Is having the 'intent' enough?

Every morning I wake up promising myself that I will get to work on time. 8 o'clock sharp. And every morning, I fail. 8:05, 8:10, 8:13 but never 8:00!

The intent to be on time is there. Absolutely. What is missing is the execution of it! I guess it calls for better time management. And the irony of it all is that, being a trainer, I teach a course on 'Time Management'. I share and talk about effective strategies one can adopt and use to become better time managers. And of course be punctual in the process. Therefore, mine is a classic case of not practicing what I preach. And it is a shame.

Please don't get me wrong. I am quite adept in managing my time the rest of the day. In fact my boss applauds me for my time management and organization skills all the time. She uses me as an example to explain the importance of keeping deadlines and meeting targets. (yeah, yeah...so what if I am tooting my horn? Everyone does it!) It is the mornings that I have a hard time with.

You see, I love to sleep. Sleeping was my hobby and I passionately pursued it! (Don't believe me, ask my hubby and my friends!). However, since the birth of my first child almost 3 years ago, I have become a victim of sleep deprivation.(nothing new, right?) And just when I was getting back into my 6-7 hour sleep routine, the second baby came along. What happens to my sleep? It goes out of the window, yet again! New mothers, you know what I am talking about, don't you?

So in the morning, although I know very well that I need to get up by a certain time in order to get to work on time, I laze around in bed wishing that the clock will stop at 7 a.m for a couple of hours for me to get the extra zzzz's. I want to get up as early as possible and leave the house by 7:45 am at the latest. I want to but ...... It is always a mad rush trying to get both the kids and myself ready. I have also tried getting things ready the night before but that doesn't get me out of the house on time either.

The truth is, I do know the solution to this agony. It is to get up an hour earlier than I normally do. This is a sure-fire strategy and will work wonders. But am I willing to sacrifice one full hour of sleep to get to work at 8 am sharp? I think not! Therefore, to make myself feel less guilty, I focus on the intent. But is it enough to justify my tardiness?

This is a question I don't 'intend' to ponder upon!