From the article: Micro-stressors such as running late [...] represent the unavoidable pain that comes with being human.

Is running late really unavoidable? I think there are proven strategies to avoid it. (My wife and one of my sons on the other hand would agree that it is in fact unavoidable)

Edit: added missing word

Not the best example they could have used because the root cause is ambiguous.

I try to be prepared and on-time, but being late some times is unavoidable if there’s a car accident on the freeway that leaves me locked in a traffic, I get a flat tire, my flight is delayed, or any number of other unpredictable things outside of my control happen. I think that’s what the article is trying to talk about.

> Is running late really unavoidable?

Given the full breadth of "unavoidable", yes. As there can always be something completely out of your control that will make you late, despite your best efforts to be prepared.

But, for the majority of the habitually late, it is merely a direct result of their own actions, and so is indeed "avoidable" from that extent.

In practice? Yes it’s unavoidable. Unless you build in enough buffer to account for _every_ possible scenario out of your control, the probability of running late is non-zero.

In your case it may help to read it as: Micro-stressors such as others running late [...] represent the unavoidable pain that comes with being human.

In the long run, it is unavoidable. No matter how prepared you are, there will be something that will cause you to run late. It's just a matter of how frequently this happens.

I think 15% of people have a true mental block on timing