Time Management Tips

"What does time management have to do with real estate?" You might be wondering, but the importance of time management in real estate is extensive, whether you're looking to buy or sell.

Why does time management matter for all?

Those with poor time management skills won't be in nearly as good of control of each day and of their life in general. Did you know that the top 10 real estate agents in each city/county don't all produce consistent high quality service? Conversely, they are all better than most with time management & know what it takes to sell themselves and do it well. Time management is a crucial component of financial growth and success in life, whether for time at work or time outside of work.

For more details on the importance of timeliness in real estate, go to my article on the subject here.

Why does time management matter for sellers?

If selling, and you have poor time management, the deal could fall through. Some buyers will even withdraw their offer if the seller doesn't promptly respond to an offer. If a seller hires a lackadaisical agent or one with poor time management, the agent could respond slowly to showing requests if they don't use a showing service that's good like Showingtime. Slow responses to showing requests means some buyers may never see the property who might otherwise make offers.

Why does time management matter for buyers?

Expeditious showings for buyers is critical. Buyers with poor time management skills often won't be able to make a showing request or do other showing preparations before it's too late to see a property. If your primary agent is unavailable, they should have other experienced agents that can fill in for you, though many buyer's agents use inexperienced agents for fill-ins and some agents don't arrange for fill-ins at all.

Buyers with poor time management skills will have a much harder time coming up with the funds and the credit necessary to purchase. They'll take longer to do it and lose money because of it in many cases. Some would be buyers remain forever in the "one day" category of looking to purchase a home in large part due to their poor time management & lack of prioritization of what's important each day of their lives. They may forever remain in the low net worth of renters vs purchasers because of it, a staggering net worth difference of 1:40 per CNBC.

Top Tips:

Consistent & Sufficient Sleep

8 hrs of sleep at the same time every night starting between 10 PM & 11 PM & use a sleep app to track yourself (I use "Sleep Cycle").

While ages, opinions, & people vary, typically 7-9 hours (but whatever you do, do it consistently), is best.

In Tom Corley's studies of self-made millionaires, he found that almost 50% start their day at least 3 hours before the workday begins. "89% of respondents sleep for at least 7 hours per night."

Use a Digital Calendar to Plan & Track Your Time

Rely heavily on a working digital calendar available across platforms like your phone & computer, including planning ahead, goal setting for tasks, a regular schedule of recurring tasks (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.), tracking of what time you spend where, & adjusting the calendar when needed.

Use Alarms & Timers

Use alarms & timers, both digitally (i.e. an app on your phone) & physically; for your primary place of work & home, I particularly recommend using visual analog timers like this one. For digital timers I like "Visual Timer" on Android.

Digitally Automatically Track Your Time

Use digital means of tracking your time & prohibiting certain things digitally on your laptop/desktop computer & phone.

I use StayFree, which is highly beneficial for syncing data from multiple browsers from your phone, apps from your phone, and browsers on your phone to see where your time went during the day that you haven't manually tracked.

If I really need to go on a website for work or something truly urgent, I can use a different browser that purposefully doesn't have the extension installed.

Read Books Pertinent to Time Management

In Tom Corley's studies of self-made millionaires, he found that "88% of the millionaire respondents said they read for around 30 minutes per day. And I’m not talking about indulging in the Harry Potter series or a breezy romance novel. According to Corley, "The rich read to acquire or maintain knowledge". His findings showed that the most common types of books the participants read were: biographies, history, and self-help books. This habit is also seen in CEO and business magnate, Warren Buffet, who apparently spends approximately 80% of his day reading. Bill Gates reportedly reads on average 50 books per year, though during his infamous “Think Week” he spends up to 18 hours a day reading newspapers."

Read or listen to the following books: Boundaries: Henry Cloud (Christian oriented) The Purpose Driven Life: Rick Warren (Christian oriented)

The Power of Habit: Charles Duhigg (Secular oriented)

Celebration of Discipline: By Richard J. Foster (Christian oriented)

Focus on Goals

Consider goals like:

A. Physical Health (i.e. diet, exercise, sleep, etc.) For instance, I spend time daily doing stretching & exercises for my bad back. I also spend time doing other exercises as well via a fast-paced powerwalk (a jogging/running pace, but with intentionally lower impact), a pull-up bar, pushups, & lifting hand weights. B. Mental Health (physical health directly impacts it; educational health also is important & directly impacts other areas like spiritual health & financial health) C. Spiritual Health (impacts all areas of life) For instance, I spend time in prayer, worship, reading, watching (Matthew -Acts are all on film), or listening to (i.e. the Bible app with 1-2 year plans) the Bible, in a Bible study group, watching Bible-related film like The Chosen, & in additional biblical studies (i.e. Old Testament & New Testament). D. Relational Health (i.e. time with my wife, family, & friends planned out is very important) E. Financial Health (i.e. time for generating income, generating income growth, expense tracking, credit building, credit usage, & taxes are all important) F. Emotional Health

Get Organized

Get organized digitally & physically so that your time is more effective on what truly matters & you spend less time searching for things

Develop a System of Accountability for How You Spend Your Time and Your Goals.

If you don't have an individual that you can keep accountable with on a daily basis, Habitica, available on computer & phone, which gamifies good and bad habits and daily goals, is an option.

If you'd like to join my free time management accountability group, reach out to me about it.

Also if you'd like me to meet with you about time management in person or over Zoom for free and you're my real estate client, let me know.

In Tom Corley's studies of self-made millionaires, he found that they surround themselves with others who are successful.

One good app/website is Focusmate, which helps you by having a live virtual accountability partner.

Another good app is Habitshare, where you can track your habits, check them off as you do them, and be accountable with other people like friends or family.

Acquire Tools/Gadgets

Acquire other tools/gadgets etc. that can help you be efficient & healthy. For instance, I've invested in Herman Miller chairs for my home office & Newport News office desks so that I spend less time out of commission from a bad back. I also have acquired an excellent laptop (Lenovo P17) with excellent speed and a triple screen setup at my home office, at my Newport News office, and in remote locations to maximize efficiency. I also have various options for BlueTooth that are best for different situations, like earbuds, a headset on one ear, and noise-canceling large headphones. At my home office & Newport News office, I use vertical mice & ergonomic keyboards to reduce the impact of carpal tunnel. ​ I also invested in a vehicle that includes excellent built-in blue tooth and Android Auto so that I can maximize efficiency when I'm going from place to place. When driving alone, I often spend the time getting educated via audio or engaging in spiritual disciplines.

Consider a "life coach", business coach, or therapist

One of these specialists can often be highly beneficial in boosting your time management as long as you take their advice.

If you have a mental disorder impacting time management, like Attention Deficit Disorder, look into how insurance can help fund weekly coaching of your time management.

Prayer/Worship/Meditation

According to Entrepreneur.com's 6 Rich People Habits That Will Change Your Life, "Praying for others, listening to worship music, or meditating should be a part of your daily routine, such as being a part of your morning routine. As Rose explains, this gives you a chance to unplug and give your brain a rest. Furthermore, there's evidence that through meditation, you're allowing your brain to have active rest. As a result, you grow in compassion and creativity.

Additionally, this helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. And, prayer and meditation get us away from fight or flight mode.

"Prayer and meditation are highly effective in lowering our reactivity to traumatic and negative events," says Dr. Paul Hokemeyer, a marriage, family, and addictions therapist. "They are powerful because they focus our thoughts on something outside ourselves."

During times of stress, our limbic system, more commonly known as our central nervous system, becomes hyper-activated, which does two things: it thrusts us into survival mode where we freeze, fight or flee the situation, [such that] we move away from the present state of being into a future state," Dr. Hokemeyer explains. "This also shuts down our executive functioning [and] prevents us from thinking clearly. This is why when we're stressed out we can make poor decisions and act in self-destructive ways.""

Exercise

In Tom Corley's studies of self-made millionaires, he found "that 76% of the participants exercise for at least 30 minutes per day. Of these respondents, they all focused almost exclusively on cardio. "Cardio is not only good for the body, but it's good for the brain," he wrote, "it grows the neurons in the brain”."

Compare 76% to less than a third of the general population in the US.

Related:

The Importance of Timeliness in Real Estate

Expeditious Showings