Late for work again? Try these top tips

If you’re one of the unlucky people who end up late for work more than once in a blue moon then you’re probably wondering what you could do to stop this happening. You know the feeling: you rush to your desk sweaty and out of breath making as much of a point as you can that you moved faster than normal to compensate for your late arrival, but knowing full well that no amount of perspiration, red faced-ness or facial cues of anguish will convince your line manager or boss that being late is okay. ‘Leave earlier’, you know, would be the instant rebuttal to any excuse for being late if challenged, and you sit in abject fear of your superiors picking you up on it. They noticed, by the way, you probably didn’t get away with it.

In this world of cloud computing and web 3.4, this world of hyper connectivity, micro-chips in your brain, the eve of true bionic integration with the digital sphere, you’d think that we had such things under control, but we don’t. Somehow our technological advances have taken precedent over getting things like traffic flow and public transport working as they should do. The London tube network was the first underground railway in the world and it opened in 1863. Not much has changed except the number of people using it, which, by the way, is an equation with a net result of what some commuters fondly call ‘TFL hell’.

But we’re not ones to moan. We’re proactive, cheerful types and we’re also here to help you beat the clock. Here is our ‘Get On Guide’ to never being late for work again. Enjoy.

1.)    Leave earlier

We covered this tactic back in our blog post on how to beat the daily commute, although we were specifically talking about how to make your journey more pleasant, the same goes for getting to your journey quicker. The laws of physics dictate that if you leave earlier you arrive earlier, although with constant delays, traffic jams and broken trains these laws are sometimes called into question. Either way leaving earlier vastly increases your chances of making it before the clock starts. Say goodbye to your lie in.

2.)    Skip your morning shower

Washing’s over rated isn’t it? We thought not too, but if you’re really struggling then you need to save time somewhere, and more often than not personal hygiene is the first bastion of self-respect that has to fall. There is such a thing as a ‘baby-wipe shower’ you might want to substitute it for; more a specialty of the festival going natives but it’s kind of effective. Or so we hear. This tactic will probably see you spending more on deodorant than normal, but you have to mask the smell of a hot sweaty night somehow. Right?

3.)    Skip breakfast

You’re getting the theme by now eh? If skipping your lie in and shower hasn’t worked then it’s time to cut back on the vital sustenance needed to make the furnace inside of you burn. According to popular opinion, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but being late is absolutely unacceptable. Go hungry for your career. Simples. (Note: this is our least favourite option, if you’ve got to this point then there really is only one more thing you could try)

4.)    Get On a motorcycle

Ahh you saw this coming again? You do know what this site is all about right? Well if you got this far then you’re what we like to call ‘desperate to be at work on time’ and in fairness this is the best option on the page. Motorcycle riders can zip through traffic like water through a sieve and you’ll be at work early. Not only this but you can have your lie in, you can have your shower (heck have a long shower if you like) and you can have a breakfast of champions. You might even beat your boss into the office. Now about that bonus…

If you’d like to see what this motorbike stuff is all about, you can book a free ride now at a training centre near you. You get all the kit and instruction provided for free and you can get a taste of what you’re missing. (trust us, it’s a huge amount of fun).

What do you sacrifice to get to work on time? Tell us in the comments!