I always try to work one more task into the time at hand. Perish the thought of arriving somewhere early. I like to scribble one more paragraph, crochet one more row, send one more email. As a result I’m often five minutes late when I could easily have been on time. 

Why is this? Turns out, the condition has a name: I’m a time optimist or tidsoptimist, which means the same thing in Swedish (where it has apparently been identified and named).

I first heard about time optimism from my youngest daughter, herself a time optimist, a skill she no doubt picked up from me. We have gotten many laughs talking about it and not a few knowing nods.

What is the cure for this unfortunate condition? I’m not sure, but it’s definitely not trying to answer five emails, eat breakfast, read the paper, and write a blog post in 30 minutes.