Author reflects on chronic tardiness and discomfort with being early

4 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 9

In a personal essay, the writer says she is typically a few minutes late after leaving about five minutes too little to get ready.
She describes rushing as a source of misery but says unstructured time before leaving or arriving early feels awkward, shameful and harder to tolerate than last-minute chaos.
Contrasting her mother’s habit of preparing hours ahead, she links her behaviour to productivity culture and cites a meditation on geologic time as a way to loosen that mindset.

When does the virtue of punctuality become a symptom of a crippling need for control?

In our culture of constant hustle, is the fear of empty minutes a personal flaw or a societal disease?

Is your chronic lateness a personal failing, or a neurological condition known as 'time blindness'?