Being late for work has been experienced by almost all people citing different reasons for their tardiness. However, there are those who seemed to be always late. These types of people, according to psychology, has more of a personality problem rather than having bad luck in the subway. Below are some of the reasons backed by science why some people are chronically late.
Multitasking
A 2003 study that looked into the habits of New York subway workers revealed that those who were always late for work were multi-taskers. Psychologists pointed out that multitasking must have an effect to the brain's metacognition, a phenomenon which makes people aware of what they're doing. Multi-taskers usually loses their metacognition as they juggle several activities or task at the same time.
In order to overcome this, psychologists recommend creating a time reminder that is 10 to 15 minutes earlier than the appointed time.
Too engrossed with a task
This is the opposite of multi-taskers because some people who become too much engrossed in their work that they lose their sense of time. However, psychologists say that this has a more serious underlying reason - their Time-Based Prospective Memory is not working.
Time-Based Prospective Memory or TBPM is a memory triggered by a time cue which acts as a person's internal clock. This internal clock is the innate ability of people that tells them they need to take that medicine at 7 P.M.
This problem is not beyond repair. Psychologists say that people can re-train themselves to recalibrate their internal clocks. This could be done by playing games where people time themselves so they know how bad their internal clocks are working.
Type B personality
An article in the Wall Street Journal explored the reason for chronic tardiness and said that personality has a great deal to do with it as well. For example, Type A personalities are more mindful of time than Type B personality traits.
According to the study, researchers have tested both Type A and Type B personality characters regarding their estimation of a minute. The Type A people measured a minute in 58 seconds while Type B personalities measured it 77 seconds.
Psychologists advise these types of personality to practice empathy by putting themselves in the other person's shoes - what would it feel to be always on the waiting end?
