Time-keeping

I am convicted this morning to write of punctuality and time management (chronometrics).

I am the world's worst

I keep everyone waiting and watching for my arrival, every now and then, I just don't turn up, because I forget not because I'm just rude y'all.

Except that I am rude, every time I take that extra five minutes over a cuppa that makes me late, every time I lay in that little bit longer and rush (and am grumpy) and am late - I AM RUDE. Oh and I don't like being rude but it's like I'm only just realising that's exactly what I am.

Every time I'm late I'm saying my time is more important than yours. Keeping to your timetable (whether the church start time or meeting a friend on her day off for coffee) is apparently not important to little old me, even though I do love you (my church family, own family, friends, husband), I'm not showing you I do becasue I am keeping you waiting for me.

My husband's been gently working on me about this issue since we started out together. When I'm going somewhere with him I don't tend to keep him waiting - why? Well cause he pulled me on it and confronted me with the issue but y'all (no idea why I've gone southern today but you wouldn't follow the Northren Irish vernacular for you plural - yous - so hey I gotta use something) I still didn't get it, cause I was still being late for everyone else.

Well I'm sure I still don't get it but I'm sure gonna be trying harder. This whole schedule thing (which I still need to do a separate post about) is helping to make me better at the whole time-keeping thing but really I've been sabotaging myself over the whole thing this last week - so it's still gonna need a whole lotta work.

The thing that convicted me today was the poor time-keeping of my tutoring student. Every week I await her (today for half-an-hour). Instead of the lesson ending at noon, it creeps into my afternoon making me feel as if I haven't accomplished anything for the day. I feel let down by her and her family's constant lateness (so much so I actually moved the time of the lesson to an earlier time so that the lesson wouldn't eat into my afternoon so. My pupil Kitty is a mild-mannered sweet little things who lacks confidence, I'm glad that the lesson today was not entirely for her :)

As a sidenote I'd like to draw your (and indeed my own) attention to the fact I'm never late for work, money appears to be a good motivator for me. Perhaps I should start fining myself when I keep others waiting, or leave myself rushing to get things done because I didn't do things when I should have. This would work brilliantly except I haven't any spare funds in order to fine myself (my fun money all ended up back in the pot to pay my bigger than expected tax bill). Instead I'll work in the more accessible currency of chocolate and sweet treats.

I allow myself a sweet treat daily (whether a biscuit or mug of hot chocolate or indeed some chocolate. If in fact I have kept someone late/waiting I shall not allow myself a treat that day (if I've already partaken - I'll lose the next day's treat). I'll let you know how it goes.

Who have you kept waiting recently?