This behaviour goes back to boarding school, when I left home for the first time and had to be responsible for myself. Prior to that, I always relied on my parents to drop me off at school, church, hospital and anywhere else I needed to be.

In boarding school, I usually found myself on the punishment list for various misdemeanours, one of which was always tardiness. At the time, I attributed it to the fact that I was sleep deprived because we had to rise at 5:30 am daily, and I was too tired to rush through each daily activity and make it on time for the next. I was convinced that if I had control over how much I slept, I would be more relaxed and therefore more capable of going about my daily activities in a punctual manner.

Unfortunately, I saw no improvement with all the freedom that going to university brings. If anything, my tardiness got worse. I would go to bed late, wake up even later to account for my late night and end up being late for lectures. What’s more, there was no one to mete out punishment for tardiness. What started as a bad behaviour quickly became a lifestyle trait. Thankfully, I excelled in my studies because I was able to catch up on lectures and attend tutorials. As a result of this, I wasn’t particularly bothered with being a latecomer.

The wake-up call for me was when I turned up late for my graduation ceremony. Even my parents who had travelled a long way made it to the graduation hall before me. No amount of crying or begging could convince the organizers to let me into the hall. It was the first time I admitted to myself that I had a problem with being punctual. From that day on, I started making a conscious effort to be on time. However, it is a known fact that bad habits are hard to break. And so, despite my best intentions, I continued being a latecomer. On the few occasions where I would turn up on time for a meeting, an event or appointment I would pat myself on the back and feel a sense of pride at such an achievement.

Being in a relatively relaxed work place, turning up a few minutes late was hardly frowned upon, provided I made up for lost time by leaving work later. Even so, the issue was brought up by my manager during my appraisal last year, and I resolved that being in time for work would be one of my goals for the year 2019. I’m extremely excited because, at the time of writing this article, I have been early for work 30 days out of 31. And as the year unfolds, I look forward to becoming a more punctual version of myself.

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