What’s Your Late Style?
What We (Ok, *I*) Learned From the Quiz
A few weeks ago, I launched the Late Style Quiz as a playful way to explore something I write about throughout Sometimes You Should Be Late: we all have different default relationships with time and each has it’s benefits and perils.
The results are in from this very scientific study.
Nearly half of 80-some people who responded were Buffer Builders (48%), people who skillfully build extra time into their lives so they don’t feel quite so rushed.
The second most common style was the Hopeful Optimizer (35%), followed by Relational Attuners (11%). Bringing up the rear were Productive Jugglers at just 4%. I have to admit in this busy world I was shocked by how few jugglers there were. But perhaps there’s a bit of a selection effect: would the hyper-optimizers of the world take time to read a Substack called Slow Mindfulness? 🦥
If you haven’t taken the quiz yet, I’d love for you to try it and share it with a friend. It’s a fun glimpse into some of the ideas behind the book.
Fessing Up
If it’s good for the goose, it’s good for the gander…so I took the quiz too. For all the emphasis my book places on buffer, I am, indeed, a Hopeful Optimizer.
For example, as I write this, I’m heading to a happy hour shortly. I also need to take Walnut for a walk. And I’d really like to finish this Substack before I leave. Or should I go to the dance class instead.
Maybe I can do it all? The Hopeful Optimizer in me certainly thinks so.
The ending screen of the quiz is an invitation for us all. For me (see below), it’s a reminder to appreciate the beautiful impulse underneath my tendency to optimistically think I can do it all. I want to care for my dog. I want to connect with friends. I want to move my body. I want to share this post with this community. Those are all good things.
But it also points to the risk: trying to fit everything in can leave me rushing through each of those things, and not truly enjoying any of them. It can turn Walnut’s walk into a mission instead of an experience. Suddenly I’m tugging her along as she’s trying to alert me to squirrels and the lovely odor of dog urine.
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So here’s what I’m choosing instead: I’m sending this Substack tomorrow. That’s the heart of the book and what I hope this Substack offers: awareness, then choice, rather than judgment.
Not every Hopeful Optimizer needs to become a Buffer Builder. Not every Productive Juggler needs to become a Relational Attuner. The goal isn’t to become a different type of person. The goal is simply to understand your default pattern so you have a little more freedom in how you move through time. It’s moving away from judgement, and towards understanding.
What about you? What’s your Late Style? And how might you use what you learned about it in your life moving forward?
PS: if you interested in what the other Late Styles offer, the ending screens are below
