I was in New York City recently, doing some media work with Beazer Homes. I flew out of Atlanta on a
Tuesday, which is one of the busiest travel days of the week, making security lines ridiculously long and tempers sometimes short. No doubt you've traveled and left "right on time" but then something unexpected happened and from the minute you got to the airport, you were so rushed that you got stressed out and snappish. I tellya, that's a heck of a way to start off a day, let alone a trip. But I didn't have any of that because...
I left my house in plenty of time. I didn't stress in the security lines because I knew I had plenty of time. I chatted it up with the friendly TSA guys, and I got a bit of exercise, because I had time to WALK to my concourse rather than take the airport train. Once I got to my concourse, since I was super-early I did a little fantasy window shopping at Erwin Pearl (they have such pretty stuff), I tried out the new hand lotion scents at Bath and Body Works, bought a new little purse, grabbed a snack and a drink, and even accommodated a gate change with NO rush or stress whatsoever. It was a genuinely pleasant experience, simply because I left my house early. This extra time in the airport was like a little micro-vacation and it put me in a great mood for my trip, even though my trip wasn't a vacation.
So the moral of this story is that good time management isn't just for keeping your life on time. It's also to keep you happy. When you're not rushing, you have time and energy to engage with the people around you, to say hello, to chat a second, to window shop, or just to relax and know you're prepared. You can send yourself off on a trip with a fantastic attitude and in a happy mood. And if you're one of those many folks that cut air travel super close, often scurrying through the concourse with bags in tow, screeching into your gate in the nick of time, try leaving yourself an extra 40 minutes next time and see how you like it. I'm betting it will make all the difference.
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