HONING YOUR TIME-MANAGEMENT SKILLS

One of the key ingredients of a successful real estate career is time management. That’s true of most nine-to-five jobs, but in real estate, each agent is the master of their own time. You won’t have a supervisor looking over your shoulder to make sure you’re productive, so you’ll have to hone your time blocking skills to build a solid foundation for your business. Remember: If it’s not on your schedule, it doesn’t exist.

So what does a successful agent’s daily schedule look like? To start, you’ll need to break up your day into sections dedicated to specific tasks. Here’s an example of a daily routine that you can tweak based on your specific circumstances:

5 a.m. to 8 a.m.: Wake up bright and early. Give yourself plenty of time to exercise, eat something healthy and energizing, and meditate and reflect. That can include reading or listening to inspirational podcasts—anything that will put you in the right mindset for your day. Agents with families may also need to balance their early morning routines with getting their kids ready for school.

8 a.m. to 11 a.m.: Focus on lead generation and prospecting. Once you’re awake and ready to go, spend the next few hours until lunch generating leads. Start by practicing your role-play and scripts. Then, put this practice into action by calling hot leads, door knocking, and scouting the MLS and other portals for expired listings and FSBO properties.

“In real estate, you are the master of your own time.”

11 a.m. to noon: Take a break for lunch. A little you time never hurts! Be sure to give your mind a rest and take lunch so that you’re fueled up for the remainder of the day. You can also use this time to take a walk or network with your peers and business partners.

Noon to 4 p.m.: Appointments and meetings. After you’ve taken a break, dedicate this time block to meeting with clients, touring homes, going to showings, and similar tasks.

4 p.m. to 5 p.m.: Follow up. Once you’re finished with the day’s showings and appointments, follow up with potential leads and respond to emails, texts, calls, and social media messages.

5 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Wind down and spend time with family. Your day won’t necessarily end at exactly 5 p.m., you may have a few calls left to field. However, take the last few hours of the day to wind down, spend time with your family, eat dinner, and get a good night’s rest.

Time blocking your schedule this way will help you focus solely on dollar-producing activities that will propel your business forward. Remember, each day might be a little different from the day before, so be ready to adapt as necessary. At the same time, don’t be afraid to say no to people who would pull you away from important work to deal with something trivial. You need to be the master of your own time.

If you have any questions about creating a productive daily schedule for your own business or would like recommendations to help you improve your existing schedule, please reach out to me via phone or email. I hope to hear from you soon!