(NEXSTAR) – We all know somebody who is always running behind, who leaves you waiting alone at a restaurant or shows up to the party last. Maybe you’re that somebody.
There may not be an excuse for chronic tardiness, per se, but there are several reasons for it, according to psychologists.
Chivonna Childs, a psychologist with Cleveland Clinic, refers to the “condition” as time blindness.
“A lot of times people don’t leave on time because they think, ‘Oh, let me start the dishwasher, oh, let me check this, oh, I can do one more thing,’” said Childs. “We call this time blindness, where we think we have more than we have.”
Time blindness can be caused by mental health conditions like depression, anxiety or ADHD, she explained.
It could also be that you – or your perennially late friend – keep falling for “the planning fallacy.”
“Basically, the planning fallacy is the belief that one’s own plan will unfold perfectly,” said Allen Bluedorn, author and professor at the University of Missouri, said in an interview with National Geographic.
But in reality, people tend to underestimate how long tasks will take. Some people underestimate it significantly more than others, leading to them always running a bit behind schedule.
Even if you understand the reasons behind why you’re always running late, it’s still important to try and work on it, Childs said.
“Over time, this can put a strain on your relationships and even lead to you losing some of those connections,” Childs explained.
“When you agree to be somewhere at a given time, you’re essentially entering into a contract,” psychologist Pauline Wallin told National Geographic. “But if one person is consistently late, it creates a breach of trust not just for the moment, but often for the entire relationship.”
Childs suggests finding coping mechanisms that work for you, like setting alarms as reminders to stay on track or preparing the night before for whatever you have planned the next day.
