Lateness can be irritating, and generally shouldn’t be tolerated in a company.

But sometimes waiting for people is unavoidable.

You can’t shout at your customer if she’s late. Or your doctor. Or your lawyer.

Instead of getting irritated, you can use the time to:

• Connect disparate ideas floating around your brain.
• Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Meditation makes you calmer and more aware.
• Listen to another conversation. We’re all so focused on our own missions we never stop to pay attention to what other people find important. Use dead-time to dip into the lives of others.