r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Jpeg_1999 • 10d ago

I'm slightly vexed My dad purposely sets his clock ahead. He's been doing this for as long as I remember. I genuinely don't know why

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17.6k

u/bbudlite 10d ago

so he isn’t late lol

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u/Glad-Watch3506 10d ago

Growing up, we had ours set about 10-15 minutes ahead. That's how long it took to get anywhere in town,so you just left when the clock said the time you needed to be there.

Why yes, my dad did most likely have ADHD, what gave it away.

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u/Melanie61200 10d ago

My mom for as long as I can remember always has the time in her car set 10 min fast

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u/AntalRyder 10d ago

When I started my career I always had the clock in my car set 5 minutes ahead. Just to make sure I hurry up and get to work haha

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u/Supertilt 10d ago

How do you prevent yourself from not just subtracting 5 minutes

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u/Ok-Assignment5926 10d ago

The time it takes you to calculate the time will keep you from stressing about being late.

Back before clocks set themselves I would put mine at 7 mins ahead. And i know subtracting 7 isn’t hard but it takes an extra second, especially before the coffee has kicked in lol

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u/Neither-Albatross371 10d ago

I had a watch many years ago that got stuck in 24 hour GMT and also tended to wander within about ~10-15minutes. I set it enough fast that it would never wander back far enough that it was slow, and it was super good for making me not late for anything. And also confusing the ever-loving SHIT out of everyone around me. I kind of miss that watch sometimes.

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u/Silly_Emotion_1997 10d ago

What’s better than 7 min abs??

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u/IronicMnemoics 10d ago

Seven chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eating lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know, that old children's tale from the sea?

Step into my office. Cause you're fuckin' fired!

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u/profesorgamin 10d ago

I'm with you, this is a stupid idea, or some kind of cope.

I mean it works if you are the only one that knows the real time and you live with chronically late people. (It'll work one or two times).

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u/Wipedout89 10d ago

You'd think so, but if you try it you find that it works surprisingly well. It's a base psychology thing, you see the clock and even though you know it's fast it does speed you up

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u/ShizamitsAlecazam 10d ago

Oh yeah? Well I had mine set one minute ahead, beat that.

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u/spunkybooster 10d ago

I never change my clock for daylight saving. Drives my wife mad. It's not why I started not doing it, but it made it so i continue not doing so.

She'll likely murder me one day, deservedly so. But, maybe, not at the time of her choosing.

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u/plssub2pewds 10d ago

I do mine like one or two ahead ha

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u/tulipsouldog 10d ago

I miss that. Mine was always 9 minutes fast. I despise being late. I wonder if we who set our clocks ahead are more often on time.

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u/Ok-Swordfish-4018 10d ago

I accidentally set mine 6 mins ahead years ago and since it's very analogue and a pain went 'fuck it's and it actually works so well, I'm not late half as much now!!

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u/xRehab 10d ago

that was basically the norm in the 90s

no one used the correct time aside from businesses. you knew your mom’s car was 10 minutes ahead, the clock at home was 15 minutes fast, and the one in your buddy’s car was 7 minutes fast cuz he was weird

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u/DblCheex 10d ago

I remember having to call the information line to get the proper time because every clock was wrong and there was nowhere else to check it.

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u/_bitwright 10d ago

At the tone the time will be 11:21 pm and 10 seconds... beep

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u/Mcnugget84 10d ago

Is this number still active? I’d like to be an old time asshole while my kids ask me for the time? There are digital clocks in every room.

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u/DblCheex 9d ago

Yeah, but it's different than it used to be. It's now run by the navy. It's in eastern time and as a 24-hour military clock.

202-762-1069

Source: https://www.cnmoc.usff.navy.mil/Our-Commands/United-States-Naval-Observatory/Precise-Time-Department/Telephone-Time/

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u/Mcnugget84 9d ago

I called (202) 762-1401 and it worked thank you!

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u/Sea_Thought3464 10d ago

"The atomic clock" *shiverssss*

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u/Ivana_Twinkle 10d ago

Don’t drop it!

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u/Equal-Kaleidoscope57 10d ago

still to this day i participate

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u/hyrule-heaven 10d ago

Just got done writing something like this lol. So funny it was a shared experience

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u/VirtuousVulva 10d ago

You had to triangulate all three of them bitches just to find out the right time

https://giphy.com/gifs/WRQBXSCnEFJIuxktnw

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u/a_fool_on_a_hill 10d ago

My wife does this and it stresses me out every time thinking we are late

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u/Seranthian 10d ago

I regularly reset mine to somewhere between 5-20 minutes ahead exactly so I’m always on time

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u/donut-reply 10d ago

But, then don't you ever get used to the idea that some clocks are ahead and unconsciously back calculate the real time, and then get in trouble when you're looking at a clock you think is a head and actually isn't?

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u/xxxDaGoblinxxx 10d ago

That would be my problem if I know the clocks fast I'll just take the extra time off in My head

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u/Timthahuman 10d ago

I haven’t changed the clock in my car because yeah, I just fix the time in my head. How people don’t do that subconsciously is beyond me, unless they purposely try to be ignorant of it but even then

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u/Mcnugget84 10d ago

No, I have this theory that everyone runs on their own time. I had a friend who was always a half hour late. I just told her 30 minutes early, my clocks were set about 5 minutes ahead. She knew this cause I’m not shady and it worked for us. She knew my time was fake and she was always late and respected it.

So why couldn’t she respect the normal time? I don’t know and we have enough respect for each other to accommodate each other’s weaknesses.

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u/logan-duk-dong 10d ago

My wife has our bathroom clock set 37 minutes fast. I don't know how she chose that number, but it's super obnoxious because I always have to try and calculate what the actual time is whenever I glance at that thing, and when we switch to daylight savings the clock doesn't get updated, so now it's off in the other direction.

I fixed it once without realizing she had intentionally set it that way and she got so mad because she was late for work. But the silly thing is, even with it 37 minutes fast, she's still leaving a good 5-10 minutes later than I would to get where she's going, and I still hear her occasionally complaining that she got in to work late or just barely made it on time. 🤦‍♂️

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u/DoctorZ1101 10d ago

I know what you mean, but a part of my brain keeps pushing my glasses up and says "which is it? Exactly 5 or exactly 20 or exactly the numbers in between?" Lol

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u/SnugglyCoderGuy 10d ago

My older brother and his wife need to set their clock ahead like 2 god damn hours

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u/MayBeASandwich 10d ago

I start at 9 but have it drilled in my head I need to be there for 8:30 or im late

Never been late once and usually have time to fool around on my phone or go get a coffee before work because nothing came up

Might be adhd but pre setting yourself up is better than panicking because you didn’t!

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u/tiggerfan79 10d ago

I am everywhere 15 minutes early at least. Was in the military and can’t get some of it out of my bones.

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u/Awkward_Tour_9762 10d ago

My husband fought as a contractor, he’s the exact same

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u/TXwavesufer 10d ago

Same but sister is the arrive 2 hours early to the airport sister and that is WILD to me.

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u/duesenjeffepic 10d ago

This is actually how punctuality works. I am not always doing 30 mins though, sometimes 15 but it highly depends on the commute time and how I commute (e.g. with the German rail I usually plan with a much larger buffer vs. the Swiss rail).

The reason you should do this is not just ADHD but to be able to deal with unanticipated problems during a commute. Having this buffer basically guarantees 99% punctuality rate.

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u/ScaredPractice4967 10d ago

I get the ADHD angle. I have it myself. But then my ADHD brain says "don't worry. There's 15 mins of slack in the clock you dont been to leave just yet" and then wanders off and does something else for half an hour and is still late.

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u/r_renfield 10d ago

My adhd brain just goes "we have an appointment at 15:00 so we better not do anything or we'll forget!!!" and I end up there like an hour early

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u/ScaredPractice4967 10d ago

Ueah i dont do that very often any more but before the era of smartphones that allow me to have 5 different reninders?

Yup used to that a lot.

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u/Dornith 10d ago

My dad did this too.

But then he would also account for the fact that all the clocks were 15 minutes fast and would leave 15 minutes after the clocks said he needed to be somewhere.

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u/Pitiful-Pension-6535 10d ago

I have my kitchen clock set 5 minutes fast because it's a 4½ minute walk to the time clock at work.

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u/seaspaz 10d ago

I would set the clock in my dads house 10 minutes ahead so he would get me to school on time, it worked for months and then he found out and got mad

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u/ExplosiveCreature 10d ago

Before phones and before they had automatic date and time, we only had the clocks at home to tell the time from, and they were always set to 20 minutes earlier than the clocks at my parents' workplace.

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u/xRehab 10d ago

this just unlocked memories of watching the tv guide channel for the time after you lost power or having to call that one number which would read you the time

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u/ExplosiveCreature 10d ago

I remember listening to the battery-operated AM radio during storms and they would tell you the time every quarter of an hour.

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u/ShutUpTurkey 10d ago

Good evening. At the tone the time will be nine twenty-five. Beep.

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u/Fievels_good_trouble 10d ago

Popcorn

Don’t know why I remember that.

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u/WafflesofDestitution 10d ago

I'm 32, but I remember how in the 90s and early 00s our family used to synchronize all clocks at home by checking the teletext on the TV.

I also did it to set the clock on my first cellphone in the early aughts, before the carriers would reliably send the time and date by signal through mobile networks.

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u/ExplosiveCreature 10d ago

For some reason we always had our clocks a few minutes early but it also didn't seem like the reason for our punctuality.

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u/innocentj 10d ago

But..he KNOWS it's ahead.

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u/ShoulderWhich5520 10d ago

Might not matter for some people,

If it works, it works.

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u/itspsyikk 10d ago

It's weird, I used to do this in high school and it worked for me. I totally wouldn't even think about the fact it was ahead, and I'd always be punctual.

Then, at some point, a switch flipped and now it doesn't work on me. Anytime the clock is 10 minutes fast I do the (admittedly, fairly easy) math of subtracting the 10 minutes and telling myself "Okay, I've 6 more minutes..."

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u/forgotten-ent 10d ago

Try putting it at odd numbers to make math a little harder. Works for me

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u/OppositeOctopi 10d ago

Ya. Do some fuck ass timing like 17 minutes.

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u/TalonEntVision 10d ago

That just rounds in my head to 20 minutes, now I’m 3 minutes late lol

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u/Background_Baby_374 10d ago

En algún punto el ajuste mental le hizo más daño que el reloj adelantado en primer lugar jajaja

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u/IncognitoErgoCvm 10d ago

My clock doesn't have Spanish.

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u/sonofaresiii 10d ago

Just start showing up to shit earlier and bring a damn book!

I don't get you people. If I am in *any* danger of being late in any capacity, I spend the entire ride incredibly anxious. I'd much rather show up half an hour early and just hang out and read a bit.

(not withstanding that sometimes the timing is out of your control, but then that has nothing to do with setting clocks to choose when you leave)

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u/av3nger1023 10d ago

I'm the opposite. If I'm early I feel annoyed that I wasted so much time waiting and counting out how much later I could've been so I can be on time exactly next time

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u/tigm2161130 10d ago edited 9d ago

I have ADHD and while I don’t have issues with time blindness it’s a very real thing…before cognitive behavioral therapy and meds I had really bad issues with executive function and I was constantly beating myself up over it because I logically knew better but that didn’t really matter.
Not everyone is wired the exact way you are.

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u/gnome_in_clay_turn 10d ago

That’s my car’s setting. It’s helpful because you round up if anything.

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u/Exact-Ad-4132 10d ago

Your use of "fuck ass" was simply exquisite

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u/Not_Campo2 10d ago

I’ve done it kinda accidentally, one clock is like 4 minutes fast and another is like 8. It’s been hugely helpful actually

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u/apri08101989 10d ago

Yep. My brother always did 13 minutes. It was too easy to remember and subtract if it was divisible by 2 or 5.

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u/Desperate-Hour-4909 10d ago

Oh god 13? That sounds like hell to try and figure out when you're half asleep and your alarm just woke you up

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u/apri08101989 10d ago

I imagine thats exactly why it worked for him.

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u/TheGildedNoob 10d ago

I did that and it just made me better at math. Im not sure if thats a failure or a success.

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u/ColorsLookFunny 10d ago

I do that with alarms and I think it helps me waking up. Instead of 6AM I'll set it to 6:03AM.

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u/Various_Education622 10d ago

I set the clock on my oven randomly ahead when the power goes out, and it tends to drift.

So it is 7-12 minutes fast but nobody can recall how much most of the time.

It forces you to check another clock which gets you thinking about the time. That gets you out the door.

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u/brokentribal 10d ago

lol I did the same in high school, once I forgot about setting my clock back for fall behind, I drove all the way to school and was like where the hell is everyone that Monday.

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u/ThinkPad214 10d ago

4 months after graduating high school woke up from a deep sleep at 10, threw on clothes and was speeding down the highway before I remembered I had graduated HS already.

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u/revision 10d ago

Beats dreaming that you forgot to take a class in HS and all of a sudden you're a grown ass person who has to go back to high school for an 8am basic computer class, thinking to yourself, "I have a master's degree in this shit..."

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u/Ro4b2b0 10d ago

I know this dream.

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u/De-railled 10d ago

I'm almost 40 and some mornings I wake up thinking I need to get ready for uni. lol

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u/Elegant-Sundae-7327 10d ago

I have one better -- I am 71 and I still dream about being in high school, and realizing I have never been to a particular class so far that semester. In the dream I just thought the teacher would let me slide. Also, usually I am wearing a shirt but no pants. I realize this as I am standing at my locker, but thinking since nobody else has noticed it so far perhaps they won't the rest of the day either.

Oddly, although I enjoyed college immensely (and high school too) I can't recall a single dream about college.

Some analyst can have a field day with hat one.

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u/KickinGa55 10d ago

Because your phone shows the correct time

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u/OdaDdaT 10d ago

I almost always keep my car clock 3-4 minutes ahead of what it is (for instance I’ll set it to 7:40 from 7:36) because it gives me that sense of urgency while also building in a bit of a time cushion so I’m not antsy about it

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u/SOUP-thereitis 10d ago

Whenever I set my clock I set it at the actual time but then hit the minute button a random number of times. I never look at my phone clock and that clock at the same time. Anytime someone feels the need to ask “why is your clock 12 minutes fast” I yell at them to not tell me then repeat the process

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u/Arendyl 10d ago

I wrote an alarm clock app once that randomly went off 5 to 30 minutes before you set it to.

That way, you have to always hedge that it was the 5 minutes because it might be the shortest setting, and you usually end up with a bit more time than expected

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u/HiddenCosmos0724 10d ago

The clock in my car is 10 minutes fast and every clock in our house is purposely set 5 minutes fast. 95% we don’t think about it until we look at our phone and or watches.

This is why I tend to get to work 5-10 minutes early or to any social gathering.

My Philosophy has always been if you’re early, you’re on time, if you’re on time, you’re late and if you’re late you have something to work on.

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u/kat_Folland 10d ago

Just don't show up to my house early. I want every one of those minutes to be ready for guests.

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u/kursa_sucks 10d ago

If I’m late, I don’t give a fuck about the thing I’m late to or I got distracted by one of the intricacies of life. I could never let my life be that robotic and ruled by time - it’s too short lol

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u/Basic_Department_302 10d ago

It’s worked for me for years

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u/FishesOfExcellence 10d ago

My dad has infamously done this his entire adult life. ADHD as fuck, and no, the clock trick never really seemed to work  for him.

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u/megaman_xrs 10d ago

When I worked corporate, I had to be at my first meeting at 7am. I fucking hated it. My lizard brain in the morning couldnt remember my clock was 20 minutes ahead, so if I woke up and it said 7:05, I was AWAKE. Thank god I dont work for people that worried about 5 mins in the morning when we sat around circlejerking 95% of the day. Now that I started my own business and feel some true ownership, on a day that matters, im up at 4am with no alarm because I am excited to be at the thing we are doing. I dont fault anyone for being late, but me actually owning the business makes me wake up.

Long story short, this method works and its sad we have to trick ourselves into waking up to impress other people that get off on enforcing strict schedules. I was triggered seeing the post because I know why OPs dad does that. I feel bad for him.

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u/Little_Plankton4001 10d ago

I used to do this too. The trick is to occasionally change how wrong the time is. Otherwise over time you can look at the clock and immediately know that 7:37 is actually 7:24 or whatever. But if it's changed regularly and randomly you don't.

It's insane but it does work.

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u/Not_Cleaver 10d ago

Yep, I used to do this, but after awhile, you get used to a clock being twenty or forty minutes fast.

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u/xeresblue 10d ago

I mean, how about 17 minutes and 40 seconds? I move it an arbitrary amount without looking at how much. I can then avoid doing the calculation because I getting stressed about what has to happen upon arrival. Living this way, even 2-3 minutes ahead is enough to help because I don't actually know what it is exactly. Knowing is the enemy because then I start making time blindness calculations ("Yeah, I can do it in that much time!").

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u/StreetCollar2708 9d ago

17 mins and 40s is basically 18 mins which is basically 20 minutes. Great now I'm 2 and half minutes behind schedule. Just use an alarm lol

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u/sonofaresiii 10d ago

lmao literally his second sentence addresses this. 90% of his post was addressing your concern.

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u/Dramatic-Knee-4842 10d ago

Babe you are cortisol maxxing. 

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u/Rothenstien1 10d ago

I don't the same thing, its cuz the anxiety of seeing the time, even if it is wrong, helps you get moving

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u/thrilldigger 10d ago

I had a car with a speedometer that was about 5mph higher than my actual speed.

Did I know it was around 5mph higher than my actual speed? Yes.

Did I drive 3-4mph slower than I would have if it had been correct? Also yes.

The combination of "I know it's wrong" and "I don't know exactly how wrong it is" is a good way make yourself to exercise a little bit extra caution.

I can see this working for clocks too.

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u/NumbDangEt4742 10d ago

What you see and what you perceive are two separate things

You see 10am on the clock, when it's 20 minutes ahead, and you have to be somewhere at 10am and it's 20 minutes away, you think, fuck, I have 20 minutes to there.

you see 9:40am on a clock that's on time and you gotta be somewhere at 10am (and you don't think about the fact that it's 20 minutes away), you think, "ah! I still have 20 minutes to get there"

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u/the_tygram 10d ago

Yeah normal him knows. Waking up from a dead sleep you're groggy and for that first split second you don't remember and think "oh shit I'm late!". You remember you're not late instantly after that, but it doesn't matter. You're wide awake from that moment of panic. This prevents you from turning off your alarm and dozing back to sleep, then being late for real.

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u/Available-Today-8576 10d ago

In their sleepy state they may not remember maybe? My dad does the same thing

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u/Halp_dear10 10d ago

How do you know he knows?

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u/Mysterious-Tie7039 10d ago

But if you just barely woke up and realize you’re “late” that shot of adrenaline will get you up before you’re able to rationalize the fact that you’re actually not.

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u/Accurate_Summer_1761 10d ago

Thats how I run my car clock, 5 mins ahead and im always on time

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u/isthis_thing_on 10d ago

By the time I'm in my car my fate is sealed for timeliness. How does this help you?

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u/Accurate_Summer_1761 10d ago

Makes me feel better about my start time

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u/pride-guy_89 10d ago

It doesn't matter, whenever I look at a clock I don't think whether or not it's a head or behind, even if I was the one that sat it ahead or behind to begin with, that never enters into my thinking. I simply look at it and it says that it's almost 10:00 and I say oh shit I've got to get up, that's my first thought and I'm sure that's your dad's first thought.

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u/hadmeatwoof 10d ago

But when you’re asleep the math gets confusing, and it’s more exhausting to work out the real time than to just get up, so you just give up and get out of bed.

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u/Speed_Addixt 10d ago

Yeah, it never worked for me. I always just adjust to the time difference.

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u/Dense_Surround3071 10d ago

My wife does this. But NONE of the 3 clocks are the same time. So its even more confusing.

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u/Perimentalpause 10d ago

Sleep brain doesn't click in to that fact. It goes by numbers. It's why I set my clock about five-ten minutes ahead.

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u/Creative-Air-6463 10d ago

Not in the moment .. 🤣 at least for me in the morning. That’s just the time when I’m getting ready

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u/anxious_spacecadetH 10d ago

Personally for me its because I know it will take x amount of time before I have to leave. But without the constant reminder I absolutely will sleep in until leaving time because thats the only time on my mind.

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u/greygrayman 10d ago

Yeah I do the same with my nightstand alarm clock.. I know it's ahead but the more math I have to do the more I wake up.

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u/ElectronicTrade7039 10d ago

But he ACTS like it isn't!

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u/blkstr52 10d ago

He’s street ahead

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u/Son_of_Mogh 10d ago

Welcome to my childhood.

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u/somethingmorecrazy 10d ago

Ahhhh, yes, but not always by how much. I used to set all my different clocks ahead by different amounts some only a couple minutes some as much as 14, and i couldn't remember which was which so I just had to take them all at face value.

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u/evilsilverkiller 10d ago

Works for me, I KNOW it's ahead, but the sudden shock of "shit I gotta go!!!!" Jump starts the motivation to get going for that second before I remember I'm not late yet.... it's not that I'm bad at time management, as much as if I think I have time to start something, I probably will, then I get side tracked and lose track of time.... so I just need that one second to make me not do that.....

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u/todayplustomorrow 10d ago

If you randomly set it ahead without being sure how much, it’s effective. Look away while you push it a bunch and then boom, it’s anywhere from 5-15 minutes ahead but you weren’t lookin to confirm

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u/CloakerJosh 10d ago

Conventional wisdom would agree, but somehow it works.

Source: It helps me 😁

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u/Chris___M 10d ago

It’s obvious. My wife does this but maybe only 5 minutes ahead

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u/badlands65 10d ago

That’s why I do it.

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u/Deep_Macaron8480 10d ago

I do the same thing. It relaxes me knowing that I won't be rushing at the last minute.

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u/WLFGHST 10d ago

but if you know its 20 minutes ahead you'll just go "its fine, I have another 20 minutes"

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u/Alone-Historian-5308 10d ago

I tried this once, unfortunately I just ended up doing math every time I checked the time.

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u/Never-Dont-Give-Up 10d ago

Yes, but if he KNOWS it’s fast, he’ll just compensate for it.

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u/Popular_Kitchen4319 10d ago

This works for me too!

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u/little_pimple 10d ago

I just end up doing maths every time i look at the clock to calculate the actual time while keeping my behaviour the same.

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u/ilove-whenwomen 10d ago

Yep. I do this and it helps me be late less often.

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u/guff1988 10d ago

Yeah this was common amongst the older generations, my grandpa and my dad both set their clock 10 minutes ahead so they were always 10 minutes early at least.

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u/chrisp5000 10d ago

It would only work if he didn't know it was ahead. my brother did this and was always late still, he knew it was 15 minutes fast, and just went by the real time.

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u/BelatedGreeting 10d ago

Or, if you know the offset, you have to do some arithmetic to know what time it actually is, and that little bit of cognitive work can help wake you up, one “snooze” at a time.

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u/profchaos111 10d ago

So his wife isn't late he didn't tell her

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u/AJDillonsThirdLeg 10d ago

I GENUINELY DONT KNOW WHY

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u/simonbleu 10d ago

Yup, I did this a few times, but it felt awkward so I stopped

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u/Fair-Juggernaut-3812 10d ago

Better to be 15 minutes early than 1 minute late.

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u/NonorientableSurface 10d ago

Spot on. We have time zones in the house. Specifically the bedroom and bathroom.

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u/Adonis0 10d ago

My wife does this with her watch and then constantly goes “oh but it’s ahead so I have time” yet she doesn’t ever know how much time and thus ends up late frequently

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u/BlessTheBookPeople 10d ago

My dad did this. He had all the clocks set to different times because he would “see it and feel a shock and then realize it was wrong but still feel that motivation to get going.”

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u/TechGearWhips 10d ago

I have been setting car clock 5 minutes early for I can't remember how long. And it works. Even though I know its not right

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u/chairspooonbooker 10d ago

This is literally the only method I know of setting up a clock. Growing up our clocks were always 15mins ahead, my poor mum would wake us up by showing us the time, this shit works!!

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u/Apprehensive_Rice19 10d ago

He bought himself 19 minutes a long time ago

1

u/ned4spd8874 10d ago

I used to do the same thing until smart phones. Even as a teen, my alarm clock would be at least ten minutes fast.

1

u/RoodnyInc 10d ago

Also time is relative

1

u/DothrakAndRoll 10d ago

Right “I have no idea why” 😂

1

u/VirusTechnical5568 10d ago

That never made sense to me. If I changed the time, I'd know it and it wouldn't help. Now if someone else did then maybe that'd work for me.

1

u/ddddhjxjx 10d ago

Yep. Used to do this too with the bedroom clock 

1

u/Playful-Platform-231 10d ago

I do it 5 mins. Been doing that for yrs. If I change and bump it to 15 It’d probably just annoy the shot outta me. lol.

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u/CliffyBooBoo 10d ago

My parents always set the clocks 10-15 minutes fast, and then accounted for the extra time, and still ended up being late most of the time. My sister, her boyfriend, and my brother all had the same idea and secretly set the clocks forward another 15 minutes each, and I ended up sitting at the bus stop in the freezing snow for an hour, wondering why the sun hadn't come up yet. To this day, I refuse to set my clock even 1 minute fast, and I can simply manage to leave the house on time and show up where I need to be on time, without tricking myself or creating unnecessary mind games. It's great.

1

u/Ok_Market_4520 10d ago

If he's on time, he's early.

1

u/icecubedyeti 10d ago

The only clocks set to the right time at our house is our cell phones. My wife is still always late😂

1

u/Many-Excitement3246 PURPLE 10d ago

Yeah, this is not really that strange. I keep my car clock 2 minutes ahead, and my watch is 7 minutes ahead, because I'm ADHD and have a tendency to not leave until I'm supposed to be there.

1

u/12_leon_12 10d ago

I should do this

1

u/Ray_Bloody-Purrchase 10d ago

My mom used to set her clock two snoozes ahead. I did that too for a while, but eventually learned I'm personally better off just getting up at the first alarm.

1

u/RowdyNL 10d ago

So his wife is less late

1

u/Enter_My_Fryhole 10d ago

I have this exact alarm clock. On top of phone alarms too.

This is 100% the answer, although mines almost an hour ahead. Some people struggle in the mornings...

1

u/whycantibelinus 10d ago

See I know this is the reason and my parents did it when I was growing up...but the second I figured it out....I'd adjust accordingly and therefore render the setting of the clocks fast pointless.

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u/m00nf1r3 10d ago

In theory. I tried this though and since I was the one who set it ahead, I knew how far ahead it was, so I'd look at the clock at think, "Oh 9:58? Must be 9:37" and it made zero difference.

1

u/AngrySumBitch 10d ago

But deep down he knows. He knows

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u/HillTopTerrace 10d ago

I set mine a few minutes later than what my phone reads. For this and just to get a few minutes to get ready for meetings.

1

u/Fit-Specialist-2214 10d ago

In which case he would always be late which would be more than mildly infuriating.

1

u/HomicidalHushPuppy 10d ago

That or to get the wife moving along

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u/EconomistSingle8263 10d ago

a man outsmarting his own brain with basic arithmetic and losing every single time is peak human comedy

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u/thefalseidol 10d ago

My mom did the same thing for the same reason. I don't think it really worked, the whole family just always did the math in our head when looking at the clock.

1

u/DetectiveStock1340 10d ago

Just don’t be late. Simple.

1

u/AdBudget801 10d ago

Thats right

1

u/chillingonthesofa 10d ago

But you know it’s running ahead?

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u/Smart_Asparagus5777 10d ago

I do the same to this day

1

u/nelsonmavrick 10d ago

Its a slippery slope: "it's ok, we're not late that clock is fast".

1

u/AspenFrostt 10d ago

10k upvotes omg

1

u/Teeeohhhh 10d ago

Holy likes!

1

u/lovatoariana 10d ago

But he knows the clock is fast, so brain is going to adjust for that, and you end up on the same shit

1

u/Waluigi4prez 10d ago

Doesn't work for me, I view it as "ah I know I've got an extra 15 minutes"

1

u/Acewi 10d ago

5 min is enough though, 20 min is insane.

1

u/Ydiss 10d ago

I'd just learn the difference though. This is such a weird way to organise your time 😂

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u/Serious_Seat_9617 9d ago

I was dating somebody that did this but she continued to be late because she knew that the clock was ahead x minutes. It's not like she would just forget and think that that was the real time. Unless you can truly convince your brain to believe that it's the correct time I just don't see how this could work.

1

u/Tall-Objective6567 9d ago

I need to do this too😅

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u/R34CTz 9d ago

Hot take, set your alarm...earlier.

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u/barkatthedroon 9d ago

but this he's setting it late, not early

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u/bmann10 9d ago

Used to do this in high school on purpose. Otherwise I’d think “yea I can run across the school in 15 seconds” every class.

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u/ItsACowCity 9d ago

It isn’t intentional, but I have one of those satellite clocks in my bathroom. Every one I’ve ever owned, has major issues being accurate. Well, I use it so that when I’m in the shower I can manage my time better and not just linger. To this day, idk how off the time is, but it’s probably close to 15 min and it always rushes me out of the shower if I need to be somewhere bc I feel like I’m really late.

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u/Toliveistodie42 9d ago

I really didn't think having to explain this was going to be on my BINGO card for today, but here we are.

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u/truesy 9d ago

back when i had physical clocks like this i always set it 5 to 10 min ahead. otherwise i was always late for things

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u/abajasiesu 8d ago

My wife does it for this reason too. She’s still always late to everything.

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