When I was 18 and just graduated from high school, I was hired for my first full-time job by a local landscape company; where I ended up spending the next four summers.
This job was humbling, to say the least. I did everything you can do when it comes to landscaping: moving rocks, raking dirt, digging holes, planting trees, fixing sprinklers, laying sod, you name it. This summer job taught me so many things. Work ethic, responsibility, accountability, and teamwork, to name a few. One of the most important things that I took away from this job was taught to me by my boss, Mike.
Mike lived by the saying, “If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late,” and my favorite part, “If you’re late, you’re fired.”
He had one distinct rule that we had to follow if we wanted to keep working for him: the Fifteen-Minute Rule.
It was a very simple rule. Show up fifteen minutes early to wherever you are supposed to be.
We started work at 7am every day. If you showed up at 6:46am, you better show up with coffee and breakfast. If you showed up at 7am, you were sent home for the day with no pay. 6:45am or earlier and you were in the clear. If he called us in the middle of the day and told us to meet him somewhere at 2pm, you better be there by 1:45pm.
At first, I couldn’t believe it. Why in the world would I need to be there FIFTEEN minutes early?! That seemed so excessive to me.
On my first day of work I showed up five minutes before the shift started and I walked in like I deserved a pat on the back for being ‘early’. Everyone glared at me like I had just committed an unforgivable sin. They later explained the fifteen-minute rule to me.
As time went on and I got used to showing up to work fifteen minutes early, I subconsciously started doing it outside of work too. If I had a doctor's appointment at 11am, I’d plan to leave the house so I arrived at 10:45am. If I was getting lunch with a friend at 1pm, I’d be sitting at the restaurant no later than 12:45pm.
I even started to get kind of upset if someone showed up at the actual time we agreed to meet. How dare they be late when I’ve been sitting here for fifteen minutes! I’ve since moved on from that as I’ve come to realize most people are just late to everything.
I don’t want to be that person who makes people sit and wonder if I’m gonna show up. That’s why I stick to the fifteen-minute rule to this day.
There are so many additional benefits to the Fifteen-Minute Rule. If you have a job interview and show up fifteen-minutes early, what does that say to your interviewer? It says you’re eager, responsible, and have your head on straight.
Another benefit of the Fifteen-Minute Rule is that it gives you a buffer window in case something happens before you arrive. You get stuck waiting at train tracks. You hit rush-hour traffic. You put too much hot sauce on your breakfast and have to stop by a gas station. These things happen, but if you’re prepared and practice the Fifteen-Minute Rule, then you can still show up on-time when things don’t go as planned.
What's the worst that could happen by showing up early? Stop being late to everything. Stop making people sit around and wait. Show your eagerness and start showing up fifteen minutes early.
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