Peace of Mind Organizing

My punctuality solution

11 July 2008

Being on time to client appointments has been a challenge for me. I blogged about this three months ago, at which time I vowed to make some changes to my morning routine, including implementing some checklists, so that I’d be on time instead of rushing like a mad woman in the morning.

I’m happy to say that, for the most part, my morning’s have become more calm and I’m arriving on time to clients’ homes. (Yesterday there was a road closure, which made me late, but I would have been on time!)

I did create some checklists, which have helped. I’ve been better about putting together the supplies I need for the next day’s client appointments the night before. And I have these great checklists so I can make sure I didn’t forget anything. And, of course, it helps that I have my new second home office which houses supplies that go to clients’ homes so I’m not searching for anything.

But the key to my punctuality success has been this: Each night, I figure out what time I need to leave in the morning to get to my client on time (and I pad that a little), then I work backwards and set times for when I need to leave to walk my dogs, when I need to go upstairs, when I need to get in the shower, and when I need to get up—always padding each step by about 15 minutes. That means I get up pretty darn early, but that’s okay, because I like to have plenty of time in the morning.

The end result is that I usually have 15 to 30 minutes to spare after I finish walking the dogs, which is a wonderful luxury and means my head and body aren’t speeding along as I walk out the door. It allows me to be more centered and more focused on my client.

It’s not rocket science and if I weren’t a morning person, it probably wouldn’t work. But it’s made a big difference in the quality of my mornings and in my ability to fulfill my clients’ expectations that I’ll be on time to their appointments!

Tagged with: control, punctuality, routines, time management

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