Early is on time. On time is late. I forget the first time I heard this mantra. It’s time for a refresher.

Wherever it came from, it’s true. If practice starts at 8:00, that means you arrive early, get your equipment ready, and you’re set to go at 8:00. Turning into the parking lot at 8:00 doesn’t cut it. Crawling across six clarinet players to get to your chair while the warm-up has already started doesn’t win you any fans with the people who got there on time.

In school, it’s usually the same student who walks in five minutes late every day. It’s the same parent who flies into the parking lot on two wheels, waving the permission slip as the field trip bus pulls out. That slip went home a month ago, followed by three emails and two phone calls.

Fast forward 20 years. That same person is now late to work…again. The excuse list sounds familiar: traffic was heavy, the lights were all red, parking was tough, the elevator was slow, or someone stopped them in the hall. And that report that is due today? Well, I know it’s due today, but…

Get ready for another excuse. It’s something I have talked about before, and today is the opportunity for a refresher.

It’s a Matter of Respect

Being on time shows that you value other people’s time. Being late says the opposite. The person who is always tardy says, through their actions, that it’s fine to keep everyone waiting. It’s fine to make the presenter recap what was missed. It’s fine to make everyone sit through a replay just to bring one person up to speed.

When a whole group can’t move forward because they’re waiting on one person, it’s not fair to those who arrived on time. That person is sending you a clear message: your time doesn’t matter.

The Many and the Few

Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist who lived around the turn of the 20th century. His study revealed that 80% of Italy’s wealth belonged to just 20% of its people. The remaining 80% accounted for only 20% of the wealth. That observation gave us the “Pareto Principle,” also known as the “80/20 Rule,” and it shows up in countless places.

A salesperson finds that 80% of sales come from 20% of the customers. A school finds about 80% of discipline problems come from roughly 20% of students. The same pattern shows up with absences, at school and at work. About 80% of people will complete a task on time. But you can spend 80% of your follow-up energy chasing the 20% who don’t.

That’s a real cost. It adds up.

Early Is Easier

Have you noticed that when you leave early, you beat the traffic? You get your pick of the parking spots. You even get first choice from the full box of doughnuts rather than settling for the one nobody else wanted. Perhaps most importantly, you get a few minutes of face time with the boss before the day gets hectic. Life is simply easier when you’re early.

When you work ahead of deadlines, you earn freedom. You can batch similar tasks together and knock them out in one focused sitting. You stop hopping from one urgent thing to the next. You have room to take a break, have a real conversation with a coworker, and take advantage of an unexpected opportunity.

Working ahead doesn’t just reduce stress. It puts you in control.

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“Punctuality is the soul of business.” — Thomas Chandler Haliburton

“Respect other people’s time. It is the only commodity that cannot be replenished.” — Thomas Edison