Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to let whoever is expecting you know
Speaker 1: that you will be late as soon as you realize,
Speaker 1: but you are behind schedule. In other words, when you
Speaker 1: are running late, communicate. That way, the other person can
Speaker 1: use the time as they best see fit. Nobody likes
Speaker 1: to be late, so in general people are slow to
Speaker 1: acknowledge that reality. It is tempting to hope that the
Speaker 1: stars will align so you can still eke out an
Speaker 1: on time arrival by hitting all green lights, encountering no traffic,
Speaker 1: and finding a parking space us right by the door.
Speaker 1: But how likely is that? Not very It is hard
Speaker 1: to make up time. Most likely you will lose even
Speaker 1: more time in the journey. So once you know you
Speaker 1: will most likely be late, communicate. Running late is still inconsiderate,
Speaker 1: but by letting the other person know, they can adjust
Speaker 1: their own schedule accordingly, it is the most considerate way
Speaker 1: to deal with the inconvenience. The reason this matters is
Speaker 1: that others might make inconvenient choices for themselves to avoid
Speaker 1: inconveniencing you. The person you are meeting, maybe thinking that
Speaker 1: they should take a cab instead of walking to be
Speaker 1: sure to arrive on time. They might skip an errand
Speaker 1: that was on the way to the meeting place. Even
Speaker 1: for a digital gathering, the person you're meeting with may
Speaker 1: cut another call short or stop a project at an
Speaker 1: inopportune moment in order to log on at the appointed time.
Speaker 1: If you are not there, this can lead to bad feelings.
Speaker 1: The gathering starts under a cloud. But if you let
Speaker 1: people know an advance that you are going to be late,
Speaker 1: they can choose to do something more satisfying with their
Speaker 1: time than just sit there. Instead of watching the clock
Speaker 1: and waiting, they may embrace the found time to drop
Speaker 1: off dry cleaning on the way to meet you for lunch,
Speaker 1: complete an almost done project rather than leaving it incomplete,
Speaker 1: meditate before logging onto the zoom call, or spend ten
Speaker 1: minutes in the break room connecting with colleagues before the
Speaker 1: time you are going to make it to the conference room.
Speaker 1: When they have the facts about your arrival time, then
Speaker 1: you are not holding hostage. Instead, you are giving them
Speaker 1: back a little time to use in the way that's
Speaker 1: best for them. Different modes of communication work for different
Speaker 1: people in context, but in general, when you are running late,
Speaker 1: a text, call, or chat on your work messaging system
Speaker 1: we'll reach the person you're meeting faster than an email,
Speaker 1: which they might not see until they are sitting at
Speaker 1: the restaurant waiting for you and passing time by scrolling
Speaker 1: through email on their phone. Of course, the fact that
Speaker 1: we can reach people instantly these days doesn't excuse being
Speaker 1: chronically tardy. Sometimes people think that since it is easy
Speaker 1: to warn people if you are running late, it doesn't
Speaker 1: matter if you are running late. It does, though, I
Speaker 1: am guessing as a listener of this podcast, you already
Speaker 1: know that. So when, despite decent planning and your best efforts,
Speaker 1: you realize you are going to be late, the next
Speaker 1: best option is to communicate your lateness to anyone your
Speaker 1: lateness will affect. They will be able to make better
Speaker 1: use of their time, they're less likely to be annoyed
Speaker 1: by the time you arrive, and you will feel less stressed. Two.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at iHeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yea