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How to Stop Being Late Forever (advice for myself and other chronically late people)

2018-04-06 · list · Hank · 3:56 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Everyday life · mode: Advice & reviews · tags: self promotion

Hank, a chronically late person whose lateness has worsened with his book and since Orin's birth, admits being late is disrespectful and gives seven tips: honest late estimates, thinking in minutes-until, leaving when only the travel time remains, two alarms, joining calls early, treating early arrival as useful time, and noting why each lateness happened.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Airport habits; Hank as a chronically late person; lateness as disrespect; worse with the book and since Orin

  • ★★ Hank gets to the airport about half an hour before takeoff (it's Missoula, he checks in beforehand and never checks a bag) and in 10 years has never missed a flight. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Missoula, Montana
  • ★★★ Hank has been late for many things and calls himself chronically late: finishing one last thing, forgetting the thing existed, always underestimating how long things take. — 00:00:19
  • ★★★ Hank dislikes this about himself: lateness is seen as disrespect and is disrespectful; he feels terrible, since he respects and values the people he works with but isn't showing it. — 00:00:35
  • ★★ His lateness has worsened with the book's deadlines, meetings and signing, and since Orin was born he has had to apply better the strategies built over 20 years of chronic lateness. — 00:00:46 · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, Orin Green

00:01:04 — Seven tips for not being late

  • ★★★ Tip 1: tell people you'll be late and by how much, honestly; never say five minutes out of wishful thinking when it will be ten, which only stretches the bad feeling out. — 00:01:12
  • ★★★ Tip 2: think of an event as the time until it, not its clock time; his irrational brain sees 11:49 and 11:50 as very different but 11 and 10 minutes from now as similar, and his phone shows minutes away. — 00:01:32
  • ★★★ Tip 3: if a trip takes six minutes, be driving out with six minutes left, and plan for finding the computer and keys and kissing the baby goodbye, which happen every time. — 00:01:54
  • ★★★ Tip 4: two alarms per event, half an hour and two minutes before; the second helps with conference calls, since within half an hour he may be deep in researching salt mining techniques. — 00:02:11
  • ★★ Tip 5: join conference calls five or even ten minutes early and listen to the hold music while doing other things, so he isn't late when others show up. — 00:02:36
  • ★★★ Tip 6: Hank likes not to waste time and feels arriving early wastes it, but has shifted to seeing that something interesting and useful will happen there, just as at his desk. (hedged) — 00:02:49
  • ★★★ Tip 7, his most important: every time you are late, write down in a notes app why it happened, to diagnose and understand yourself. — 00:03:09

00:03:19 — Apology to everyone, including John; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank calls the video both advice and an apology to everyone, including John: he is sorry he is late all the time. — 00:03:19 · John Green

00:03:26 — Signed editions of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing for pre-order

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says lateness for Hank is often a kind of weird procrastination: he leaves at the last possible moment, often later. (hedged) — video description
  • ★★ The description says punctuality is highly valued, with benefits from better relationships to higher income, and shows a self-control some have innately and others must hack toward. — video description
  • ★★ Hank says he is still working on punctuality, and urges late people to forgive themselves when they slip up and arrive a few minutes late, as they would forgive someone else. — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: punctuality

Also: People: Orin Green

Works: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Organizations: Amazon · Barnes & Noble · Books-A-Million

Concepts: wishful thinking

Places: Canada · Missoula, Montana · United States

Only in the description or credits: forgiveness · self-control

Also centred on punctuality: On Punctuality

Replies to

  • continues · On Punctuality — “we've got some different perspectives on punctuality”

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