Off the mark all the time - combating chronic lateness in your life

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Question for you - where do you fall on the punctuality scale? Always early, right on time, or always late?

It's the last one that can cause you trouble in many different ways.

Nothing bad ever happens from being early, but behind late, that's a different story.

There can be a lot of reasons for lateness such as a type B personality or maybe a touch of ADHD.

"You're not super into time orientation," said Dr. Rueben Brock. "You are just not really paying attention to time, you lose track of time, things like that."

Whatever the reason, psychologist Dr. Brock said you send a message to those around you every time you are late.

"You don't care as much or that you don't value those people or their time as much," he said.

He said that lateness can be damaging to your relationships and your livelihood. He explained that being late to work chronically can cause you to be passed up for a promotion or the next opportunity.

"You know, you're allowed to say this is just who I am, but if you end up fired for it, that's just how it goes," Dr. Brock said.

Once you admit to yourself that it's a problem, Dr. Brock said it can be fixed with something as simple as just setting reminders.

"Put in steps that combat your lateness," he explained. "A big one is going to your phone, our technology makes it so that there's really not a whole lot of excuses to be late."

Set yourself audible reminders for each step and don't ignore them, start your day with an alarm clock, and if necessary, Dr. Brock recommends putting it across the room. That way, you have to get up, get out of bed, and go across the room to shut it off.

If you have to have just that seven-minute snooze, set the second alarm across the room, but Dr. Brock said that multiple alarms create a plan B that automatically thwarts plan A - your first alarm.

Finally, he did say that chronic lateness can damage relationships. It can cause resentment if you are always waiting on that one person who always leaves you hanging and arrives with apologies. It can cause a feeling of disrespect.