6. YOUR CO-WORKERS WON’T END
MEETINGS ON TIME?
This is an exasperating problem. You’re
supposed to be someplace else, but you’re
trapped in a meeting that’s going long.
Sometimes, this is inevitable, but if you find it
happening over and over, identify the problem.
Is too little time allotted to meetings that
deserve more time? Is the weekly staff meeting
20 minutes of work crammed into 60 minutes?
If you face this issue repeatedly, there’s
probably an identifiable problem — and once
you identify it, you can develop strategies to
solve it — e.g., sticking to an agenda;
circulating information by email; not permitting
discussions about contentious philosophical
questions not relevant to the tasks at hand, etc.
(This last problem is surprisingly widespread, in
my experience.)
7. YOU HAVEN'T CONSIDERED HOW
YOUR BEHAVIOR AFFECTS SOMEONE
ELSE?
A friend was chronically late dropping off her
son at sports activities until he said, “You’re
always late dropping me off because it doesn’t
affect you, but you’re always on time to pick me
up, because you’d be embarrassed to be the last
parent at pickup.” She was never late again.
8. YOU HATE YOUR DESTINATION SO
MUCH YOU WANT TO POSTPONE
SHOWING UP FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE?
If you dread going to work that much, or you
hate school so deeply, or wherever your
destination might be, you’re giving yourself a
clear signal that you need think about making a
change in your life.
Late or not, if you find yourself rushing around
every morning, consider waking up earlier (see
#1 above). Yes, it’s tough to give up those last
precious moments of sleep, and it’s even
tougher to go to bed earlier and cut into what,
for many people, is their leisure time. But it
helps.
I get up at 6 a.m. so I have an hour to myself
before I have to wrestle everyone out of bed.
This has made a huge improvement in our
mornings. Because I’m organized and ready by
7 a.m., I can be focused on getting all of us out
the door.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential
and thought-provoking observers of happiness and
human nature.