Let’s be honest… most of us are easily distracted by social media and emails. These can be huge time killers for your business and when you aren’t being efficient with your time, it’s costing your business money.
We’ve seen some of our real estate investing friends who have implemented a strict time-blocking schedule and it’s helped their business tremendously.
What’s important to do first is to analyze how you’re spending your time now. Write down how much time you’re spending on what and be honest with yourself. If you’re spending 2 hours in the mornings on emails, with a social media break for 20 minutes, followed by more emails and a few follow-up calls, you need to ask yourself if those tasks are making you money. What many realize is that they are spending too much time on tasks that don’t move the needle.
Go through day-by-day and write every single thing you work on, for how long you work on it, and if possible, note changes you’d like to make for that task. It might be spending more or less time on it, or simply blocking a certain time so you can stay focused on it.
Write down your biggest money makers that you are responsible for. This might be going on appointments, being on the phone with sellers, handling rehabs, overseeing your acquisitions and dispositions, etc. Determine how much time you are spending on these tasks and see if you need to really dedicate more time to it so that your business can reach the next level.
It’s also important to note if there are areas in your business that you should not be dealing with but are. This could be an admin type work, fixing things your staff messed up, etc. These are issues that do not need to be blocked but more so need to be addressed with your team.
Are you finding that you never have time for follow-ups or another task in your business? This is the perfect time to analyze what your focus should be on so that you can perform the best.
Also factor in time to network with other investors and time for family. Remember your “why” and work efficiently so that you have the time to spend with your family and friends.
There are apps that can help you with time-blocking as well. As you get started, you might realize you don’t need as much time as you thought on a particular task or maybe it only needs to be done on certain days of the week. Make it your own and tweak it as your business grows.
