Am I late for being early?

Written by Alex Bolten

How early is too early? How late is late? I think it really depends on who you work with, where you work, and, in particular, what you’re working on. We all face deadlines every day, and in order to be successful, you need to be able to manage your time wisely.

How early is too early? 10 minutes? 2 weeks? Again, it depends on where you are, what you’re doing, and whom you’re doing it with. When it comes to attending meetings, you should probably arrive at least 7-10 minutes early. It would be rude to show up right on time. Especially if the person moderating the meeting likes to start right on time. Your arrival “just in time” may be seen as an interruption and rude to others. It’s important to be considerate of how others feel.

If you’re working on a project and on a deadline, you should probably finish it some amount of time before it is due. Exactly when this is is hard to say, but let’s say you’re working on a marketing campaign for a client. It’s due in about 2 days, and you’re nearly finished. However, since it’s not due for 2 days, you’re just going to take it easy since you’ve been working hard. In doing this, you fail to notice that several things are wrong with your project, and this news doesn’t become apparent until about 3 hours before it is due. Now you’re struggling to get all of the necessary changes finished on time. Had you finished your project ahead of time and double checked to make sure that everything was ok, then this wouldn’t have happened.

Basically, you shouldn’t be afraid to do things ahead of time. Sure, you may have to work a little harder to get done earlier, but, should something go horribly wrong, you won’t have to worry about having to rush to fix any errors. On the note of not being afraid, it’s ok if you’re the first person to a meeting. In my experience, it’s always better to be there really early than to show up even a minute late. While you seem over-eager or over-enthusiastic, you’re just doing your best to make sure that you’re there on time. This will also look good in the eyes of your coworkers and your supervisors. You’ll be more credible and more of a model employee than the person who either always arrives “just in time” or a few minutes late.