Is Time Management a Lost Skill?

We had several conduct grades in elementary school, and the one I excelled at most was "Uses Time Wisely". I'm certain this was a skill engrained in my psyche from an early age. My grandfather would arrive at church on Sundays 45 minutes to an hour before Sunday School started. I didn't understand it at the time, but he was always the first person in his Sunday School classroom, and he was prepared to greet everyone with a smile, exchange pleasantries, and teach the lesson. I distinctly recall asking him why he arrived so early, and his response was, "It's better to be an hour early than a minute late."

Fast forward to my early business career. The company had just hired a new CEO, and in one of our first meetings he told us, "If you're 5 minutes early, you're 10 minutes late." Interpretation: He expected us to arrive 15 minutes early for every meeting. I quickly realized this seemingly extra time allowed for traffic, parking confusion, finding my way to the meeting room, or a few extra minutes to collect my thoughts. Others were annoyed by this new rule bestowed upon us, but I thought it was brilliant. To this day, I still quote that CEO even though I have long forgotten his name.

However, it seems not everyone understands time management, or if they do, they simply don't practice it. Sure, things will happen, and we'll all be late from time to time, but I'm talking about the people who are habitually late. You know who they (or you) are!

We live in a day where our movements are governed by GPS which is not always traffic reliable and meetings that run consecutively. I can't say I'm always successful in arriving 15 minutes early, much less the hour my grandfather would have preferred, but below are a few things I've implemented (or have tried to implement) to be as close to 'on time' as possible:

1. When going to the airport, I always leave two hours before my flight time. Even though I have TSA Pre-check and Clear to get me through virtually any security nightmare, I would rather be relaxing in the airline club or at the gate than running through the airport. (In my lifetime, I've run through the airport ONCE, and I swore it would never happen again!)
2. I've attempted to implement 45 minute meetings vs. the standard hour. Note, I've "attempted" to do this, but unless it's in your company's culture for everyone to do this, it unfortunately, rarely happens. Nevertheless, it's my goal to eventually implement this as a policy somewhere!
3. Even if scheduling 45 minute meetings is tough, know when to call the meeting short. If I've finished my business 45 minutes into an hour meeting, I give people 15 minutes back. Everyone appreciates a few minutes to breathe before their next meeting.
4. If running a meeting where the full time allotted is necessary, be respectful of other meetings which follow - either yours or theirs - and try not to run over.
5. When possible, try to be the first person on the conference call or in the room for the meeting. I've found if I show up on time, it sets a precedent and subconsciously tells people I expect them to be on time also.
6. I find myself doing things in increments of 30 minutes. Example: I have an appointment today at 1:30PM, and it's currently 11:45AM. I will start getting ready at 12:30PM and will leave by 1PM, even though my appointment is only 15 minutes away. Yes, this may be a little OCD, but I have my timing set in stone in my mind, and I'm rarely late (unless my family is involved, which seems to fall outside of my normal standard.)
7. Implement to-do lists. I use the 'Reminders' function on my iPhone and Mac, and although basic, it works. I have both personal and work to-do lists, and I've even been known to create packing lists for trips! I don't want to be rushing to the dry cleaners to pick up a suit I wanted to wear the next day, and if I have that suit on my packing list along with "go to the dry cleaner", I typically have everything I need when I'm ready to pack.
8. Speaking of packing, NEVER wait until the morning of the trip to pack. Again, this is something I've done ONCE, which I swore would never happen again! I overpacked but forgot the basics and ended up spending way too much time and money searching for what I needed when I arrived at my destination.

Time is precious. "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." - J. R. Tolkien