Property Manager's Guide to Productivity

Written by Posted On Tuesday, 30 July 2019 07:34

The rental industry makes for a busy property manager. The responsibilities seem endless and can certainly feel like a delicate balancing act between productivity and sanity. Within this guide to productivity are a few helpful tips for you to try to transition from surviving to thriving.


WHY: Motivation 

You might have inherited some properties, maybe decided to invest, or wanted to make property management a full-time career and are now looking to move to the next level. Or perhaps you just feel stuck in a rut and overwhelmed by the time and effort to care for all the responsibilities of a busy landlord. 


Just as you wouldn’t hop in the car without purpose or direction, it’s important to take time to consider where you are headed and why. Your ‘why’ is the driving factor in motivating change; the fuel that keeps you going during the challenges of this industry.  


Take a moment to imagine how your world would look one month, one year, five years down the road if you decide to make a change in how you juggle all the hats you currently wear. 



Tip: It’s important to keep an eye on the financials of your property portfolio but it’s also important to also consider other motivating factors for greater fulfillment.

WHEN: Planning

Although GPS helps to find the most efficient route and perhaps a coffee stop along the way, we wouldn’t rely on it to decide our destination. We are motivated towards change and success but where are we going?

Long term planning


Having your long term property portfolio and business goals written out is like having a snapshot of a map. As you write out your goals, think in segments of time such as one to two years, three to five years, five to ten years, and exit or retirement planning.


Short term planning

Now it’s time to set your GPS coordinates to get you to your destination. Decide what tasks need to be accomplished monthly, weekly, and daily to move you towards the above stages. Don’t worry at this point about the priority of the items or the amount. Instead, use this time as a way to get it all out on paper what needs to be done to move towards your goals and manage a successful property portfolio.



Tip: Organize your list by yearly, monthly, seasonally, quarterly, weekly, and daily tasks. A spreadsheet with those as column headings might prove useful in prioritizing and execution. 

WHAT: Prioritizing

Can you imagine if you have a van full of children and each calls out for you to stop at a different location? One wants to go to a fast-food drive-thru, another a toy store, one in the back wants a park, another a pet shop. Now imagine you have a to-do list and agenda. Do you follow your agenda or their requests?

A busy landlord or property manager can often make the mistake of letting the urgency of tasks and other people’s agendas drive the business. And that can make for a very busy and chaotic day - but not a productive one. 


Prioritizing will help set boundaries and schedules, and puts you back in the driver’s seat. We often allow the loudest tenant, the next phone call, or urgent matter to dictate our day. So take a moment to prioritize your tasks; otherwise, who is driving the car? 


There are many methods and systems of prioritization to research and consider, but just the act of taking charge of your day and determining and tackling the important is the key. 



Tip: Knowing what tasks are on the agenda tomorrow; before you leave for the day, prioritize the most important, most difficult, and least enjoyable ones and try to tackle them at the beginning of your day tomorrow.


HOW: Time Management

In the day-to-day, what gets our time demonstrates our priorities. And because time is the only resource that is limited and non-renewable time management is vitally important. 


Batching like items together is just one way of saving time. It's also important to try to tackle property management
tasks using time-saving strategies for efficiency. Lastly, consider some of these other suggestions: 


Chunking Time

Pomodoro technique 

The Pomodoro technique is a distraction-free, timer-based system with twenty-five minutes of concentrated work and five minutes rest between. After multiple Pomodoro's a large break is given.

52/17

Similar to the Pomodoro technique, and as the name implies, in this ideal work rhythm fifty-two minutes are dedicated to complete effort to a task and then take a seventeen-minute break.

 

Time Blocking


You can also create chunks of time-based on grouped activities. For example, set aside an hour in the morning, before or after lunch, and the last hour of the day for administrative tasks just to gain a little more control of the day. 


Avoid Distractions


We all know what distractions are, but are we guilty of treating them as important? We can be so busy with busywork that the actual work towards the greater goal takes a back seat. 


Distractions are like those kids in the van trying to persuade the driver to go a different course. Email, phone calls, office-visits, internet research, etc will always have a place in a busy office but those items can be conducted in batches and chunks at intervals that best suit the agenda. 


Likewise, stress relief is important. We all need a break and want to connect, visit, check our social media, or just relax. All those items have a place in our lives, we just need to make sure we give it place and that it doesn’t overtake us. 


Get Organized

With so many responsibilities, documents, files, checklists, rental inspections, it is very difficult to stay organized but is paramount to productivity. Getting and staying organized might take some time upfront and require some consistency (see next section) but will pay off huge in terms of time savings overall. 


In 2017 a business consulting firm study found those they surveyed
wasted an average of 21.8 hours a week. How much time can we save by getting and staying organized? 


As the saying goes, time is money, so saving time being organized will save you dollars. But you’ll also gain clarity and some sanity in the workplace which is priceless. 

Stay Consistent

Jerry Seinfield’s tip to Brad Isaac about how to be a great comedian might just change how you approach your property management goals. He told him, “don’t break the chain”. Simply put, be consistent and make sure you work every day towards your goal until it is accomplished. 


Sounds simple, but if you give yourself room to skip a day, the chain is broken and it’s easy to skip more days or stop altogether.


That everyday mentality can move you toward completing a large goal and help you stay motivated in managing the mundane repetitive tasks.


Tip: Check your smartphone app usage to see the total time spent on different apps and programs. Set goals and/or phone and app timers to try to shorten those times down incrementally.

WHO: Sourcing and Managing Help

A busy landlord can’t do it all themselves or they will suffer burn-out eventually. Sometimes you need help. Focus on what you do best and don’t be afraid to outsource, delegate, or automate a task.

From temp agencies to student interns, to independent contractors, the available pool of resources to ease your burden is plentiful. 


You may be saying that it is too expensive to hire outside help. That expense is relative if you consider the opportunity costs. What else could you be doing with your time if you had a little help? Perhaps you’d spend some of that time to grow your portfolio, or maybe you would invest it into yourself and loved ones, or give more time to your community or other pursuits. 


Tip: Check with your local high school, community college, and/or homeschool associations to ask about student internships. Students can gain hands-on experience and perhaps even school credit.

  

They say money doesn’t grow on trees, but neither does time. Although money can be acquired and there are ways to replenish, time is not a commodity that can be renewed. As it is precious, using time wisely and imploying tactics to save time puts you back in the driver’s seat of your business and life.

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