Prioritizing Punctuality

This simple mediation is for anyone wanting or needing a gentle voice to help relax your body & clear your mind while you learn to plan and action your strategy for becoming more punctual. Techniques and science-based benefits are used to help the listener connect the act of optimizing punctual habits with the purpose of 'prioritizing punctuality.

I'd love to hear your feedback, please enjoy!

Transcript

Welcome.

Thank you for allowing me to participate with you in your journey to internalize the concept of prioritizing punctuality.

Make yourself comfortable by sitting still or laying down.

Close your eyes.

Allow the muscles in your face,

In your neck,

And in your shoulders to fall.

Help relax your body and mind by just listening to your breathing.

Breathe very deeply and very slowly.

Quiet your mind of any questions,

Responsibilities,

Thoughts,

And desires by just breathing deeply,

Staying relaxed and still.

Take a moment and appreciate yourself for making the time to listen to this meditation.

Take a deep breath in and out.

Let's begin.

As you know,

There are a number of emotional benefits to being punctual.

When you're on time,

There's no need for excuses or apologies.

You will see yourself as more reliable and others will too.

Your confidence will increase as you feel you can trust yourself with better managing your time.

Take a deep breath in and out.

So what causes consistent tardiness?

It could be as simple as misjudging how long a task or event may actually take or an early habit formed from a lack of urgency to prioritize punctuality.

So what is the cost of consistent tardiness?

Stress,

Distraction,

Loss of productivity in a team environment,

Lost time,

The perception of unprofessionalism and reliability,

Etc.

Take a deep breath in and out.

So what could be the antidote to being late?

Think of punctuality as a skill and like the development of any skill,

One must commit to practice and patience.

The more practice,

The better the outcome and it starts with a dedicated decision.

To help you,

Adopt the mindset that the earlier you start something,

The higher the probability you will finish early.

For short,

Let's refer to this concept as early start,

Early finish.

Take a deep breath in and as you exhale,

Smile and repeat after me.

Early start,

Early finish.

And again,

Breathe in slowly,

Exhale and say,

Early start,

Early finish.

Here are some practices to explore.

First,

Decide now to hold yourself to a higher standard of improved punctuality.

Second,

Start simple.

Set daily smartphone alarms 15 minutes in advance of finishing basic tasks like waking up earlier in the morning,

Getting out of the shower sooner and getting to bed earlier.

Third,

Model after others who are punctual.

And fourth,

Do not expect self-perfection but celebrate your progress every day for six months.

By then,

You will have created a better punctual habit.

Take a deep breath in and out.

Please repeat after me.

How will I reward myself for making progress?

How will I reward myself for making progress?

Take a deep breath in and out.

Maybe it's with turning up your favorite music or spending time with friends.

Whatever it is,

Get creative and curious to see what you can accomplish.

Take another deep breath in and as you exhale,

Smile and repeat after me.

Inhale,

Exhale,

Early start,

Early finish.

Please repeat after me.

What could I gain from being consistently punctual?

What could I gain from being consistently punctual?

Whatever you conjure,

Know you can look forward to less awkwardness and embarrassment when you walk into a room of people late.

Take a deep breath in and as you exhale,

Smile and repeat after me.

Inhale,

Exhale,

Early start,

Early finish.

Take pause for a moment and imagine yourself as five minutes early for everything.

At work,

At school or meeting your friends and family.

Imagine a year from now what it feels like as you proudly notice the change in yourself from being punctual.

Take a deep breath in and out.

Finally,

Please repeat after me.

There's no such thing as being on time.

I am either early or I am late.

There is no such thing as being on time.

I am either early or I am late.

Please take a moment to appreciate and thank yourself for the discipline you've shown throughout this meditation.

Take all the time you need to just breathe and remember you can return to this meditation whenever you please.

Remember that the more you practice this meditation,

The faster and easier it will work for you.

Thank you for taking the time to begin to internalize the concept of prioritizing punctuality and when you're ready slowly open your eyes and let me leave you with these words,

It's a great day to be alive.

Reviews

The messages and ideas are very helpful! Such as contemplating how there is an emotional cost to being late can motivate me to change my habit...Just what I needed to hear right now, and in the future

Exactly what I needed! Your voice speak deeply. Thank you!

Very helpful and encouraging this important behavior. Thank you.

Bookmarked and downloaded. Planning to put this into daily rotation, maybe even multiple times daily. My chief trouble here lies in multiple areas which are all addressed by this recording. I don't enjoy waiting around for something to start, I always have a lot to do so I try to squeeze as much as I can into my time, I don't have a accurate (or even reasonably accurate) sense of the passage of time, and often I simply don't want to be going/at wherever it is I'm to be.

The military didn't resolve any of these issues, but as squad leader, I always had things to do. Multiple degrees in psychology helped me figure out the reasons, but haven't helped generate effective solutions (and after 25 years or so, I'm beginning to wonder...). The statement here that being on time means finishing sooner is a new approach. Or more to the point, I've tried it on myself with little success (due to uncertainty of duration of gatherings) but hearing someone else say it was really helpful. A fresh take on things, as it were.

I am rarely embarrassed by being tardy. It's gone on my whole life, and because of the other difficulties I have being on the autism spectrum, there are far more significant things that do embarrass me than simply walking into a staff meeting either as the clock ticks to the appointed hour or a minute or two late because the printer was running slow. Still not an excuse, and while I've told my staff for 13+ years about it and they seem to have little trouble being on time, I do sometimes wonder about the example this sets for them, my collegiate student child (just started junior year), and so on. If for no other reason, I would like to not feel so rushed all the time, though I seem to focus best under pressure. Accurate, but I need to remove that as a justification for taking up other people's time in waiting for me - exactly what I try to avoid for myself. Common courtesy and respect should drive this sill for me, but for some reason, it doesn't.

Still, I listened to this and felt a stirring of hope I've not felt in many years. I intend to dive right into that pot and keep stirring away! Thank you so much for sharing this insightful practice with us here in the Insight Timer community. I see you and the light within you. Be well - and on time. ☺️ 🤲🏻❤️🤲🏻