WFMW: Getting there on time
Crystal is having trouble getting places on time, and wants to know how to do better. There are already some very good comments on the post, and I won’t take time to repeat all the great ideas, many of which we already use in our house. But here is what I was able to add to the discussion:
Like nearly everyone else, I think the key is in planning to be early - then you can actually be on time when the unexpected happens, because it *always* happens.
A few additional points:
I try to leave a margin for error several times over. Not just an extra 5 minutes, but 5 minutes to potty everyone before we leave. 5 minutes to load, buckle, etc. 5 minutes for the unexpected, like when you have to stop for gas or potty even though everyone went right before you left.
And after all those margins, we try to plan to be 15 minutes early for the unexpected at the other end: feed the baby; clean up the carsick toddler; take everyone potty again even though they went right before we left…
Like setting your clock 10 minutes ahead, this only works if you don’t consider all those margins to be disposable. Either resign yourself to being 30 minutes early on the good days, or you will find yourself consistently 15 minutes late on the bad days.
Those who know me know that we tend to cut it close and sometimes arrive a few minutes late. What they don’t know is that we plan to leave early - we just failed to pad our schedule enough for those days.
Are you on time? What helps you? Or maybe I should say, what works for you?
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Filed under: WFMW: works for me, methods
Great tip!
We set everything we are going to need out the night or day before, so that we don’t have the “Where’s my sock?” or “When is breakfast?” problems. When we do this, we end up with a bit of extra time to straighten the house before we leave.
–Courtney
I try to check out everything from the route (including any traffic delays etc) through to ensuring everything is packed (double checked) and all essentials for the journey are to hand.
I always set off early - therefore to allow for any mishaps along the way (traffic holdups etc).
Usually I find I arrive feeling in a contented frame of mind (we all need a less, stress free environment).
Every good wishes from Scotland.
We live in the smallish town I grew up in, and my whole life nothing’s been more than 15-minutes away. My learning to be on-time came from a (recent) mind-shift of thinking in terms of half an hour rather than 15-minutes.
Now I start out when we have half an hour. This has made things much more peaceful. And made my husband very happy.
I round times up 15 minutes. If it usually takes us 30 minutes to drive to church, I try to leave 45 minutes early. If it takes 15 minutes to drive there, I like to leave 30 minutes early.
If it takes 8 minutes and they don’t like you to be early or late (my daughter’s preschool) then I leave 10 minutes early and hope for the best.
I also start thinking about what we need to do to leave at least an hour before hand. What snacks, clothes, other things we need to put in the car, what the kids need to do to get ready, etc.
I enjoy being early and am rarely late.
First thing I do is that I have a clock which is set 10 minutes ahead of the correct time and then point out that the time on that clock says we are running behind. Second is the planning out the night before with clothes and everything needed as well as what route we will take. Gas is always in the car the night before. Although we may have a bad day ocassionally for the most part we are on time or slightly ahead of time.