I know what time school starts.

I know what time carpool starts.

I know what time the appointment is.

Knowing the time has never been my problem.

My problem is that I can be unloading the dishwasher, answering an email, finding somebody’s missing shoe and thinking we have plenty of time…

until suddenly we should have left seven minutes ago.

So my phone doesn’t just remind me when things start.

It tells me when to get moving.

For school, that might look like:

6:45 AM — START GETTING READY

7:00 AM — LEAVE IN 10 MINUTES

7:10 AM — LEAVE FOR SCHOOL

For afternoon carpool:

1:30 PM — GET READY FOR CARPOOL

1:50 PM — LEAVE FOR CARPOOL

The event itself isn’t the deadline.

Walking out the door is the deadline.

And I like having a warning alarm before that, too.

That gives me time for all the things that mysteriously happen right before leaving:

Where are my shoes?

I need water.

I have to go potty.

Where’s my backpack?

Can I bring this extremely important rock collection?

Work Backward

For anything you regularly run late to, ask:

1. What time do I need to arrive?
2. How long does the drive take?
3. What time do I need to walk out the door?
4. How long does everybody realistically need to get ready?

Those last two times are the alarms I care about.

My phone isn’t reminding me about the appointment.

It’s reminding me to physically move toward the door.

And apparently that’s what I needed all along.

🐾 MOM HACK RULE

Don’t set your most important alarm for when something starts. Set it for when you need to MOVE.