Punching the timeclock is something you will almost never have to do in Real Estate. 99% of the time, you will be an Independent Contractor. One of the benefits of being an Independent Contractor is that you set your own hours. However, this can be a double-edged sword; it is easy to let time management become your enemy when you don’t have scheduled hours overseen by a boss. Not working enough is a risk, but so is working too much. Here is a tip to keep yourself productive.
TIME BLOCK, TIME BLOCK, TIME BLOCK. If I’m not making myself clear, this is the biggest thing you can do to be productive and not just “busy”. Productive means that you are making headway toward your goals. Busy means that you’re actively spending time on things that don’t accomplish your goals. It is easy to be busy, it is more satisfying to be productive. So how do you timeblock.
Start each morning with a daily schedule (you may prepare this the night before). The first thing to put in this schedule are your items that cannot be skipped if you want to succeed. The first such item is Lead Generation. To keep a healthy business, you should be lead generating at least 3 hours per day. If your business is slow, spend more than 3 hours on lead generating. Never less! Studies have shown that the most productive time is in the morning, so schedule your lead generation for the morning.
Schedule family time and personal time as well. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. Schedule time to spend with the family and put work aside.
Honor your time block schedule. Don’t deviate from the schedule. If anything pops up and it is not a call-an-ambulance-911-emergency put it on your to-do list to deal with after you finish your current time block.
If you erase, you must replace. If you decide not to do X when it is time for X, then you must slot it for later in the day. Don’t allow yourself to become complacent and just skip a time block. So if you have a CE class scheduled during your lead generation time, then you put the lead generation time later in your day – DON’T SKIP IT.
Have some accountability. Either hold yourself accountable or have an accountability partner who can hold you accountable. If you stray from your time block, you should have to come face to face with your goals and how you did not advance toward them.
These are some simple guidelines to help you maintain productivity and not busy-ness. If you really want to dive into time blocking, speak to your Broker, your Coach, or find books to fit your needs.