Our productivity comes from scheduling the right combination of proactive, reactive, and maintenance activities. The way to power up your productivity is to create your unique combination of proactively planned results, then handle those things that require your reactive skills appropriately. Finally, blocking time for life’s maintenance demands.
As commercial real estate professionals, we pride ourselves on our ability to react well to whatever comes our way. This is an important quality, and it is also the one thing that can cause frustration with our career’s progress.
Early morning planning is a wise use of time. Get clear on the results you want in the coming week. Then focus on specific, measurable results each day that advance the results you want this week. It should be to list, sell, or lease something this week. Those are the measurable results for which you are paid. Proactive plans produce the results we must have to secure the high lifetime value accounts that are vital to our long-term success and career satisfaction.
Next, turn your attention to the things you must react well to; these should be primarily transaction-oriented. What do you need to do to advance your current real estate assignments, such as listings, tenant representation or buyer representation assignments, and your transactions in progress? Then schedule time into blocks that organize these tasks into similar work modes to increase your flow and focus.
Maintenance can be both the easiest and the most challenging. We all need time to eat, exercise, groom, and dress, and perform a myriad of maintenance tasks. They are easily handled by performing these tasks outside of your golden hours as much as possible.
Plan each week with blocks of time for the routine maintenance items. Create a list of these recurring tasks and schedule time weekly for them. Include the small stuff like picking up dry cleaning, haircuts, or other grooming necessities, etc. Knowing where these fit into your week is the best way for you to create more time for your proactive planning.
Then either set time limits on how long you will work on a particular set of tasks or set deadlines for their completion.
Another challenge comes from well-meaning people who may ask for chunks of your productive time. Respectfully setting limits, suggesting alternate times, or saying no is necessary for the preservation of your productive power.
Here is what to do with what you have learned in this program. Start by auditing your daily habits or rituals. Do they serve you well? For example, I recently reviewed my Monday through Friday morning ritual and discovered that it did not energize or help me to focus on what I wanted. I revised it, and to make it easier to implement, I created a morning mantra, which is, “I rise, exercise, plan, and act.” Now, because I get more done, my weekends are freer and less stressful.
Don’t expect perfection. If you slip a little bit, don’t dwell on it as a failure. Recognize it and refocus on getting back on track. At the end of each week do a quick check back, assessing your progress towards the specific results you had planned to accomplish. Then enjoy the feeling of accomplishment to reinforce the positive behaviors.
Train yourself to focus on the results you want, enjoy your progress toward their achievement, and power up your productivity.
Much of our inner drive comes from the feeling that we are growing both professionally and career-wise.
More from Top Dogs:
- Watch the 30-minute Master Class for more productivity tips via Facebook.
- Nobody gets to great alone. Schedule your 30-minute no-cost career consultation with me on the website.
- Take advantage of a FREE lesson: How to Create a Successful Real Estate Practice