Always Be Five Minutes Early

One of the sayings I have always resonated with is, “If you’re five minutes early, you’re already ten minutes late.” When my wife and I are meeting friends for supper, I’m worried about being late, so we try to leave in time to be there early. Part of what drives my need to be early is an enormous sense of urgency I feel.

While attending university, I never pulled an “all-nighter.” My sense of urgency meant that I finished writing a paper well before the due date. And in my current work, if a...