Some folks are late because they consistently bite off more than they can chew, and leave themselves no earthly way to complete all their tasks in the amount of time they’ve allotted for them. Others are always late because they’re easily distracted and lose track of time; there is wisdom in stopping to smell the flowers, but not if you’re on your way to your wedding and everyone’s waiting. The most curious cause for a good many people to be habitually late is probably Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, also known as OCD.

OCD has a wide variety of manifestations and not everyone who has it is chronically tardy, but those who tarry do so not because they’re distracted but because they won’t allow themselves to be distracted. Obsessive-compulsive people often find it difficult to let something go. They tend to be perfectionists, and since nobody is perfect, nothing ever feels finished to them. They have to fidget, noodle, edit, tweak, even if there’s nothing left to tweak. A dish isn’t washed unless it’s been scrubbed and rescrubbed, with a bubble-bath’s worth of suds, even if all it had on it was a sandwich crumb. In conversation, a question has to be completed, down to the last mental punctuation mark, even if the other participant has anticipated the gist and has long since correctly answered. There are no short cuts in OCD. Everything from a trip to the bathroom to a “brief” conversation takes longer than expected (or needed).

Not unaware that there is a problem, although often unaware of its exact nature, obsessive-compulsive people may map out how much time they think they need to do something or get somewhere. They will base this on unrealistic perceptions, and end up arriving at the supermarket ten minutes before it closes, with 20 minutes’ worth of shopping to do, which then takes an hour because every item involves a heavy decision (which chicken weighs more, which can looks least dented, which pizza has more cheese). Does the now-exhausted subject have somewhere else to be after shopping? Count on his/her being late.

Not everyone who is always late has OCD, but it is a wider-spread problem than you may suspect. If you know someone whose punctuality is nonexistent, you may want to observe that someone rather closely for other signs of OCD - for example, odd phobias or compulsively repetitive behaviors and routines. If that person is you, ask yourself (and your doctor) if OCD could be slowing you down.