Modern aircraft are equipped with sophisticated automation and technology that allows the pilot to focus on multiple aspects of the flight without having to worry about flying the aircraft manually. In the world of real estate brokerage, brokers have and are still struggling to find the right technology to track their clients, transactions, their habits, their tasks, their goals and their progress. We all have grand intentions to do big things, but life does get in the way. We lose our flow and find it difficult to regain our momentum. We’re all human and this is going to happen to us consistently over the course of our lives and careers. It is imperative that we implement a tracking system to monitor our progress. I’ve got to be honest, I’ve struggled to find a software program that has moved the needle for me, that is always front of mind and easy to use. I just didn’t find that solution…
…until the last few months.
Team, during today’s call, I am going to lay out a system that will help you stay in touch with your clients on a regular basis, remind you of tasks that you do regularly, schedule your day in advance, and limit your need to “think” about what you need to do to stay on top of your life and business. This solution has been right in front of my eyes for 20 years. It’s so obvious that it almost doesn’t seem possible that this idea could be the solution I had been looking for throughout my career.
So, let me give you a little background. During COVID, we’ve all had some time to reflect. After a meditation in early May, I happened to open up a TASK in Outlook and noticed that it had a “Recurrence” function. I was familiar with the recurrence function on the calendar but not the task. I just had never dug that far with the TASK function. I said that’s interesting, so I started to play around with several TASKs that I do every day, or every week, quarterly or annually. Most of these TASKs, I used to do just from memory. As my curiosity moved to excitement, I dove in deeper. I spent the last 3 months asking myself the following questions throughout the day as I was executing my life and business and started to build a curated system using my Microsoft Outlook:
- Is this something I do more than once? If it isn’t, it goes into my TASKS in Outlook as a simple TASK or remains in my email until completed. If I do it more than once or should do it more than once, I create the TASK and set up a “Recurrence" and assign it to a color-coded “Category.”
- Does this recurring task require a specific “time?” If not, it stays a TASK. If it does, I set up an APPOINTMENT in my calendar and set up a RECURRING APPOINTMENT and assign it a color-coded category.
So, it’s really that simple. Like I said, I spent 90 days and set up 100s of RECURRING TASKs and APPOINTMENTS. When I wake up now, I don’t have to plan my day, I review my day.
Let me explain in more detail.
I’ve always used Outlook for the calendar function to schedule one-off meetings and recurring events. In fact, my wife and I have used it religiously to schedule our teenage daughters’ extracurricular activities. I joke but am serious when I say, “If Amy didn’t put it in my calendar, I won’t be there.” So, the calendar function has been used in our household for a while, but now I am using the calendar for everything else too. I literally schedule in my calendar recurring appointment for:
- When I wake up
- When I meditate
- When I do my “work out and self- development” process
- When I review my day (more on this later)
- When I get ready for work
- All of my recurring meetings
- When I pay the bills each week
- When I prepare for my MMPT
- I plan out meals a month in advance and schedule them in my calendar
You get the idea. When I say everything, I mean everything. Anything that I do more than once on a recurring basis, an appointment gets set in my calendar to act as a reminder and to provide accountability. My goal is to not have to think about random items. I want the “Productivity Dashboard” to remind me.
Now where I have really stepped up my game, is setting up recurring “Tasks.” Google (g-suite) and Apple (I-Cal) call them “Reminders.” I have essentially rendered my database obsolete because I am using the recurring function in my TASKs to:
- Schedule recurring follow ups on specific time frames
- Schedule my social media content calendar
- Schedule prospecting calls and contacts
- My MMPT distribution and posting
- Specific follow up with prospects on a specific day and reason
- Personal recurring tasks such as pet medication, change the filters, recurring doctor and dentist appointments, haircuts
- Use tasks to track health and wellness habits you want to create or bad habits you want to break
So again, create a recurring task/reminder for anything you do on a repeated basis and anybody that you need to contact on a repeated basis. It doesn’t matter how small. If you do it on a regular, recurring basis, set up the task.
What I love best about this “Productivity Dashboard” approach is that over time your daily calendar and reminders are built for you. With everything you add as a recurring task/reminder and calendar appointment, your system becomes more robust and complete. After 90 days of building my personal “Productivity Dashboard,” I am beginning to wake up to a completely planned and organized day. I am “reviewing my day,” not “planning my day.” This has created a complete shift which has saved me at least 2 hours a day of random thinking about “What do I do next?” or “What do I need to accomplish today?” All I have to do is just execute not think. I feel less stressed and more productive.
Now, you might ask how I handle my email. I use my email as a TO DO list. Once I respond to an email, it either gets deleted or moved to a folder. I never empty my “Deleted Folder” because I find myself searching it for an email or a document.
I’ve been asked “Do you still use CLOZE?” For the $45 a month it costs, it’s worth it to me for one single reason. If I need to research all of my communication with a certain person, I can do it within CLOZE. In terms of scheduling follow ups, I have found Outlook much easier to schedule and I don’t have to log on to separate systems.
I know this “Productivity Dashboard” will improve with time as I add more recurrences. I can tell you that after using this approach for 90 days, I will make it my mainstay productivity and relationship management tool. I have found the solution I’ve been looking for over the past decade.
The use of this technology is super simple. For more specific tutorials, go to YouTube and search “Microsoft Outlook” or “Google Suite” or “Apple Calendar” and lots of information will come up that will teach you the specifics on how to use the tools.
As we move through this TAKE FLIGHT series, I will refer to this process consistently. You will find me recommending that you “Set up a Recurring TASK or Appointment.”
I’ve had some major breakthroughs during my career but this one ranks right up there with Morning Ritual, Meditation, and all of my MINDSET strategies.
The key to a strong database management game is to reframe it as RELATIONSHIP management. To be elite in this area, you need a tool that reminds you to be thoughtful. I’ve learned over the years that you cannot automate thoughtfulness, but you can automate being reminded to be thoughtful. This set-up that I described today does just that. It reminds you to be thoughtful - and not just to others, but to yourself.
