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I am not generally a procrastinator. In fact, I actually enjoy planning ahead. As a student I always completed homework assignments early and I never miss deadlines at work.

However, for over twenty years I have had what some might call a "dirty little secret." For the better part of those twenty years I was late to work, nearly every single day.

I say "was late", not because I was fired, thank goodness, although I probably deserved to have been many times over, especially early in my career, but because I recently transferred to a new department within the company and have been on time every day since making that change several months ago.

Some might speculate that this simply represents the new job "honeymoon period" where I am trying to impress my new employer and that I will soon return to my latecomer ways. That could be true, although somehow I doubt it. There have been other "new jobs" where I arrived late on the very first day and every day thereafter, skipping the "honeymoon period" entirely. This time, however it just feels different and so I decided that it just might be the ideal time to begin to examine why.

I am sure that many may be wondering how such a problem began and why I wasn't fired or at least strongly reprimanded. In looking back I think there were a number of contributing factors at work.

First, I think it helps that I am an exemplary employee in every other way. I produce high quality work, meet project deadlines and am consistently friendly and helpful to customers and coworkers alike. Even though I would regularly arrive ten to twenty minutes after the official start time, when I did arrive I would get right to work and work steadily and diligently without stopping for breaks. I never took long lunches nor did I waste time chatting with friends.

Next, the nature of the work that I do does not necessarily require up-to-the-minute punctuality. Unlike manufacturing assembly lines or customer service jobs like restaurant servers whose tardiness can negatively impact the experience of the customer and place unfair stress and strain on coworkers who must cover for the AWOL individual, my work has always been rather solitary in nature. Research and analysis jobs where I largely work independently and have little contact with customers have fewer negative results owing to chronic lateness then jobs in which the tasks of one person are intertwined with those of another or there are significant amounts of customer interaction.

Finally, the corporate

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