By Courtney Self
Real Estate Broker & Author of “The 7 Strategies For Real Estate Success”
Conventional wisdom is not to put all of your eggs in one basket. 80/20 wisdom is to choose a basket carefully, load all your eggs into it, and then watch it like a hawk.” Richard Koch
The Pareto Principal commonly referred to as the 80:20 Rule is based on Vilfredo Pareto’s research. In the early 1900’s, Pareto, an Italian economist, created a mathematical formula describing the unequal distribution of wealth he observed and measured in his country: Pareto observed that roughly 20% of the people controlled or owned 80% of the wealth. Thus, the so named 80/20 rule. This rule can be applied to your business as well as your personal life. For example:
§ 20% of Real Estate Agents do 80% of the business
§ 80% of your problems usually come from 20% of the causes
§ 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customer base
§ 80% of the activities you perform each day are complete time wasters while only 20% should be considered a valuable use of your time.
The key to applying the 80/20 rule and successfully managing your time is to focus on results, not on being busy. Most people spend their days filling their time in a frenzy of activity, only to achieve very little because they are not focused. Use the following tips to focus on what is important an eliminating the rest.
TIP #1 Know How & Where You Spend Your Time “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” Carl Sandberg. Once you become self employed there is no such thing as “free time”. Calculate how much your time is worth. For example, if your goal is to earn $100,000 this year then your time is worth over $50 per hour. So don’t waste that valuable time on 80% non-productive activities. Do not let others waste your time. Categorize your clients and eliminate or reduce the time spent on those who are not serious or who are not ready to make a move right now. Avoid chatting with your office receptionist or other agents at the water cooler. The agents who want to spend 20 minutes chatting with you do not have anything else to keep them busy. Don’t be rude but keep in mind you can literally waste several hours each week if you let other people rule your time. Don’t waste your time on activities that do not need to be done.
Tip #2 Get Organized “Don’t agonize. Organize” Florynce Kennedy. This will greatly increase your efficiency. A disorganized office or desk will cause you to waste time looking for things when you need them. A disorganized mind will waste time as well. Clarify your goals so that you can stay on track. Eliminate clutter both mental and physical. Implement “Time Blocking”.
Tip #3 Prioritize “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Focus on what is truly important and select a few key tasks to complete each day, tasks that will bring you closer to attaining your goals. To facilitate this create a weekly “to do” list as well as a project list for tasks that need to be done over longer periods of time.
Tip #4 Delegate “Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere” Ronald Reagan. Just because you can do something does not mean you should be doing it. Utilize the services and the people around you. If you need a flyer for your new listing, don’t spend time creating it yourself, ask your lender or title representatives to do it, they are usually happy to help. Tired of paperwork? Hire a transaction coordinator. EVEN if the person you hire does not do the job as well as you or as fast as you it’s still a better use of your time and money to have them do it. Remember, just because you can do something does not mean you should be doing it.
Tip #5 Invest time Take time every week to evaluate your business as well as the effectiveness of your marketing or business plan. This will help you identify time and money wasting tasks and activities. Also, invest some time aside in education. The more you know about your business the faster you will be able to solve problems that come your way.
Tip #6 Don’t Procrastinate “Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday” Don Marquis. Start the day with the tasks you least want to do and the rest of the day will fall into to place. Try the following technique: touch the papers on your desk only once. Once you touch it you need to file it, throw it away or deal with it.
Tip #7 Plan & Schedule “I get up every morning determined to both change the world and to have one hell of a good time. Sometimes, this makes planning the day difficult.” E.B. White. Planning will help you to avoid wasting time. When you know you have something important to do or somewhere to go you are more cognizant of your time. The same is true for money, when it comes to spending money, if you plan your expenses in advance it will help you to stay on track with your marketing budget, for example. Using a reasonable, daily and weekly “To Do” list will help you focus on what needs to be done each day and week. While having a long-term plan will keep you on track with your goals and objective for your business and personal life.
If you invest a little time now organizing your life you will have better control over your time. In the end you’ll have more time for things you want to do rather than the things you have to do.
