Think Departure Time

Published: Oct 7, 2004

Application

Improve punctuality and reduce stress by thinking of the departure time when recording a meeting time.

Visualize:

required preparations (clothing change, packing briefcase, retrieving documents and equipment);
travel time, venue activities (contacts, networking, getting a good seat and making arrangements) and;
contingency time (Murphy-intervention, traffic problems, etc.).

Calculate the departure time appropriate to the arrival time.

Mark the departure and arrival [9:15 / 10:00 or 10 \ 9:15] time in your appointment book.

Your calculations are simplified when you take note of similar experiences. Most likely, you already do this in some fashion. Can you improve your reckoning with increased consciousness and planning?

Stories

Conrad Black

Conrad Black's father had a reputation for being a shrewd manager of his time. I suspect Conrad perfected the method because I was aware of how brutally selfish he was with his time.

We both attended a B-School course. I saw the behavior some of his acquaintances related to me. I was one of the first students to arrive at the lecture hall - a good half-hour ahead of the scheduled start. Conrad would be there in his place staring straight ahead. For thirteen weeks I attempted to engage in even the simplest exchange of greeting to no avail.

Why did he arrive so early? Why did he not acknowledge others during the waiting time? You tell me!

By the way, the course subject was, "Business Ethics."

Submitted by: Nephew Gerry

Outcomes

Opportunities for networking and other promoting when it's a group meeting.
Eliminate the stress from apologizing for tardiness and last-minute rushing.
Gain a reputation for being punctual and well-organized.

Think Departure Time

Application

Stories

Conrad Black

Outcomes

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