Outside is opening back up and people are starting to gather together again I figured this was an appropriate time to address.
Quick, how long does it take you to put your makeup on? How long does it take you to shower? How far away from the function are you? If you can’t answer any of these questions on the day of the function you are probably the late friend. Or hell, if you know the answers to all of these questions and you still late then… then lean in and read carefully sis because this post is for you!
Here’s the thing, your punctual friends are OVER IT! As a punctual friend I’m going to speak for all of us and say we have even tried to factor in your lateness and you still end up being later than we predicted! The inconsideration of our time is past the expiration date and we are begging you to throw it out.
I asked one of my late ass friends how she processes her day after we’ve all agreed upon a time, location and vibe (aka function) this is how that went.
Me: Hey girl when we come up with a function let’s say we plan on linking up at 5pm and we decide on this at 10am what goes through your mind?
Late Ass Friend: “Bet, I’m good.”
Me: *Stares in confusion and disbelief* Okay so how long does it take you to get ready?
L.A.F: I don’t know depends on what type of face beat I’m doing…
Me: So do you have a general idea? If you don’t know how long it takes you to get ready, do you know how far away you are from the function? Do you come up with a leave by ___ time? When do you start thinking about any of this?
L.A.F: Nope, nope, and nope. I start thinking about this around the time of said function.
Go on head and admit it if this is you. If it is you I want to you to look yourself in the mirror tonight and say “I will be better, being late is stale and isn’t cute on me and I’m going to let that habit go. My friends deserve better from me.”
You know that saying “I stay ready so I don’t have to get ready.” The thing about it is you don’t ACTUALLY have to walk around the house ready for whatever, but your mind though… you’ve gotta prepare your mind. Here’s how most of your punctual friends ride and 9/10 we are on time because of proper planning.
1. Time yourself
Next time you get in the shower, do your skincare routine, do your make up… time it. See how quickly you can accomplish these things and have an idea of how much time it takes you when you are leisurely getting ready. Having an idea of how long it takes you to complete grooming is a big factor in consistent punctuality. It’s important to start timing yourself on a random day or before work so when it comes time to execute timeliness with your friends you can do so with ease.
2. Know Your Wardrobe
How often do you find most of your time being spent trying to find something to wear? I’ll follow up on that question with how often do you use some of your free time to come up with outfit ideas with what’s in your closet? I have a friend who literally takes pictures of her outfits so she can reference them later. (GENIUS and giving me major Clueless vibes)
This friend is also one of my punctual friends if that says anything.
3. Use GPS BEFORE You Get In The Car
Once you know the location it’s probably best to go ahead and plug the address in your gps to see how long it’s going to take you to get there. Then you’ll have an idea of when to leave and you won’t have to tell us you’re 5 minutes away for the entire 30 minute drive to the function.
4. Create Your Plan ASAP
The moment everyone agrees upon the function is the moment you need to start putting all of the aforementioned tools in place. The best practice is to work backwards.
THE PLAN
Let’s stick with the example given to one of my late ass friends. If at 10am we all decide we are getting together for the function at 5pm I’m going to go ahead and see how long it takes me to get there. Plug the location into my GPS and boom I see it takes me 20 minutes.
Now I know what yo late ass is thinking. “Great I can leave at 4:40!” And as your homegirl I’m going to tell you to stop lying to yourself as if you’ve ever left the house at the time you previously designated. Go ahead and tell yourself. “I’m leaving the house at 4:10 pm!” (yes that is 30 minutes before the time you need to leave it is okay to be ready and not rushing out the door and let’s be honest it takes us a smooth 15-20 minutes to actually walk out the door)
So, I’m leaving the house at 4:10 pm and I KNOW it takes me an hour and a half to shower, do my hair and makeup and get dressed, so I should start getting ready at 2:40 pm… but I, like everyone else, love to do dance routines to Beyonce while doing my make up and model walk in the mirror once dressed. So I should maybe start getting ready at 2:30 pm.
Do I know what I’m going to wear? No, let me add another 30 minutes for myself. Making my start time 2:00 pm. It’s now 10:15 am leaving me with 3 hours and 45 minutes to myself instead of the 6 hours I thought I had in the beginning. I can now realistically plan the errands I wanted to run and organize my time according to the plans I have later.
“Morgan! Dis tew much! I’m not trying to do alladat” If you’re that person rolling your eyes and saying that, I want you to ask yourself this, how many times have you been rushing out of the house, lying to your friends about being 5 minutes away, going 90 in a 55 hoping you don’t pass any cops trying to put your lashes on at a red light, mad that you forgot xyz but can’t turn around to go get it, etc. Alladat sounds like it’s tew much.
And if you’re not that person that rushes but takes your time even though you’re late, you’re rude and inconsiderate of people’s time and if it was the other way around and people consistently disregarded your time and energy you put towards planning, preparing and being punctual you would be annoyed. If for nothing more find a way to be punctual because you simply care about the people you are meeting.
Now, I’m not about to sit up here and act like I’ve never been late before because I have and I probably will be in the future for reasons that may be out of my control or due to better planning and for those who are occasionally behind the time by a few minutes this is not for you… BUT YOU HEFFAS THAT BE 45 MINS - 1 HOUR LATE CONSISTENTLY… it’s gotta stop boo and now you have the tools.
Trust me when I say that this is with peace and much love,
