I've been working in retail sales for over one and a half years. I do well with sales, but I have one problem. I can't manage to focus well enough to get to work on time. I am usually at least one minute late. This totally embarrasses me and I know it could get me fired if they wanted to do so. They are really buckling down on this. I don't want to lose my job because I need the benefits.

I can't seem to get myself organized to get there on time. I feel like such a moron because I can do everything else, including making my commissions, etc... But I know I'm expensive for the company due to my meds.

Help me to come up with ideas to get myself going. I don't want to go on ssdi before I need to.

Do I level with my manager and tell him about the MS and risk being blacklisted in the company because of it? And I know they aren't supposed to do that, but we all know how that is. Once the MS cat is out of the bag there is no going back.

Please help me to sort this out dear friends. This is starting to worry me.

I like to set all, including in the car, clocks at least 5 minutes ahead.

back before I had MS, but had a strange habit of showing up late because I couldnt manage to concentrate well enough to get to work on time for some weird reason. (probably the MS screwing around with me before I knew it was screwing around with me) I used to get up several hours before I had to be at work, I'd get dressed and go out for breakfast every morning.

Then I'd somehow manage to get to work an hour early to sit in the breakroom and crochet. (I worked at a telemarketing company, they let us do stuff like that, even on the clock) It worked out great for me, because I really wanted that hour to sit and crochet. I got a lot of projects done in the four years that I worked at that job. I really needed that hour. If I didnt get at least an hour in of crocheting (and chatting with some friends) I was a bit stressed out the whole day. Not sure why that was.

The crochet got me to where I could relax enough to not be stressed out about working. I kind of miss that job, but only because I was allowed to crochet while doing it. (I keep having weird nightmares that I'm working there again, and my call times are getting screwed up because I cant find a working phone in time and it was counted against you for every minute you werent on the phone)

The thing is, I need the extra hours for sleep. With retail, it is odd hours, close one day, open ten hours later. I know what I should do, I just need to get myself into the habit of doing the right thing. I guess I need to get motivated.

The chance of being fired and losing benefits is a work motivator. I taught at risk students and accountability was a big deal.

Methinks there is more to this than meets the eye. Just an observation, but thinking of the people I know who are "always" late, not just "often" late, there is usually something underlying, more than just oversleeping or not being organized.

There are people who for YEARS are five minutes late for church, give or take, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. I used to think they slept until the last moment, but no, they are up in plenty of time (on Facebook). I used to think it was last minute kid stuff, but no, the kids are grown up.

With this specific family, I think their being late is unconsciously deliberate...is there such a thing? It may be a control issue, it may be an unconscious "Look at us, we're just so busy and important that we can't POSSIBLY be here on time." It may be "I don't really want to be here, so I'm proscrastinating until the last minute." Who knows?

Now I'm not suggesting for a minute that you fall into any of those categories. I'm just saying that since it's on ongoing problem, it seems unlikely that you're just disorganized. If so, all you would have to do is start ten minutes earlier.

Do you have a counselor-type friend who could help you troubleshoot this problem until you get to the heart of the issue? Maybe it isn't what you think.

What is making you late in the morning? What are your "rituals" for getting ready to leave the house?

I was thinking you can arrange your world to allow you to get up and be almost ready to get out the door.

Put your alarm on the other side of the room to force yourself to get out of bed in order to turn it off. Select your clothes in the evening and have them ready to wear. Same with make-up, breakfast.

All the morning tasks ready at night. Figure out how long it takes you to do the morning stuff and set the alarm for fifteen minutes more than you plan.

I think, deep down, you want to be fired..

While the ADA does require the employer to make reasonable accomodations, I seriously doubt that allowing one to arrive late to work on a regular basis would be viewed as reasonable.

I don't think I could do the irregular shifts that you work. I think that is part of the problem. However, since that is the nature of your job and you want to keep your job, you have to work around it.

I agree with making a list of everything you need to do to get ready. Time everything one day and put the time allowed down next to each item on the list. Then, you have a realistic idea of how much time you need. Then, add some padding to that and start getting ready at the appropriate time to be early (15 minutes or so). Finally, use a timer for each task on the list to keep from getting distracted.

I actually used to do this with my ADHD son to keep him focused on getting ready for the bus and also to get homework done.