One of the most common complaints when I teach Business Planning or The Road To Success is "I don't have enough time". In one of my earlier columns, I gave you three tips for good time management: Do It, Delegate It, or Dump It. In reviewing some articles from realtor.org, I came across the following additional tips for effective time management. I'd like to share them with you.

1. Spend the first 15 minutes of every day, or the last 15 minutes at night, making a to-do list.
2. Decide what time of day you are the most productive, and schedule your most difficult jobs then.
3. Use waiting-time effectively by planning small tasks you can do in short segments of time.
4. Build flexibility into your schedule, so you can adapt when things don't go according to schedule or new opportunities arise.
5. When you return a phone call, minimize phone tag by including a time you can be reached.
6. Spend the most time on the job that produces the most income.
7. Don't let non-productive tasks consume your time.
8. Take a break to refresh yourself; you'll be more productive.
9. Split longer tasks into smaller increments to allow you to fit them into available time.
10. Divide a difficult job into several parts, so you don't burn out before it's done, suggests Max Messmer in Business Credit magazine (June 2000).
11. Set completion dates for tasks to avoid procrastination.
12. Create a system to prioritize tasks, but plan on re-evaluating priorities daily.
13. Reward yourself with 15 minutes of fun after completing a difficult job.
14. Delegate routine chores, but be sure you train your helpers well.
15. Value your time, and ask others to do the same.
16. Touch each piece of paper on your desk just one time. That's when you decide to do something about it ("do it"), throw it away ("dump it"), or get someone else to take care of it for you ("delegate it").

Hope these hints help.

See you next week.

Back to Ronnie REALTOR^® Archive >>