Keep Time

The way you spend today will determine whether you look back from tomorrow with regret or satisfaction.

Value Time

Different individuals experience different levels of financial and social opportunity, but each person receives the same 24 hours per day.

Further, you must spend time as you get it. Once it is spent, you can never replace it. The past is gone. The future is not guaranteed. The only time you have is now.

Therefore, punctuality requires you to manage this irreplaceable resource wisely, and finish projects in time to move forward with other projects. Punctuality requires more than arriving on time; it requires prioritizing your activities in order to do what is most valuable.

Value People

Valuing another person’s time shows respect for that person. Arriving on time to meetings shows honor to your supervisor. Concluding an appointment on time shows respect for those attending. Limiting your demand on others’ time shows you value their priorities.

If an employee takes 20 minutes to tell a coworker what could have been said in 5 minutes, that employee takes 15 minutes from the coworker and wastes 30 minutes of the company’s time.

Value Projects

Life is not a dry run. Others know your true values by the priorities you establish in your daily schedule.

Punctuality does not pursue productivity for its own sake. A punctual person demonstrates respect for others and care for the task at hand.

Whether making business decisions or arriving in time to see a family member play softball, punctuality recognizes the passage of time and seeks to give each task, project, and priority its appropriate time.

Whatever your opportunities, do what needs to be done when it needs to be done, and gain the satisfaction of a job well done.

Punctuality In Balance

Finish Thoroughly

Thoroughness is “knowing what factors will diminish the effectiveness of my work or words if neglected.” As you perform tasks or rush to meet a deadline, do not neglect the details that distinguish finished from excellent. Thoroughness communicates your esteem for others and keeps punctuality from becoming hastiness.

Persevere Patiently

Patience is “accepting a difficult situation without giving a deadline to remove it.” When you cannot finish a job on time, patience allows you to stay on task and see it through without cutting corners or giving in to frustration. Do your job the right way, even when factors beyond your control delay its completion.

Treat Others Gently

Gentleness is “showing consideration and personal concern for others.” Do not become preoccupied with the schedule at the expense of the goals and relationships that ought to drive it. Gently respond to interruptions so that others do not feel like objects in your pursuit of success.