underestimate how much time a task will take them to complete.
You multi-task
Nowadays, everyone seems to multi-task, and it’s so easy to do with smart phones or using multiple tabs on your laptop. But it may actually be making you tardy.
When you have multiple tasks to complete at once, it becomes more difficult to have an awareness of what you’re doing. This can actually slow down your progress on finishing individual tasks.
You experience time differently
Studies show that for people with traditional Type A personalities (ambitious, competitive, status-climbers), what they felt as one minute passed in 58 seconds, whereas for Type B personalities (creative, reflective, explorative), what they felt as one minute passed within 77 seconds.
Sorry creative types. Those 18 seconds add up when it constantly occurs over your life.
You’re a thrill-seeker
This trait involves people struggling to motivate themselves and needing the excitement of a last minute deadline to get things completed.
Studies show that for some people who are chronically late, there's an excitement surrounding pushing the deadlines for things; people see it as a thrill and a challenge to push themselves to the limit while still accomplishing their tasks.
Are you always late? Do you fall into any of these categories?