Showing Up for Work Exactly on Time
By Andy Heath
As I write this, I'm working a temporary assignment through Arvie Personnel Services in Nashville, Tennessee. Over the years I have been consistently late for work, but not this time. On this assignment, I have made a conscious effort to show up for work on time. I am to be at work every day at 7:00, not 7:03.
I even try to show up a little early. So I'm generally at work sometime between 6:50 and 6:55 in the morning, and I have over an hour commute to work every day. The pace is rather insane, but I have found that it works, and I'm starting to slowly pay down some long standing bills.
But in this post, I want to explore something that I have struggled with a great deal over the years: Why is it important to be at work on time?
From the moment we start school, we are taught to be on time. When we go to work, we also have to be on time, regardless of what hour of the day or night we are to show up. I have even heard that during the Industrial Revolution the powers at that time established Sunday School at churches so they could show new employees how to show up for work on time, as prior to that punctuality was not that important. I can't verify that information, but that is what I have heard. I would be interested if any of my readers had different information, and it's an interesting concept anyway.
But all that to say that for over a century, we have been taught that punctuality is important. And my question for years was WHY?
My argument was that if I make a positive contribution to a company, why must I show up at a specific time to do that? I had decided that I was a forward thinker – even at the beginning of my career – and I did not need to show up at any particular time. Don't get me wrong. I was never egregiously late. I had to be at work at a certain time, and I would be three to five minutes late every day. Most of the time my supervisors never even said anything, but every now and then they would note that I was late for work.
Then, about a year ago, I started learning how to read Tarot cards. In the Tarot deck, there is a card that I have always had a problem with – The Hierophant. The Hierophant is a card that evaluates the need to fit into society and "follow the rules." I always felt the Hierophant was a popish, unkind, unforgiving figure, and there is certainly an element of each of these in the Hierophant. But if the Hierophant were a real figure, you could ask him – Why? Why must I show up for work on time?
And his answer would be? You must show up for work on time because those are the rules. People judge you on whether or not you can follow the rules, so you must show up for work on time.
I would counter, "That doesn't make sense. How does showing up for work on time affect my ability to do good work?"
His response would be, "It doesn't necessarily. It doesn't have to make sense. In society, there are rules, and you must follow them. That is the way it is."
And the Hierophant is right. Now those of you that follow this blog know that I am not always one to follow societal rules, so you might wonder why I feel so strongly about showing up for work on time. The reason I feel so strongly about it is that this is a simple – albeit silly – rule that will make a world of difference in your work life. It's true. People have a lot of respect for punctuality. I may never understand why, but that's just the way it is.
So right now, as I said, I must show up for work at 7:00 A.M. That does not mean 7:03. It does not even mean 7:00. It means, a few minutes prior to 7:00. That is the way it is. That is just the way it is.
