There is a special kind of confidence that comes with saying, “I have plenty of time.”
You look at the clock and realize you have 30 minutes before you need to leave. That sounds like plenty of time. You can shower, get dressed, do your hair, find something to eat and maybe even scroll on your phone for a few minutes.
Then suddenly, it is 10 minutes until you have to leave—and you are standing in front of your closet wondering if you have ever owned clothes before.
Somehow, getting ready always takes longer than expected. You spend five minutes looking for your keys, only to find them in the exact place you already looked. Then you remember you forgot to brush your hair. Then you realize your phone is about to die. Then, of course, you have to use the bathroom one more time before leaving.
And just when you finally make it out the door, you look down and realize you forgot something.
Back inside you go.
Being late is rarely intentional. Most of the time, we genuinely believe we can accomplish everything we need to do in a ridiculously short amount of time. We convince ourselves that “five minutes” is enough to do a task that realistically takes 20.
Maybe the real problem isn’t that we don’t know how to manage our time. Maybe we are just overly optimistic about how much we can accomplish before walking out the door.
Still, there is something satisfying about finally making it into the car, buckling your seat belt and realizing you are only two minutes late.
At least you made it.
And tomorrow, surely, you’ll leave earlier.
Probably.
