How To Use Your Time Wisely as Real Estate Agents Archives

Time Management Strategies For Realtors© 2023

Wade Webb on April 19, 2023

Learn my time management strategies for Realtors© in 2023

In a recent poll of active real estate agents one of the top challenges was time management. Most agents have little to no accountability or training in using their time effectively, so they end up piddling away minutes, hours and then day after day being busy, but doing very little to effectively build their real estate business. This misuse of time is tragic because not only does one typically not achieve their financial and professional goals, but they usually feel stressed as they don’t know how to turn things around and therefore it also affects their level of fulfillment and overall enjoyment of life. In today’s post I list the top time management mistakes of agents and then give effective strategies to gain control of your time and make it work for you and your business. Let’s learn about this today… act and create a fantastic 2023!

Over-scheduling.
Failure to delegate or dump tasks.
Focusing on low dollar activities.
No plan or systems
Don’t time block.
Fail to qualify.
Fail to prioritize.
Fail to present, dialog, question and handle objections properly.
Putting your home number, cell number everywhere and saying you are available 24-7.
Busyness and not business.
Little to no accountability.

How many of the above are you guilty of? Even as the presenter of this post I see several areas I can improve. Now is a great time to point out there is no one who is perfect at time management. We all have room for improvement, so it isn’t about winning or failing it is about taking an honest assessment of where you currently are and taking steps in the right direction… Starting right NOW!

Use the 3D test on everything – Do I “Do” it? Do I “Delegate” it? Do I just “Dump” it?
Time Block – Jim Rohn said finish your week before it begins. Prior to the week starting, block your time slots in advance. Time for you first. Time for family and friends second. Time for high dollar activity next (Lead generation, buyers, sellers, price reductions, negotiating offers). Rest of schedule can be filled in as the week progresses.
Use the 3C Board – Every 90 days. All items that really need to be done post sticky notes on the wall under the “CREATE” column. Then all the items that really need to be done that are under way post sticky notes on the wall under the “CREATING” column. Finally, all the important items that you accomplished post sticky notes on the wall under the “CREATED” column and celebrate your accomplishments.\
Schedule your daily Power Hour. No excuses. Put a stop sign on your office door. Make calls to people that you know, past leads, people in your database, people in your email drips every day and keep in touch and follow up.
Develop checklists and systems for everything in your real estate business. Work smarter and not harder.
Treat every day like you are going on vacation the next day and make daily to do lists. I book a week off every 6 weeks.
Use real time voice messaging and real time auto email responders. “Your call or email is important. I will be returning emails and calls between __ and ___. Or ___ and ____.
Voice record or call your voice mail any time you think of something important to do. Leave it in one place for later to ensure it gets done when the time is right. Take control and don’t react all the time.
Get up an hour earlier every day and see how much more you get done in a week.
Take a scheduled day off every week no matter what. Take time to reload and be fresh and effective.
Every 15 minutes take note of what you are doing. Track and measure the use of your time every day. Hold yourself accountable.
Eat the frog – Brian Tracey said to “Eat the frog” first. The one thing that you know is so important to do and you just keep putting it off. Start the day right and “eat the frog”.
Learn to say “No” – Les Hewitt said, “I want you to know that this has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me and I need to just say No. I hope you can understand?”
Touch each piece of paper or open an email only once. Meaning only sit and read when you have time to review and respond not just on the fly and then again and again.
Always ask yourself “Is what I am doing right now the best use of my time?”
Follow the 3 X 3 X 3 rule from my coach. Each day only 3 projects. Only 3 tasks. Only 3 people to reach out to. You must focus on the little to be given much.
Turn it off. This means the mobile devices, the TV, the computer, and any other distracting device and take some down time to think, reflect and create.
Always plan for the unplanned, meaning leave gaps in your day for the unexpected. Schedule open time daily for those pop up tasks in your day.
Limit your social networking to only 30 minutes at the beginning or the end of your day. Limit your account posts (Facebook) to the most valuable people in your personal and business life. Not everyone.

Remember this isn’t a race, it’s a marathon. Don’t try to implement all 19 management strategies at once or you will defeat the purpose. Take one or two that really resonate with where you currently are and where you want to be and apply them. Once they are a habit in your life then add a couple more into the mix. Be diligent with this process and within 3-6 months you will be amazed at how much you get done in a day and how fulfilled and at peace you feel. Since you are busy spending your “time” each day why not spend it efficiently to better your business and improve your lifestyle?

Strength and courage,
Wade

How To Use Your Time Wisely

Wade Webb on April 10, 2019

Hands down one of the biggest challenges real estate agents have in their personal and professional life is using their time wisely. This week we look at a few strategies to help us manage our time better in 2019…..

Run the day or it will run you – Part of the key to time management is just staying in charge. Here’s what usually happens: We start something and we’re in control, but as the day starts to unfold, we start losing it. It’s like running a business. If you don’t stay on top of things, the business will run you before long. You have to stop every once in a while and say, “Wait! Who’s in charge here?”

“Some will master and some will serve.”

Here’s a good phrase to remember: “Some will master and some will serve.” That’s the nature of life, and you have to make sure you become the master. You have to run the day. You have to stay in charge. What is the key to staying in charge? You must have your written set of goals with you at all times.

Prioritize your goals and decide which are important. Constantly review your goals, then make them a part of a good written game plan. With your game plan in hand, try to separate the majors from the minors, the really important things from the things that you just have to do. And prioritize. A little thought will save you a lot of time. Is this a major day or a minor day?

Adjust your time accordingly. Is this a major conversation or a minor conversation? A lot of people don’t do well in this area, and here’s why: They major in minor things. They spend too much time on things that don’t count and too little time on things that should count.

Don’t mistake movement for achievement – You probably know some people around you who are just plain busy being busy. You’ve got to be busy being productive. Consider this: A man comes home at night and flops down on the couch. He says, “I’ve been going, going, going.” But the real question is, “Doing what?” Some people are going, going, going, but they’re doing figure eights. They’re not making much progress. Don’t mistake movement for achievement. Evaluate the hours in your days, and see if there’s a lot of wasted time that you could manage better.

Concentrate on where you are – You’ve just got to zero in on the job at hand. Don’t start your business day until you get to the business. I used to start my business day in the shower. I’m trying to compose a letter in the shower. I’m not awake yet, and I’m trying to compose a letter. I found out that it doesn’t work that way. Wait to get to the office to start your work. Don’t start your business day at the breakfast table. It’s not good for the family, and it’s not very productive.

So here’s what you’ve got to do. On the way to work, concentrate on your driving. In the shower, concentrate on the shower. At the breakfast table, concentrate on the family. Wherever you are, be there. Don’t be somewhere else. Give whatever you’re doing the gift of attention. Give people the gift of attention. Concentrate on where you are.

Learn to say no – Boy, it’s easy in a society like ours to just say yes too much, to over-obligate yourself. Then it takes all that time to back out of it. Don’t say yes too quickly. It’s better to say, “I don’t know if I can make it, but I’ll give you a call.” It’s nicer to say that than to back out later.

Being too eager to please can be dangerous. You need to appreciate yourself, your time, your limits. One of my colleagues has a good saying: “Don’t let your mouth overload your back.” Being too eager to please can be dangerous. You need to appreciate yourself, your time, your limits. Know when your commitment to someone else will end up taking time away from yourself and your family. Appreciate your special time alone. And appreciate your time with those you love and those who love you.

This is especially important when it comes to charity work. A group of entrepreneurs I know have been very successful in their own business. They get a lot of press. And they’ve been swamped with requests to do pro bono work. They must get a couple offers a month to sit on one charity board or another. Here’s how they handle it: They take all requests, weigh them for time commitments and evaluate them for opportunities. Then they take a collective vote on which two they’ll accept during the next year.

You can’t immediately say yes to offers that sound prestigious. You can’t immediately say yes to social functions, even if they sound like a lot of fun. You’ve got to say maybe and take time to evaluate what’s truly important to you and what will just take time away from your ambitions and your family. Be eager to please yourself and your family. Don’t be so eager to please everybody else. Appreciate your own limits. You don’t have to fill up every second of the day; take time to appreciate what you’ve accomplished. Take time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Appreciate the little details – Your success should be a pleasure. Appreciating what you’ve acquired and what you’ve done and who you’ve become is important. It’s an important component in fueling your future achievements. Just knowing that you finished all you started out to do that day… that’s encouraging!

It’s these little daily gains that continue to fuel your achievement. Let’s say you’re figuring out tomorrow’s game plan tonight, and tomorrow looks pretty light. So all you write down for tomorrow is “cleanup day.” Clean up all the little notes on your desk. Write all the thank-you notes you haven’t gotten around to writing all week. Take care of a few phone calls that keep getting shuffled from one day to the next. It’s just minor stuff.

Nonetheless, it’s the little stuff that keeps weighing you down until you get it done. So you spend your day in cleanup mode. You file the notes, write the thank-you cards, make the phone calls. It’s not a major day. But at the end of the day, you feel you’ve accomplished so much.

Why?

Because you’ve taken care of so many little details. It’s the little details that can make a major difference. You feel like you’ve really achieved something during a day that started out to be so minor. Little achievements are just as important as big achievements.

Success is the constant process of working toward your goals, little achievement by little achievement. Little achievements produce big results. Anything is possible in those 24 hours we’re given each day.

Strength and courage,
Wade