Like so many things in life, the trick to success is getting the work done. But we’re always so busy. Seems like there is never enough time to get done all we need to do.
Then we forget. What were we supposed to do again? When were we supposed to do it?
There must be a better way. Maybe some kind of organization system that you have tried?
Nothing seems to work. In the 90s, people used pen and paper. They had their organizers that they carried around with them – receipts, business cards and other papers falling out as they went…
Fast forward to today and there are all kinds of technological apps to ‘help’ you get organized. Those are great as far as they go, but they don’t cover everything.
What many people want is a system for organization.
Once you have a system in place, then bring on the tools.
One of the most popular systems these days is a system developed by David Allen appropriately called: Getting Things Done (GTD). Mr. Allen has been working on his system for 30 years as a coach to top executives.
The GTD system revolves around the idea that your mind should be used for creating ideas to work on, not organizing tasks and to-do lists. Those ‘unfulfilled commitments’ you make to yourself keep swirling around in your head. You want to keep remembering them, so they fill up your head. They block the creative side of your brain from reaching its full potential.
Mr. Allen’s idea is to organize all your tasks, schedules and projects outside of your brain. That way, you can use your brain to focus on the more creative (and more lucrative) process of growing your business.
We’re not going to give you a complete rundown of the system in this lesson - after all, Mr. Allen wrote a whole book explaining how the system works. Instead, we thought we would give you a little summary. You can judge for yourself whether it would work in your real estate business.
The system starts by writing down all your open commitments on pieces of paper. One piece of paper for each commitment. Go through all your inboxes, desks, emails, text messages, your head, etc. - and write them all down.
Then ask the critical question – “What’s the next action for this task?” He then gives a flowchart for answering this question. The flowchart sends you along the path of:
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Is it something I can take action on?
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If not, throw it away, or put it in a reference file.
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If it is, what’s the next action? What do you need to do next to get the overall task completed?
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Will next action take less than 2 minutes?
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If yes, do it.
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If not, delegate it or save it for later.
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If it will take longer than 2 minutes, think of it as a project (a project is anything taking more than one action) and put it in your project plans, which will be reviewed for actions.
Once you have all your open commitments organized, you put each commitment into one of 8 categories:
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The garbage
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Incubation tools – stuff to consider later (how to spend your millions you will make in real estate for example)
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Reference material – not actions, just information you may need later
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A list of projects
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Files needed for projects
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Calendar – for tasks that have a definite time and date
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List of reminders of next actions that don’t have a specific time or date
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List of reminders of things you’re waiting for
Starting to see how this might help organize your real estate business? Then you simply make your way through these different lists. Mr. Allen also recommends at least a weekly review of all your lists to make sure you are staying on top of everything.
That’s a System, Where’s the Technology?
GTD can be accomplished with pen and paper only. But where’s the fun in that? After all, this is a ‘tech’ lesson for Real Estate Mogul.
This system can be implemented using technology tools readily available to you from the web. Many of them are very low cost or even free. We’ll give you a run down of some of the more popular ones.
The obvious first one is the Getting Things Done App, developed specifically for this system. For just $39 a year, you can have the system at your fingertips and across all your platforms. Here and here is a 2-part review of the app.
Basic organizers such as Outlook and OneNote from Microsoft can also be used to implement the GTD system. You can see how to use Outlook here.
Since the Mac doesn’t have one specific organization program like Outlook, you might want to look at an app for the Mac. Some examples of Mac Apps that are specifically made for the GTD system include Omnifocus (recommended by Mr. Allen) and several others.
One of the big apps for helping your productivity is Evernote. Although it was not developed specifically for GTD, many people have adapted their Evernote for the GTD system.
Other productivity applications can be adapted to the GTD system. A popular one is Remember The Milk (RTM). Originally designed as a ‘To Do” list program and organizer, RTM’s functionality made it very easy to adapt to GTD. Here is a blog post detailing how you can use RTM for GTD. How’s that for acronyms?
And, here is a short interview with David Allen where he explains his system. You’ll notice in the interview that he says there are new apps for his system coming out all the time. Which app you use for the system doesn’t really matter. What matters is if that app works for you.
Tell Me Something
Is there a system you use for your real estate investing? Have you discovered a piece of tech that works better for you? Share it in the comments below, friends.
Get Organized – Whether you run a real estate empire or just have a rental property on the side, you need to run it well. Find a good system and stick with it.
Spend Time ‘On’ Your Business Instead of ‘In’ Your Business – Don’t get caught up in the little tasks. Spend time on tasks that will earn you the highest return. Let others do the cheap tasks.
Take Time To Review – Step back every once in a while and reflect on how you are doing. What in your business is making money? What is costing a lot? What can you change to increase your business?
JP Moses
is a real estate investor in Memphis, TN, with experience ranging from land lording to note buying, rehabbing, and wholesaling. However, wholesaling is the area that he enjoys most and where he bring the most experience and expertise to his students.