Turning up early

Turning up early, turning up on time or turning up late comprise one of the defining approaches to leading your life. It's a hard choice to make. Turn up early and you could be waiting around ainlessly while everyone else turns up late. Turn up late and you could miss important business - or avoid being bored by aimless chatter. They say that decisions are made by those who turn up - but what if no-one turns up?

They say that decisions are made by those who turn up. What about those who turn up early ­– or even extra early? Do they get to make the decisions before everyone else – maybe just the important decisions? It could save a lot of time, a bit like holding all meetings with everyone standing up, to keep them short and to the point – another one of my ideas that was never taken up.

Poster on a rubbish bin in Auckland in the lead up to the 2014 New Zealand general election. 

Those who turn up early certainly get to eat before everyone else. Ever since I started booking restaurants at 6 pm, I find I can always get a table. When I used to work in Melbourne and flew to Sydney for work on a regular basis, I used to turn up at the airport so early that they’d put me on the previous flight.