unpunctuality
5 reasons why you are always late
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Late again! Why do some people just not manage to be on time? According to experts, this can have various psychological reasons.
There are many ways to divide people into two groups: dog and cat people, summer or winter fans — or punctual and unpunctual people. The last distinction is perhaps the most dramatic of interpersonal relationships. Because if one person is constantly late, it can put quite a strain on our interactions. Especially when people who are always late meet people who value punctuality and cannot understand why someone can’t just be there on time.
Why is it that some people are always unpunctual? Psychologists recognize various psychological causes in the permanent latecomers. These can be the reasons if you just can’t manage to be on time.
That’s why you’re always late
1. Procrastination
People who are often late usually also like to put off annoying tasks. They do everything at the last minute, but instead of even enjoying the time they are procrastinating, they feel pressured and suffer from great anxiety. But they still don’t manage to start a task on time and/or leave the house on time.
2. Poor time management
Late people tend to think they have way more time than they actually have. They constantly misjudge themselves: “It only takes me 15 minutes to get there,” completely forgetting that they still have at least five minutes to look for a parking space and that the rush-hour traffic is clogging the streets. It’s not malicious, they just don’t get the sense of how long it really takes them to complete a path or task.
3. Part of personality
There are also people who simply see being late as part of their character. You firmly believe that others find it charming when you are consistently late. “I’m just like that,” is her motto. They cannot understand how disrespectful their fellow human beings find it when they have to wait for them again and again. On the contrary: these people find punctuality almost a little provincial, coming late is much cooler in their eyes.
4. Poor working memory
Another reason for constantly being late is in our brain. Because people who just can’t manage to set off on time often have problems with their working memory. This part of our memory temporarily stores information that we need to access quickly. Late people often have too much unimportant information stored so that they no longer have enough space for the important ones – like when they have to leave, how long it takes them and so on.
To relieve the working memory, you can, for example, develop routines and maintain them. If you do the same things every day and start at the same time, you don’t have to worry about how you plan your mornings over and over again.
5. ADHD
Tardiness is a typical symptom of attention deficit disorder. People with ADHD often have trouble managing their time and tasks in a meaningful way. They lose themselves in unimportant things, cannot find something or generally have difficulty estimating how much time they need for a path or a task. If you feel like you might have ADHD or a comparable disorder, it is best to speak to a doctor and get advice on what you can do best to deal with it well.
Sources used: psychcentral.com, gedankenwelt.de, bbc.com