Airports can be stressful places. Between getting through TSA, having to deal with delays, and the general stress of time limits, airports can be quite anxiety-inducing if you don’t have a foolproof plan of attack.
Of course, something that can reduce your stress levels at the airport is arriving early enough so that you have plenty of time to get through security and get to your gate without much urgency. That being said, “early” is relative and everyone’s definitions of the word will differ depending on their comfort levels.
