2026, Automotive, Mysteries, Stories

The Early Bird… is just early.

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Guesstimating how long a task will take is not one of my long suits. 

Bad estimates happen often when I’m trying to give myself enough time to get somewhere.  Don’t get me wrong – when I’m going from one place straight to another, then I’m pretty accurate.  I like to arrive with a few minutes to spare and this usually works out.  It’s when I add errands to a trip; the more errands, the worse I guess.  Two weeks ago, I had a knee therapy appointment at 7:30 a.m.  At that time of day I know it takes about 15 minutes to go straight there.  I added stopping for gas and estimated 10 minutes for that, then 5 minutes to swing by the post office, 10 minutes for Dunkin Donuts.  Figuring 10 minutes to check in and cough up my co-pay, I decided I should leave the house at 6:30.

Got all my errands done and showed up at my therapy place at 6:50.  My car was warmed up at that point so I sat in the parking lot for 20 minutes listening to my book on CD.  That still left me 20 minutes (of which the check-in/co-pay took 3 minutes…sigh). Good thing I’m a morning person.

The other time this problem rears its ugly head is when I have some chore that I’m not too excited about.  A 10-minute job becomes an hour in my mind, a 20-minute chore becomes an afternoon.  Then the procrastination kicks in.  I found this meme last year on Facebook; I even printed it out and pasted it in my journal.  Whenever I’m putting something off, I TRY to remind myself of this silliness in my nature.  Occasionally it helps

I’m hoping that showing up 40 minutes early for my therapy will be a learning experience but I’m not exactly holding my breath.  You know – that old dog/new tricks problem.

Do you have a good relationship with time-keeping?  Any procrastination problems?

35 thoughts on “The Early Bird… is just early.”

  2. When I have an appointment somewhere with a waiting room, most often a medical or dental office, I generally arrive about a half hour early. That’s because I have allowed for the unexpected, in the form of traffic delay, etc. and those delays didn’t materialize. For me, that’s superior to the tension arising from those unanticipated delays.

    Arriving early, everything is pleasantly relaxed. I can chat (briefly) with the receptionist or I can sit and gather my thoughts for the day. If I have an e-book going I can read a little on my phone but most often I leave my phone in my pocket and just veg out. Often as not, I am called in for my appointment early.

    Medical and dental offices these days seem to be very anxious about their appointments. I get reminders weeks ahead and then days ahead asking me to confirm my intention of showing up. They warn that they will charge you for non-appearance. That’s fair but I don’t recall that level of anxiety in years past.

    I can’t recall any particular instances of procrastination, as such. There are projects I’ve put off for years but they are ones I thought I might attempt but never summoned the confidence to tackle and ultimately let them become ones we’ll hire a professional to complete.

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  3. I have a decent sense of time and like to arrive at appointments at least a few minutes early, but not more than 5-10 minutes.

    For estimating the time something will take, I’m not so good. I’ve mentioned my “Rule of Seven” for estimating time and cost of a home handyman project, which is why I’m happy to hire a pro for most of those tasks. Plus, doing that supports the local economy.

    I’m so bad at estimating when I’ll finish writing a book that I don’t even try anymore. And that’s where procrastination rears its ugly head. When I hear of authors cranking out one or two (or more) books in a year, and I’ve only done that once (most of mine take 2-3 years), I feel like I’m procrastinating big time. However, I’ve determined I just plain “write slowly.” For me, that’s letting ideas stew in my subconscious for weeks or months before deciding if they’ll work or not in the story. The fact that I’m not one of those people who have story ideas fighting each other in my brain to get out into the world is another reason for my slowness. But on the surface it looks and feels like procrastination. So be it.

    But on many other tasks, chores, obligations, etc., I’m pretty good at not procrastinating. Go figure.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  4. procrastination kills me. if i did all the stuff i have in my head on my to do list my life would be different. im working on it. i have many ideas to hatch so by the time i get to them they are well formed but im sure i miss a lot too.
    i have a daughter who lives in another time dimension. she has 3 demanding kids and a eastern european husband (loving but not good at home stuff which is womens work) so she is never early or on time. so i am getting better every day ( i am getting better every day) at plugging in time stuff.
    with my delivery life in the forefront of all this i work around appts and plan to do tSks in the midst of my work but a lot gets pushed back in prioritization

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  5. Love the header photo.
    I went fishing with Salvador Dali.
    He used a dotted line.

    He caught every other fish.

    Bah Da Bum!
    My absolute favorite joke ever.

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  8. One of the elements of ADHD is “time blindness.” Oh yeah, it only takes me 10 minutes to get ready. And it does…if I *only* focus on getting ready. It doesn’t include all the stuff I have to do before I can start getting ready. It doesn’t include all the people I have to connect with and errands to add to my list before I can get out of the house. And somehow, getting ready time never accounts for finding my shoes. Or gloves. Or changing my handbag. So now it’s 40 minutes after I was supposed to leave, but I still swear I left myself enough time to get ready.

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    2. HI-
      We swear there’s a magic ten minutes in the morning getting out the door. We can be on time and putting shoes on and then we get to the car and we’re ten minutes behind!

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  9. I also think there’s a cultural component to how you view time. Scandinavians and northern Europeans tend to put a lot of emphasis on being punctual, and think it’s inconsiderate to be late for appointments. Other cultures have a lot more relaxed attitude toward time.

    Personally, I strive to always be on time, and I much prefer to arrive ten to fifteen minutes early for appointments than being late. To compensate for my timeliness, I’m a really good procrastinator, especially if there’s some chore I dislike.

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  10. What PJ said. My dad was very punctual (or early), mom not so much. I take after dad in that respect. However, I am very good at the long Swedish goodbye!

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  11. Because traffic patterns in this town are so spotty, it is hard to be sure how long it will take to get there. To get to my gp is about 12 minutes with no issues, but one left turn can just about double that. At odd moments traffic gets heavy or gets light when it should not. They like to erect stoplights with a left turn component that never turn green, when they need to. Mankato. Go figure.

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    1. Yes, Mankato is one of the worst towns for driving in. There’s a lot of traffic, people drive like maniacs, and I find the Madison Ave area confusing now with all the roundabouts. The college area is stressful to drive in too. Downtown isn’t as bad, for some reason.

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  12. I’m a procrastinator when there’s something I’ve dreaded getting done, except for taxes. I’m usually ready to take my stuff in to the CPA by the first week of February. I hate it, but it’s like college assignments – just get it done, then you can do something you enjoy more. If it’s something I’ve never done before, and I think it will be hard for me, I procrastinate. If it’s a chore or assignment that I know I can do, it’s just a hassle, I get it done.

    I’m really prompt these days. I was late a lot when I was younger and my days were filled with work and appointments and other things to do. I don’t have to worry about being on time for work anymore, so I’m on time or 15 minutes early for appointments instead. I was expected to be at work 15 minutes before my shift started, without pay, just to make sure I had my work shoes on and tied, so I just mark my calendar for 15 minutes before the appointment is scheduled.

    I wrote this earlier and got distracted. Maggie’s keeping me busy today. We are knuckling down on crate and potty training, and being much more disciplined about it! It’s keeping me busy. Only one pee accident in her diaper today (so far) though, so that’s progress!

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  13. I mailed two cookie boxes today, and need to bake more and send boxes next week to Husband ‘s brother and sister. I like to have them done before Christmas, but that wasn’t in the cards due to exhaustion. We go to Brookings tomorrow to have a late Christmas with Son and his family. He requested traditional German cookies which I baked and which we’re bringing along.

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  15. At the receptionist job I mentioned above, I too had to make myself leave the house 15 minutes earlier than I thought to get there on time. That worked pretty well.

    These days I am generally on time, and this town (Winona) is fairly easy to predict the timing to get anywhere. AND there is parking available when you get there. In the Twin Cities, it took me at least 20 minutes to get almost anywhere from Robbinsdale, 25-30 if it was in St. Paul.

    I kind of like the saying “Why do it today if you can put it off till tomorrow!?”

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  16. Better Late than Never, Baboons,

    I am usually on time, or close to on time for things. However, when it comes to housework, I can procrastinate that forever. Exhibit A: the closet under the stairs needs cleaning and sorting. It has needed cleaning and sorting for years now and there it sits.

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