Lately the topic that seems to be coming up most with producing agents tends to be about how they utilize their time and how they set boundaries in their lives so they can accomplish everything they need to accomplish. If you are an agent who is steadily doing 3 or more deals a month then you know it can sometimes be painful to figure out how to generate new business, how to service existing business, how to make time for dinner with the family, attend the kids ballgames, go to church, give back to the community, mow your lawn, pay the bills, spend time with friends and possibly even take a vacation.
"Vacation! Are you kidding me? When do you expect me to take a vacation," you may ask. Well, some of you who think you did take a vacation, did you answer client or office calls on your cell phone while you were away? If so, you did not take a vacation. You simply worked from a remote location.
If you want to have life balance you must first embrace the philosophy that Stephen Covey so well demonstrates in his YouTube video" First Thing First - Easy Understanding through Clip! Rocks!" If you cut and paste that into the YouTUbe search you will see what I mean. We need to do better in our profession about getting in tune with our priorities, both business and personal. You need to place your big rocks in your calendar first. You need to block your family time, your spiritual time, and your rejuvenate time before you put any other pencil scratches on your calendar. If at the end of the day you worked 15 hours but you end up divorced and a weekend parent, was the sacrifice worth the money?
If you will take a look at Gary Keller's book, The Millionaire REal Estate Agent, and at least look at page 308, you will find a great outline for starting your day and time blocking. If you are disciplined enough to do what he suggests by 11 am, the rest of your business day will be taken care of. The next thing you need to be able to do is to take control of hwo you spend your time the rest of the day. For example, only agree to do evening appointments on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights if they can't meet during the day. Only do listing presentations, buyer presentations and home showings a couple of nights a week and only until 1pm on Saturday. Make sure you reserve at least 2 weeknights and the majority of the weekend for yourself and your family . After all, your family deserves it, they put up with you don't they?
One of the most simple tips I can give you is to change your voicemail and set specific call back times. For example, "Hi, you've reached Jeff Bonham with Keller Williams Realty, I will be returning my calls today between 11-12 and again between 4:30-5:30. If it is outside those hours I guarantee I will call you back at the very next scheduled time. Thanks for calling, and have a great day." If you try this technique for 2 weeks I promise you that you will get more done than ever because you will be able to focus on the task at hand. Whether that be prospecting, showing houses, business planning, reviewing your financials, whatever it is. You will not be distracted and in a responsive mode. Instead you will take charge of your time, be proactive, and take charge of your stress at the same time. I also found it allows me to formulate my thoughts before I call the individual back rather than be caught off guard and reactive. I always prefer to be the one making the call rather then receiving the call becuase I find it easier to control the flow of the conversation and take it down the path I want with well planned dialogue.
Always Remember, There Are No Limits!
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