Time is the most precious currency we have. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. This may sound morbid, but when the body is born, it starts dying. Some people speed up that process by the poor decisions that they make daily. Some slow it way down by the positive decisions they make each day. When you think about it that way, it tends to make you think differently about how you live your life. What’s sad is that most people just exist. They let time go by without much effort. You are, most likely, not in that group because you chose to call in this morning and/or log on and listen to the podcast. You are here looking for answers so you can #levelup up your life and business. One of the best ways that you can change the trajectory of your business is how you think about time. If you internalize just how important it is, you’ll put boundaries up to protect it. You will build rituals and routines to protect your time. You’ll work to build energy and stamina to maximize it.
Having had the pleasure to watch firsthand others win in life and business, and through tracking what works for me, one’s ability to create systems, habits and routines around protecting their time is in the Top 3 reasons for consistent success. I’ve never seen an Elite Level Producer wing it. They obsess over maximizing their profit per hour and lean into spending quality time with their friends, family and, most importantly, themselves.
Joel Hukulak is the founder of a great YouTube Channel and Instagram profile, called Motivation2Study. They did a study on productivity and time management where they interviewed 7 billionaires, 13 Olympic athletes, 29 straight-A students and 239 successful entrepreneurs. They came up with a list of the most important items as it related to productivity and time management. I took the list and bumped it up against what I have learned over the years and came up with the following 10 concepts that you should be internalize as you continue through this TAKE FLIGHT series.
- Morning Ritual - the most important part of the day is the first 2 hours of the day. Use that time to invest in YOU, your mind, body and spirit. After you invest in yourself for the first hour, spend the second hour reviewing your day. Doing this will create a runway for the rest of your day. If you win your morning, you’ll win your day.
- Create an ideal day and live it. There is always more to do so when you are wiped out, stop. Those that do not have a routine risk having major mood swings. Your emotions rest on your bio rhythms. We will spend a lot more time on this topic on the next MMPT.
- Identify your most important tasks and do them first. Schedule it in. Work from your calendar, not from a to do list. 41% of items on a to do list never get done. If you want to get something done, schedule it in. If you can do an important task in 5 minutes, do it and get it off your plate.
- Always carry a notebook. Write down your ideas. (Journaling).
- Shut off all your notifications on your devices. Do not let unnecessary distractions hijack your day.
- Process email on scheduled timeframes not consistently all day, every day.
- Say no to everything that does not true up to your goals and vision. If you say NO, you can say YES to things that support your vision. This includes clients. You need to create "Hell Yes" filters (boundaries).
- Follow the 80/20 rule in your business. The Pareto principle say that 20% of what you do brings you 80% of your results. Focus on the 20% that brings you the 80%.
- Don’t try to be perfect. Control-freaks are the first to plateau because they are unwilling to trust others to help.
- Batch your work with recurrences. Time blocking creates momentum around the “non-negotiable" areas of your business.
Productivity is about energy, focus and processes. We all have the same 1440 minutes in a day. Take care of your bodies, hydrate, get good sleep and take care of your spirit. Take more breaks throughout the day. Value each minute: Time is the most precious currency we have. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Don’t let people steal your time. It’s important that you keep things in perspective and give yourself time to rest and relax. By doing this, you are ensuring that you don’t crash and burn.
You need to look at the life of your business, not the day, week or month of your business but over the long haul. I’m focused on adding 5 years to the end of my career. Am I going to be able to do that if I crash and burn at 52 and start to hate my life? The answer is a resounding HELL NO. So, enjoy your life as you go, protect it because you never get it back once it’s gone.
You’ve heard me say “Happy Agents sell more real estate.” It’s true. You need to avoid the Hustle Culture, which is full of wasted time. It’s thrown at you every day in our industry. You can’t just #hustle your way to success. You have to be efficient. Find a scoreboard that works for you. Most brokers have production and total GCI as their top goals. The brokers that focus on “Profit per Hour” tend to be happier because they are focused on ridding themselves of the BS that steals their vibe and productivity.
