Time and Respect

Time is a valuable commodity. At least that is how we think about time in America. We all know that there is a limited amount of time each day to accomplish what we want to accomplish. We also know there is an unknown amount of time that makes up our lifetime. The fact that we don’t know how much time we have, sometimes makes our sense of urgency (and frustration with wasted time) even more pervasive in our lives.

In spite of this, however, there are people that are not respectful of time. Sometimes this is due to cultural differences. Sometimes it is due to a lack of attention. In the business world (as well as in our personal lives), people that are not respectful of time often appear to be disorganized, lazy, or unprofessional. No everyone has the same “time tolerance” and being even a little late can actually cause you to lose a client or customer.

There are a few simple rules that people in business should follow. First, always be on time. If you aren’t sure where a meeting is being held, leave early enough to allow for getting lost. You can’t control if someone else shows up on time, but you can certainly be there on time.  Even the best of us does occasionally have unforeseen circumstances that make us unavoidably detained (that flat time on the way to the meeting with the corresponding flat spare). If you are going to be late, call the minute you realize you are not going to be on time. Even though people understand that things happen, the sooner you can let them know you won’t be on time, the more grateful they will be that you let them know.

Second, write down your appointments. Making appointments on the fly without writing them down (unless you have a really phenomenal memory), is a good way to miss an appointment.  Odds are that you won’t even remember that you ever made the appointment, or you will remember long after you were supposed to be somewhere. This tells someone that they were not important enough for you to remember.

Third, be prepared. If you are waiting for someone, be sure you have something to do in case they don’t show up. We’ve all had the potential client or customer that gets cold feet and never appears. If you have something to do, at least you won’t waste the time waiting.

Being late is like stealing from someone. Lost time is something that can never be regained or repaid.