How Never To Be Late For Any Event, Programme, Or Church Activity Again
Lateness is when one does not arrive in time at where he/she has planned to be, or is supposed to be at the stipulated time.
There are many situations that can cause lateness. Some of these situations could be checkmated, most especially those that are within our power to control.
One thing with lateness to activities or duties is that when it is not promptly controlled, it could turn out to become a habit which will then be difficult to control afterwards.
Apart from the fact that lateness makes us not to achieve what we are supposed to achieve as scheduled, it also has the tendency to tell on our personality as being unserious, unscrupulous and unprincipled.
Our ability to arrive at a place in time, also shows how disciplined we are.
There are many things beckoning for our attention on planet earth, and for us to make maximum use of the limited time we have, requires discipline.
Here today, I will share with you techniques you can apply daily to control lateness.
At first, they may seem difficult to apply, most especially if late attitude has become a habit for you.
However, with persistence you will begin to find it easy to apply to mitigate the effect of lateness on you. Nothing good comes easy. Most especially if you are a leader, many people are looking up to you.
Therefore, if you imbibe the attitude of lateness, you will discover that in no distant time, your followers will also begin to arrive late. At such a time, the group will no longer be able to achieve much. Telling your followers to come early at this point will not help either, because what you do as a person and as a leader, speaks more volume than what you are saying with your mouth.
Gone are the days when “do as I say not as I do” worked for those who used it. Even though it seems like it’s working, behind your back, the seed you’ve sown all the while may begin to surface and resurface.
Lateness has also found its place in the house of God today, as pastors, choir members, ushers, and ministers in all capacities find themselves coming late over and over again.
If you look well, some of the things causing you lateness could actually be controlled.
Here are some few points on how to control lateness that I am about to share.
How to Control Lateness
1. Plan Ahead
There’s a popular saying that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. How truthful is this saying? Very true indeed. Many people often forget that they have an event or a program to attend until the eleventh hour. If you are to be an early bird to any program or event, you must plan early for such a program.
Set aside what you will wear to the program, are they in order? if not, try to put them in order before the due date. This may entail washing and ironing such clothes or attires. Washing and cleaning the shoes, or whatever is needed to give you the appearance you want to portray to the program.
2. Set a Reminder
The actual problem may not be in the planning. Many people tend to forget one thing or the other, especially when their days are so busy with activities. Setting a reminder may help you keep track of these activities that need your attention to make sure you are there in time, and at the proper time too.
How chaotic it would be for you to eventually forget what you’ve looked up to all the while. Your absence could shatter the success of a program, depending on your role or duty at such a program. That is why you shouldn’t let forgetfulness ruin your plan. Setting a reminder is very easy these days. Most mobile phones now have a way of setting reminders. You could use the alarm on your android, iOS, Windows devices, or whatever mobile device you may be using. This will remind you at the proper time.
If you are the pastor in your church for instance or the choirmaster who may be the one in the position of all that is needed for the day’s worship, and for the success of the meeting. Your absence could be very disastrous, and nobody may be in for such an excuse of forgetfulness.
3. Attend to the Minors First
What does it mean to attend to the minors first. Sometimes, there may not be room at the moment for the most important things you need to put in order for the meeting, event or program. In this case, you shouldn’t sit and be waiting until there’s room to put these things in order before you can attend to the other things you need for the meeting too, but are not the most important.
Assuming you live in an apartment where bathrooms are shared by the tenants. You would like to use the bathroom, but someone else is using it at the moment. Don’t you think it’s better to iron your clothes that you’ve not ironed before now, instead of sitting down waiting for the person to come out? Though ironing may not be too important for the meeting to you, but using the idle time for ironing, could eventually make you appear smarter and crisper for the meeting.
There’s no time to waste when there’s little time. Your wise application of the little available time, will enable you achieve much within the short time frame.
4. Give Due Attention to the Important
There are things you need for the meeting that are the most important. Without these things, the meeting, event or program may not be able to hold. With all conditions being equal, and there’s nothing standing in your way of getting these things done now, go for them. Make sure they are in place and ready before the due day for the meeting. If not possible, try to get them ready well in time before the meeting time. After all, the least important things could be forgone when you have no more time left. It is better to leave out these unimportant things that will make you late, than being late, or totally being absent from that place that your presence will make an impact.
Are you blessed by this write-up? Then share your thoughts in the comment section. What are the things you usually do to make sure you don’t go late for any program? Let us hear your thoughts below.