Business Management – Can’t Miss Daily Time Management

How often have you said to yourself, “How can that agent make so much money when they’re not near as talented as I am or work nearly as hard as I do?” This is a question that many agents ask themselves when they meet an agent making lots of money, but doesn’t do a good job running their business. In some cases, these highly successful agents don’t even appear to have the intellect or talent to be top tier in the industry. It’s not how smart you are, how much you know, who you know, or even how much experience you have. All of these attributes can help you become successful. But what’s even more important is the strategy you use to manage your time to get business. What does this mean? Focusing your time on activities that will make you money, or what we call 20%’ers, will put you in the top 20% of income earners in your industry. If you’re focusing your time on the 80%’ers, you’re going to make the same money as 80% of the population.The choice is yours.How can you determine which activities are 20% activities versus 80%’ers?

20% Activities examples include:

1. Calling past clients

2. Mailing to a Farm

3. Talking about real estate at a social gathering

4. Talking about real estate while playing golf

5. Networking with local business professionals

6. Negotiating an agreement

7. Meeting with Buyer Prospects

8. Meeting with Seller Prospects

9. Attending a closing

10. Strategizing your next steps with clients

11. Attending a second showing

 

80% Activities examples include:

1. Organizing your files

2. Following up in preparation for a closing

3. Calling sellers to give them updates on showings

4. Researching a farm

5. Cleaning out your desk

6. Surfing the net

7. Reading unimportant e-mails

8. Updating your website

9. Getting ready to make phone calls

10. Picking up dry-cleaning or running errands

11. Picking up a survey

20% activities can’t be delegated to another person. They’re activities that will lead directly to your income. On the other hand, 80% activities don’t lead directly to money. They are time-consuming, less-productive activities. In some cases, they have to be done, but they almost never have to be done first, and most of the time they can be delegated to someone else. Take a look at the attached Daily Plan Sheet. List your to-do’s for the day in the right column. In the left column, fill the time slots in with how you spent your time. Use a Daily Plan Sheet for each day. List the 20% activities first. Do as many of those as you can. Then, and only then, attack the 80% activities. Don’t even write down any 80% to-do’s until you’ve identified and written down all 20% to-do’s. If you can train your mind to identify and accomplish the most important activities first, your life will change almost instantly.  This is the skill that will allow you to master Time-Management.