Did you know, “I don’t have enough time” is the second most common excuse people make for not being able to achieve their goals? That’s right, the “don’t have enough time” excuse comes right after the “don’t having enough money” excuse according to Huffington Post.
Achieving your real estate goals, is going to feel overwhelming, especially if you’re just a part-time investor with a nine to five job. (or you’re transitioning from part-time to full time investing)
But let’s get one thing cleared up before diving in, “not enough time” is not an acceptable excuse for not tackling your real estate goals. Every person on planet earth has the same number of hours in their day — from the most successful entrepreneurs to those who have been less successful. If you can manage your time appropriately, there is no reason you won’t be able to triumphantly challenge every task your goal you put your mind to.
Key Takeaways
- The #2 excuse Americans use for not achieving their personal and professional goals is “not enough time” — according to Huffington Post.
- 89 percent of Americans admit to wasting time at some point in their work day.
- Practicing self care, learning to delegate, and prioritizing ruthlessly are 3 time management tips you shouldn’t ignore.
Time Management Tips To Help You Achieve Your Real Estate Goals
Prioritize: Perhaps you’re familiar with the allegory of filling a jar with rocks, pebbles, sand and water to represent the time in a person’s day. Well the story goes like this: Imagine that a large glass symbolizes your entire life. You begin to fill the jar with large rocks. These rocks represent the most important things in your life — the things you cannot live without (i.e. family, health, the roof over your head. These large rocks are constants in your life that need to be apart of your schedule in order to stay afloat. Next, you begin to fill your life jar with smaller pebbles. These pebbles represent things that are very important to you but not 100 percent necessary for you to survive. Things like exercising, making money, and reading might be “pebbles” in your life. After the pebbles comes the sand. Your jar probably appears relatively full after you’ve filled it with rocks and pebbles yet you are still able to fill the jar with a large handful of sand. This sand should represent material items and perhaps luxurious activities you enjoy — the “nice to haves,” if you will. They aren’t necessities and they aren’t things that make life easier to live; they are ideals. Lastly, when it seems as though your jar will overflow, you fill it with water. The water will represent everything else. Random travels, purchases, or activities you’d occasionally like to participate in.
Your jar likely looked pretty full after filling it with just rocks, but sure enough you were able to fill it completely. If you started by filling your jar with sand and pebbles, the rocks and water would not fit. This concept should illustrate your life. If you fill your day with lesser priority tasks (the pebbles and sand) you won’t have time for the rocks.
The number one key to making time for your business goals is knowing what to prioritize. Always start with the most important tasks and finish with your “nice to haves” (aka your pebbles and sand)
Create Systems: Here at FortuneBuilders, we are all about building business systems. Making aspects of your business more efficient is a sure fire way to free up your time so you can focus more on big picture goals. It’s easy for an entrepreneur to feel like there’s too much to do in too little time, which is why streamlining and automating processes is a must.
Let’s start by defining what a system is. A system finds a problem, figures out an automated solution, and once implemented can work with no supervision. A system is a routine. A system allows your direct mail marketing campaign or your lead generation strategy to function when you’re gone. It is also very possible to create systems in your personal life. Does cooking dinner every night take a toll? Consider meal prepping. Is cleaning the house taking up too much of your time? Hire monthly housekeeper. Fix the inefficiencies in your life and your business so you can give your biggest goals the majority of your energy.
Learn To Delegate: This tip is pretty much self explanatory. If you’re forcing yourself to do it all, you’re setting yourself up for failure. There will be daily tasks and processes you can hand off to other people — whether its a colleague or a virtual assistant. It may take some time to find a person you trust to handle what you can’t’; but trust us, it will be worth it.
Find Out Where You’re Wasting Time: You may not want to admit it, but the fact of the matter is you are more than likely wasting time at some point in your day. Whether you take a few minutes to check facebook in between meetings or you’re constantly looking at emails while completing other tasks; wasting time is inevitable. A study performed by Salary.com found that:
- 31 percent waste roughly 30 minutes daily
- 31 percent waste roughly one hour daily
- 16 percent waste roughly two hours daily
- 6 percent waste roughly three hours daily
- 2 percent waste roughly four hours daily
- 2 percent waste five or more hours daily
That’s right, nearly 90 percent of Americans admit to wasting at least some amount of time during the work day. Avoid this habit by identifying where you are wasting time. If it’s checking texts, put your phone on vibrate and commit to only checking your screen at lunchtime. If it’s watching cat videos on Youtube, only allow yourself one per day. Never wasting time doesn’t mean never having down time. It just means scheduling that down time, sticking to that schedule and staying productive in between.
Practice Self Care: Nothing harms creativity more than an exhausted mind and body. Real estate entrepreneurs are always on the go, slowing down for next to nothing. While high energy, determination, and hard work are all important traits a successful entrepreneur must possess, living life at 110 percent non stop is not sustainable. Scheduling out part of your week to practice self care is a must. Meditating, exercising, reading, nighttime baths; all of these can help calm the mind and give you a new perspective. Stuck over a recurring issue at work, treat yourself to a massage and an extra hour of sleep every once in awhile and you’ll be more likely to solve problems.
Utilize Tools: Because we live in a world where we can access information at our fingertips, taking advantage of technology is another great way to manage your time efficiently. If you’re looking for ways to improve your time management skills, the following tools could be your answer.
- Trello – If you’re a visual learner, this online project management software is a must. See which employees are doing what and view a project’s timeline and status with the click of a button. The color coding feature is also a nice touch.
- RescueTime – RescueTime is an app that monitors your phone and computer usage to track which sites eat up the majority of your time.
- FocusBooster – This app uses is based on principles from the Pomodoro Technique, which turns your day into multiple time chunks. If you jump from task to task, FocusBooster will help you complete tasks without moving to new activities.
- Evernote – Do different thoughts and ideas pop into your mind constantly while working on other tasks? Evernote is a productivity tool that allows you to store information in multiple forms (i.e. notes, videos, voice memos, pictures, etc.)
- Mind42– Mind42 is an online mind mapping application that allows users to visualize their thinking using the proven mind mapping method.
Are you someone who struggles with managing your time effectively? Do you want to free up your time so that you can focus on your real estate goals? Comment below to share your story.
