Ireland: AM – The Psychology of Being Late

The Psychology of Being Late on Ireland: AM.

We’ve all heard the story that lateness costs the country billions in lost productivity. It is claimed that lateness costs American businesses more than $3 billion dollars a year, but can that figure be trusted?  Are late people a liability or an asset in the business world?

Research shows 20% of the population has a problem with punctuality. However, lateness is a trait that is very often combined with a bundle of behaviours, and to capture the bigger picture I prefer to call it Timebending. Unlike the other 80%, Timebenders don’t work in a linear way – they get deeply absorbed in their work and can lose all track of time. However, they are highly motivated by deadlines, and once they are facing a tight time limit, they are able to concentrate extremely effectively, and often produce their best work. The people at the other end of the spectrum are the employees who always arrive early for work and meetings. I call them Timekeepers – they hate to feel hurried, like to work at a steady pace, allow extra time for every eventuality, and lose the ability to think clearly when facing a tight deadline.

Lateness is seen in a very negative light, but can we be sure that an employee who regularly arrives late is actually working fewer hours than a punctual one? Take a closer look, and you’ll find that Timebenders who arrive late for work are also the last to leave, and end up working longer hours than required. It’s the people who arrive early for meetings and events who may actually be less productive, because Timekeepers build loads of contingency time into their day, and can speed up when facing a deadline.