You’ve been there. You are on your way to an appointment and running either on time or a tad late. You hit every red light, your blood pressure is rising. Everything is going wrong with this commute to your appointment. You don’t like to be late yet it happens frequently because you always try to get one more thing done before you leave or before they show up. You find yourself getting there just in time or a few minutes late.
A business/personal coach once helped me understand the power of showing up 10-min early. Time is your most precious commodity. You cannot buy more time. You get to choose your time, so choose it wisely on the people and things that are taking you where you want to go. I was always trying to get as much done as possible before my appointments to make the best use of my time, little did I know I was actually being less productive because of it.
Why show up 10 Minutes early?
- Stress – It is way less stressful to show up 10-minutes early. No high blood pressure pills.
- Focus/Preparation – You are able to focus more on the person you are meeting and properly prepare mentally for the meeting. You will be more prepared if you use the 10-minutes to get “in the mode” for your meeting.
- Posture – Chances are the person you are meeting will be just in time or just finishing something and not properly preparing for the meeting, so you will have the upper hand and your posture will reflect that. You will have the ability to drive the meeting.
- Apology – You will not have to apologize for anything. You’ve been to those meetings where someone shows up late and creates a ruckus and is apologizing with all of the lame excuses as to why they are late.
- Disruptive – You won’t have to be “THAT PERSON” who disrupts the meeting by showing up late and making a big show of it, or even just sneaking in.
- Respect – By showing up early it shows that you respect the person and truly value the time spent together. They will respect you for that. If showing up late does not stress you out, then you have a bigger problem. You don’t respect other people and their time. Don’t be that person.
- Productivity – Your meetings will be more productive because you will be mentally sharp, prepared, in the mode, practiced & relaxed.
- Control – You will end up having more control over your calendar and your time. I’m in!
- Because it is the right thing to do.
Certainly not a list that is all encompassing.
My challenge for you is to give it a go. Plan your day so that you can show up 10-minutes early to every meeting/appointment/engagement and see how it goes for you. If you are like me it will take some time to adjust as I felt the need to keep busy during that 10-minutes with the wrong stuff and I was always way less prepared because of it. Keep with it for a month or two and really look for the benefits of being early.
Journal about being early. Start with “I am the type of person who plans their day to show up 10-minutes early”.
I still work on this everyday as I am not perfect. Things don’t go my way. Sometimes I try to get one more thing done and pay the price. It is really nice to be early.
Love to hear your feedback,
Steve Aune
Steve Aune 
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