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The funny thing about time management is that most people already know what to do with their time.
If you paid $50 or even $100 for a time management seminar, I guarantee you that all you’d be paying for is reminders of what you already know.
So here’s one philosophy of time management, and if you take these 10 simple tips to heart, you’ll never need to go to another time management seminar as long as you live.
1. Have a life/business management plan. If you have one, it will always tell you which route to take to get from here to the other side of the mountain. If you don’t know which road to take, the odds of getting where you want to go are pretty slim. So have a plan for your life and your business. If you know where you want to go, it will be easier to find the right road.
2. Finish what you start. This is one of the big secrets of time management. Complete your circles or analyze why you started something if you’re not getting it finished.
3. Make a “to do” list. Write down everything in the order of importance. List everything for that day or for that week. Then pick the highest priority, the one thing that you can do that will get you closer to your goal. Mark it on your list. Then pick your second and the third priorities.
4. Everyday, get three things done. The “to do” list is an oldie but goodie. We all have “to do” lists. Sometimes we are rocking and rolling along and we get wrapped up in our work, especially when we’ve got to get some productivity going and were not thinking about managing our time. It’s the end of the month, we’re two listings short or whatever it might be, and we’ve got about four days left. Whenever you are in a situation where you’ve got limited time and a high goal, simply focus on your top three priorities. If every day you get the top three things done, it probably won’t matter much if everything else goes down the tubes. A misconception about this business is that we have to work a lot of hours. We have to work flexible hours, sure – days, nights, weekends, whatever. But being flexible isn’t about the hours you put in; it’s about what you get out.
5. Analyze and weed out. Whenever you find yourself out of balance, nearly insane and not producing enough, it’s time to analyze and weed out your “to do” list. You might want to analyze and weed out your list at least six or eight times a year. Personally, I do it every two months. Look at your “to do” list and everything that you’ve done in the last week or two weeks. Then go through the list and weed out or delegate everything you did that didn’t do anything for you. The great thing about the analyzing and weeding out process is that it allows you to see just how much you’re doing and say, “No wonder I’m working so hard and not so much is coming together – I’m doing too much!”
6. Start early. If you can get into a habit of starting work an hour earlier every single day, you’ll amaze yourself. If you start an hour early six days a week, that’s six hours a week, 24 hours per month or three work days. Starting one hour early every day for six days a week is like getting an extra three days a month!
7. Plan your day in advance. If you plan tomorrow tonight, you’ll sleep better. Tomorrow, all you have to do is follow the plan.
8. Just say no. Say “no” at least once a day. How many times have you answered “yes” to questions? “Can you cover for me?” or “Can you put up this sold sign for me?” How many times have you done things for friends or even customers that took too much time? Next time, just say “No, I’m already committed.”
9. Control your time. Controlling your time means not allowing other people to control your time. Here’s what I mean by that: Create some space. There are times you simply need to get things done. In my case, I used to put a little sign on my desk, with a dollar sign on it. It took about three or four reminders, but eventually I got everybody in my office to buy into the fact that when they saw that sign, I was not to be bothered. The sign wasn’t there all the time, but when it was it let people know that I needed some space to generate my appointments and get the detail work done. If you don’t create some space you get interruptions and it’s difficult to get anything done.
10. Turn down time into learning time. You should never be in your automobile without a learning cassette. Cassettes are the world’s greatest and most patient teachers. They never get tired of repeating a lesson if you need to hear it again. If you are not producing enough or you think you need skills training, and you spend two hours a day in your car, you could be learning up to ten hours a week or 40 hours a month.
What is time management really about? It’s about finding that balance between work, family, and personal needs. It’s about getting more done, quicker. It’s about staying sane. If a real estate sales person is looking for that balance, for more production in less time, and for more sanity in their life, then they’ve got to exercise everyday some of these basic time management techniques.
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