Customer Reviews

Never Be Late Again: 7 Cures for the Punctually Challenged

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

The night I ordered this book I had just come back from a meeting where my client for the largest project in my career had reprimanded me in front of several other people for being late most of the time.

As usual I had phoned the client's assistant when I was on my way to say that I would be about 10 minutes late (OK it was actually about 15 min). During that 15 minutes my client had to sit at a boardroom table with people we were going to be negotiating with while they waited in awkward silence for me to arrive.

Of course it was extremely embarrasing getting told off. On the way home I swore I would never put myself in that position again just like I had promised myself dozens of times before.

What was different about this time? Well the public humiliation promted me to see what I could find on the web about "chronic tardiness". I knew I had a problem but somehow I just hadn't been able to fix it. My web surfing eventually led me to Ms. Delonzor's book which I ordered immediately that night. The book was an easy and interesting read and I recognized myself many times throughout.

It opened my eyes as to why I was always late and more importantly, why I hadn't been able to fix this before. I later emailed my client and apologized again, told her she was totally justified in telling me off and thanked her for doing so because I was now committed to correcting the problem.

I have had several meetings since that night and I have been early or on-time for every one. I still have a ways to go in other areas of my life (church, kid's soccer games, etc.) but in general my success ratio has gone way, way up and I have a totally different outlook about being on-time or preferably early, which I previously considered a waste of my time.

Highly recommended for the chronically tardy and the family and friends who put up with them.

I've read several time management books, but "Never Be Late Again" is by far the best. I really gained some valuable insights. It not only deals with how to overcome lateness and procrastination, but explaihs the research behind the techniques. The book was intelligent, humorous, and has helped me immensely in my daily business practices. It really drove home the fact that, with the right tools, effective time management can be easy.

This book helped me! I never could understand WHY I couldn't get anywhere on time. This book will show you the errors in your thinking. It's not that you're stupid or lazy or being passive aggressive or any of that. You've just got some ways of thinking and habits that cause you to be late.

Before I read this book I RARELY got anywhere on time. (If I did, it was probably because I drove 85 miles an hour.) After reading the book, I'd say I went from being late about 90% of the time to being late about 20-25% of the time. If I could improve my other bad habits by that much, I'd be in heaven!

So, if everybody KNOWS not to even expect you on time, you really ought to read this book. Or give it to someone who is punctuality challenged.

It's a pretty quick read and cheap besides.

I purchased and began reading this book hoping it would help me with my chronic problem with punctuality. However, as I read it I discovered that there are many types of people with this same problem, and they included many different personality and character types...many of which I could identify with person- ally. "Never Be Late Again" covered so much more than just tips on overcoming punctuality. It helped to provide insight into many facets of my own personality as well as that of those around me. I would (and have) recommended this book to just about everyone, whether they have problems with being late or not. It's a MUST READ !!!

My copy of the book has not arrived yet, but I have read a few sample chapters that were emailed to me by the author.

I met Diana DeLonzor when she was teaching a class on this subject in San Francisco. I found it highly enjoyable and informative. It was more than just a lecture on punctuality tips because we discussed the underlying *reasons* people become chronically late and how they are not necessarily the same for everyone. There was enough information for an all-day workshop and no one wanted to leave when the class was scheduled to end.

Diana was a delightful instructor with an unpretentious style that put everyone at ease. By the end of the class we all felt we were among friends and were laughing together. I appreciated how she shared her own experiences with us about overcoming tardiness and it made us feel like we could relate to her because she had "been there".

If the sample chapters are any indication, this will be a terrific book that will help a lot of "punctually challenged" people.

This book literally changed my life - for the better. I was a perpetually late person and didn't know how it was affecting others in my life. Reading this book was a real wake up call. I began to think differently about time and what could be achieved in a specific amount of time. I was using what Delonzor calls "magical thinking" when it came to time.

I would highly recommend it to anyone who is "punctuality challenged." Thanks for writing such a helpful book.

My copy of "Never be Late Again" arrived in Australia, from California in thirteen days (including two weekends and the day I ordered it). You can't get more prompt than that!
Post Madison is the publisher of the book, so Ms DeLonzor sent me a personally signed copy. Also, living outside of the USA, I am grateful that Post Madison accepts my funny plastic dollars (or their e-quivalent).
Of course, the very prompt, personal and professional service were not what motivated me to buy the book, and as I have had it just under three weeks, I can't make any claims about it permanently (or even instantly) turning me into a punctual person...yet.
I can claim that using Ms DeLonzors techniques has made an almost Magical difference to my life over the last three weeks, that they are very effective. I can also claim that "Never be Late Again" is easy to read and you can put what you read into action instantly.
It is also quite enlightening to notice how many Big things really boil down to the little matter of being there when I said I would - how many other peoples opinions of my competence, integrity, unselfishness change according to just a few minutes one way or the other.
If you think this book might help you, I strongly recommend you get it and act on it, rather than let people go on thinking you are a flake.

As a chronic late person, I've read a lot of books on this subject. This is the best I have read! It is the first book to offer true insight into a tardy persons mindset. Most books or articles suggest that being late is "all about power or control", or "late people do not care about other people", or contribute chronic tardiness to some passive aggressive personality defect. This book digs deeper and does a wonderful job pin-pointing the REAL reasons a person is chronically tardy. As I was reading the book I had several "A-HA!" moments, and even exclaimed out loud "THAT is SO TRUE!", a few times. I now have actual behaviors I can follow, to correct my problem. It is the first advice I have learned, on this subject, that actually works!

Ms Delonzor starts by reminding us that bad habits develop because there's something beneficial to us lurking underneath the behaviors we want to change. Her approach is to help the reader find the underlying source of the unfortunate behaviors, and then to help the reader to redirect that energy in more useful ways.

The meat of the book is an examination of 7 different personality types that can lead to the end result of being chronically late. Once you find the type (or types) that ring true for you, you can use the exercises that the author offers for helping get over the punctuality problems they create. For example, I recognized that I fall into the Busy Syndrome trap: I try to over-fill every moment of the day with activity, then I aggravate the problem with ridiculously optimistic estimates for how long the activities will take. The exercises were simple and practical: find out how long your daily activities (showering, shaving, etc) actually take (I was shocked to realize that it takes 45 minutes for me to get from my morning workout to the office - I could have sworn it only took 15 minutes); practice transitions by giving yourself a fixed amount of time for a task before purposefully moving on to another task; and plan to be early.

Finally, a book about how to overcome chronic lateness! I found this book to be very informative and fun to read. Delonzor gives many excellent tips on how to become a more punctual person. Be aware, however, that you won't instantly become a punctual person just by reading the book. You have to work at it by putting these ideas into action, which will be hard for most chronic late people. It's hard to change any bad habit. Overall, the book was insightful and helpful.