What Does Constant Delay Mean?
The constant delay can be outrageous. Can there be anything more annoying than arranging a meeting with a certain person who doesn’t show up by the deadline? Minutes pass, and he just doesn’t hear. Some don’t arrive within minutes, some don’t even after hours. Some do not arrive at all. The most frustrating thing is that almost without exception these are the so-called “Repeat offenders”. Looks like they never arrive on time.
If you call them when it’s time to be there and they just don’t show up, they say, “I’m coming”. The most daring may say, “I’m just leaving,” even though they should have already arrived. Their delay is a chronic condition. There is no force that can make them change.
Honestly, time is a completely subjective concept. We humans have developed different ways to measure it. Even so, everyone still perceives and treats it according to subjective variables. For some, it is a precise measure to which we must adapt. For others, time is an annoying constraint that has no personal significance for them.
Constant delay and perception of time
We all perceive time differently. This depends primarily on our age. When we are small, the hours feel like days and weeks to us. It often makes children impatient. The older we get, the faster time seems to run. We no longer even record the passage of days and months: all we know is that they pass us too quickly.
Estimating time is also affected by the number of activities we do. If we have a lot to do, time seems to be flowing faster. If we have little to do, time, on the other hand, seems to be creeping. One influential factor is, of course, our state of mind. When we are happy, time flies. In the midst of suffering and trouble, it looks as if the hands of the clock have almost stopped.
Whatever our circumstances, our behavior reinforces the connection between the perception of time and punctuality, or constant delay. If the circumstances in our lives together show how limited and valuable resource time is, then we will certainly strive to be very precise about our schedule. Similarly, unless we think time is precious, we consider it a constraint and try to avoid setting exact appointment times. Some people overestimate time and others focus more on the activity itself, no matter how long it takes.
In this way, the perception of time, whether it is its slowness or speed, affects how we plan events. Many people who are late are not bad designers. They don’t want to offend anyone. They don’t just carefully evaluate the impact of their delay on others. Their interest can easily be attached elsewhere, and they don’t have the same sense of urgency that might strike other people. In such a case, the constant delay indicates a lack of concentration and immaturity.
What does constant delay mean?
However, some of these chronically late people do not fall into this category of innocent distracted people. Their challenge in adapting to the concept of social time suggests other kinds of peculiarities. Chronic procrastination sometimes refers to the underlying narcissistic personality. These people want to create a state of need or vulnerability in another person. They end up using their delay as a tool for exercising power.
There are still other types of latecomers. These people arrive everywhere late because they carry with them a heavy burden of uncertainty wherever they go. For some reason, they are afraid of meeting, and that is why they try to postpone it as far as possible. They do this unconsciously. In fact, they have not decided to do so. These people are not taking the necessary steps to become more accurate, and they do not know why this is the case. Deep down, they fear being rejected or despised.
Some use procrastination as some kind of indication of rebellion. They oppose the situation that has led to this meeting. Being late makes their previous experiences of being rejected clear and visible. At the same time, it signals defiance. Maybe not everything is quite right, and the delay will become a means of making it visible.
What all these delays have in common is ambivalence. In all those situations mentioned above, it is a question of putting two realities at stake. The transparent reality arranges that meeting, and the hidden sabotages that agreement. Behind the chronic lack of precision is always a hidden message that needs to be addressed. To be honest, this way of ignoring others is not about traffic congestion, nor is it just negligence. Adhering to this habit is in many cases a covert and annoying way of conveying a message.
