One of the questions that come up from new agents frequently is: how do I control my time so that I get everything done? New agents get wrapped up in the business and the first thing that they set aside is prospecting! If you keep putting this important aspect of the business aside you will end up with lots of time because you will have no business. Here are two tips to follow to keep you on track:

Use Your Appointment Book Wisely

Use your calendar, or appointment book, or Palm Pilot, whichever you use, to your advantage. Take a month at a time and schedule in your basics; such as, one hour per day for prospecting, one hour per week for the office meeting, three hours per week for previewing properties, four hours on Sunday for your open house, etc. These are appointments with yourself. Schedule everything else around these. Remember, a good Realtor never breaks appointments. Don’t be so quick to change these times. All of these activities are important.

When you write items in your appointment book you know what you are going to do that day and it makes it fun to get up and go. Also use your appointment book to schedule when items need to be accomplished, such as sending out your open house invitations, completing your board orientation, picking up your new signs, etc. When you turn the page and see something written in the time slot or on that day—do it! It’s just that simple. Showing property, doing a CMA, going to an inspection, etc. all come around the other activities. There’s always time in a day to write an offer or take a listing; I guarantee you will find it!

It takes a lot of self-discipline to stick to your schedule. The great news is that if you do it regularly it becomes habit and the time just flies. You hear agents complain all the time that they don’t have any listings or buyers, and yet if you look at their schedule, there is also nothing written down about prospecting on a consistent basis. If you start your career using your appointment book and stick to it—you are going to be successful.

Use a Journal

In this business there are so many notes that you have to take. You take notes of something you want to remember at your office meeting, you note phone numbers because they won’t stay on your voice mail forever, you take notes at seminars and training classes, you takes notes when you go out on a listing appointment, you take notes at your open houses of different buyers needs, and so on. Where do you keep all these notes? Many people are using their Palm Pilot for these, some use paper napkins. The most efficient way is to have all your notes in one location. I suggest using an inexpensive 5 x 8 spiral binder. Write the date at the top of each page and write everything in this book or journal. You will never lose information again. You can roughly remember the date that something was done, just go to that date in your journal and voila it’s there!

Keep things simple. When you are new you have lots of notes. Put them in one place so that you can refer back to them frequently. If you make this a habit you will have journals with notes that you can use your entire career. And, no fancy cost for a time management system. Just good old common sense.

Using your computer is fabulous and I would be lost without mine, but it is not convenient at all times. A simple journal can always be used. It is just a matter of getting used to it.

That’s it! Write the basics in your calendar and do them. Keep track of all your notes in one place. These two simple things will help you control your time and keep you on track.

Published: April 2, 2001

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