PUNCTUALITY

I have read about the lives of great people and I often notice that punctuality is an essential factor to be successful in life. I never could have done it without the habits of being punctual, in order and diligence. Without determination, there is no success. For example, we can make “Practice! Practice! Practice! to be punctual” as our daily chant. Say it out loud all the time, it will be locked in your brain and your body system will automatically act it out.

Punctuality is the characteristic of being able to complete a required task or fulfill an obligation before or at a previously designated time. “Punctual” is often used synonymously with “on time”. It is also acceptable that punctual can, when talking about grammar, mean “to be accurate”. According to each culture, there is often an understanding about what is considered as an acceptable degree of punctuality.

Usually, a small amount of lateness is still acceptable, depending on certain situations. However, it is not in the case for frontliners like doctors, military officers, fire brigades and others. The frontliners are expected to be punctual in their jobs. It can be said that societies have higher expectation on them. This is because if they are not punctual, people’s lives will be at stake. Some societies all over the world have very strict expectations. For example, the Japanese society. The Japanese are considered as a successful society because they practice punctuality in their daily norms, and it has become their culture. They are well-disciplined and it is nurtured in their upbringing.

Being punctual is the act of completing a task given within a specific duration of time. When a person finishes a task within the expected timeline, he is considered as respecting the value of time and respecting other people as well. In fact, he will be respected by others for his punctuality.

In the present days, punctuality depicts a person’s character, self-awareness, discipline, integrity, respect and his upbringing. There is no doubt that punctuality is important to keep oneself disciplined. Not only for an organization, punctuality is actually applicable to every human being regardless where you are coming from or which category of people, nature of working, social-economy, education, religion or political background that you belong to.

In any working environment, punctuality is generally an observation factor for an employer to address his employee’s competency. Being punctual helps employees to establish their reputation in the organization. Punctuality is meant to address that the person is reliable, trustworthy and professional.

In any industries, including healthcare, punctuality and good time management are demanded by employers. Punctuality is an important feature at all workplaces. However, nursing and healthcare bear higher expectation. Shift changes and rotations must be carried out like clockwork to ensure that there are no gaps in patient care. Without punctuality, patients’ needs will not be fulfilled, and doctors will not be able to execute their responsibilities in a timely and effective manner.

To be considered as being punctual, a person must be on time or earlier than the expected time, no matter what circumstances that he may be in. For instance, politicians need to be punctual because as leaders, they must lead by examples. As quoted by our prophet Muhammad saw in a hadith about being a great leader, “The Prophet ﷺ said “Verily Allah has prescribed ihsan (perfection) in all things.” (Muslim). The hadith explains that being a part of having “ihsan” is being punctual. Discipline is something which you should not only have but should also appear to have. For example, in an organization, when you arrive late, you look undisciplined. You may not be disciplined in person, but you have to appear like a disciplined worker at the office.

In a nutshell, everybody like employers, employees, politicians or any individual must be self-disciplined and punctual. Punctuality describes each and every one’s characters. Punctuality plays a major role in everyone’s life. If we are not punctual, we will not be successful. As a matter of fact, this competitive world demands punctuality so that all of us can be successful in life.

We cannot stop time or turn it back around. Every second is precious. That is why it is important to always be punctual at all times, so that you will never miss out on any opportunities. Moreover, when you are punctual, you will be happier. Once it is passed, there is no turning back. It is the only reason why punctuality is extremely important.

Norhelmi Mohd Zain
Chief Nursing Officer

KPJ Batu Pahat Specialist Hospital