Hey Moguls, Doug Van Buskirk here…
Chances are, you fall into one of 2 categories:
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Building your real estate investing business while simultaneously working a full-time job
OR
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Trying to scale and optimize your full-time real estate investing biz to make the income greater and more predictable (along with removing yourself from the day-to-day)
In today’s lesson , I’m going to show you the art of dominating your schedule and keeping a balanced life, regardless of which category you placed yourself in above.
Personally, I’ve been through about a dozen different time-management strategies, trying to find the perfect solution. But, up until now, nothing I’ve used has been sustainable.
Time-blocking, which I’ve written a great past lesson about here at Real Estate Mogul, is very effective, but can be too rigid at times, and as a result impractical.
Consider the information that follows a creative, stand-alone leap-frog from the time-blocking ideas that we’ve discussed in the past. We’ll still use the concept, but we’ll make it more flexible and strategic along the way.
Why is time management more important than ever before?
Because of the sheer number of options, distractions and responsibilities that most of us have in our lives, thanks to our “on-demand, 24/7 access” internet culture.
So let’s dig deep on how you can transcend the challenges and take control of your time once and for all!
Your blueprint for time-management success:
Follow these…
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Define your priorities in every area of your life (personal, health, professional, family, social, etc.)
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Plan your week in advance (rather than just your day)
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Focus on long-term “investment” activities vs. short-term “transaction” activities
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Leave openings in your schedule so that you can go with the flow when “life happens”
We’ll break down each of these components below so you can see exactly how (and why) to implement them into your life.
Ultimately, you’ll find that this approach to managing your life will give you more focus, clarity and fulfillment.
Define your priorities in every area of your life
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. If you’re going to focus on the most important things in your life, we need to first spend some time brainstorming and deciding what means the most to you – in every area of your life: personal, professional, health, spiritual, family, social.
A lot of time-management approaches fail because they’re one-dimensional. They teach you to meticulously plan all of your work activities and then leave the rest of your life to chance.
So what happens?
You might get ahead professionally, but the rest of life becomes discombobulated. Everything starts to feel out of balance, as family, friends, health and personal development never make it onto the schedule.
I know from first-hand experience that this is a recipe for disaster!
Instead, just take some time to think about what and who is important to you. Stop reading now and write out your list.
Okay, now onto our next step…
Plan your entire week in advance (rather than day-by-day)
How’d your list turn out?
Now, go ahead and look at each thing you wrote down…
Write another list of 2-4 powerful things you can do this week to move yourself forward in each of the areas you just decided were most important to you.
Examples:
If one of your roles is as a spouse, your list may look like this:
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Cook partner’s favorite meal for dinner
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Take partner to star-gazing location at night
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Clean kitchen/bathroom/messy area of the house
Or for your real estate business:
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Interview contractors for upcoming rehab
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Finalize mailing list for upcoming direct mailing
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Follow-up/meet in person with 3 possible private lenders you met at a REIA meeting
The key here is focus and simplicity. By only writing down a few items, you’re forced to focus on only the most important things.
As you write your list, make a note of how much time you feel is appropriate to block off for each item.
Now, access a weekly calendar – online or print-off, whatever works best for you. Begin filing in your weekly calendar with everything you just listed.
I hope you’re seeing how much more proactive and in-control this way of scheduling is.
By zooming out into a macro, holistic approach (looking at all areas of your life, instead of just one; looking at your entire week, instead of one day at a time), you’re making sure your life stays in balance.
Now, let’s talk about the litmus test you can use for your activities to decide whether they deserve to be on your schedule.
Focus on long-term “investment” activities (vs. short-term “transaction” activities)
This distinction is as simple as deciding to do the things you know you should do instead of the things you have to do.
As Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, would say… it’s doing the important things, NOT the urgent things.
At the core, many urgent activities are short-term and transactional. Oftentimes, someone else decides what is urgent on YOUR schedule. Not cool.
So what are some things you know you should be doing on a regular basis that you don’t always (or ever) do because you’re too busy?
Here’s a few ideas from my list:
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Exercising
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No strings attached check-ins with past or current clients
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Yoga
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Reading
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Financial analysis for business and personal
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Reconnecting with out-of-town friends
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Charity work
What’s your list look like?
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to look back on my life and regret all the things I “meant” to do but never got around to doing because I was too busy with short-sighted stuff.
These long-term important things are what will ultimately bring you happiness and fulfillment.
Make sure these important, long-term items dominate your weekly calendar! It’ll likely be difficult at first, because most important activities aren’t urgent.
Nothing incredibly bad will happen today if you don’t take time to analyze your business’ finances. But over time, if it’s not done, you’ll have little direction on the changes or pivots you need to make to grow your business.
Leave openings in your schedule so you’re ready when “life happens”
Look, as much as we might hope and pray, we’re not in control of everything around us.
Urgent things come up sometimes and you have to drop everything. If you’ve already planned something for every single minute of your day, this can lead to major stress and crisis.
There has to be flex time. Meetings can run over. Projects take longer than expected. Traffic is bad. Your kids get sick. And on and on…
Just make sure you know what you’ll do with your flex time if it’s not taken up by urgent activities.
Don’t use your flex time as a license to get sloppy. Use it as a cushion, in case unforeseen circumstances come up.
Cheers,
Doug
Share your thoughts
I’d love to hear your feedback on how this approach to time management works for you, compared to other things you’ve tried in the past. Post your thoughts in the comments section below!
List out the most important parts of your life. Strive for balance.
Decide the 2-4 most important things you can do in each of those areas this week, along with how much time each should take.
Fill out your weekly calendar with those items.
Review your weekly schedule and decide which activities are urgent and which are important, long term. Revise your schedule as needed, with emphasis on important items.
Leave some wiggle room so that you can adapt easily.