How often do you hear exhausted people say,There’s just not enough hours in the day!? 2010 could be your year to make the most of every 24 hours… if you have the time. Tony Rowe gives his opinion.
We’re constantly coming up with time-saving devices and technology to fill an ever diminishing allocation of the 24 hours in each day. Try as we might, we have yet to be able to increase that 24 hours. Instead, we try to come up with ways to fit more and more into the same space.
We’ve now got Facebook and Twitter updates to complete (and if you haven’t – you really should, because that’s the way consumers expect to receive their information now, you know!) as well as the emails to check (oh, that’s right, we’ve got the internet on our mobiles now to allow us to do that while we’re going between opens and appraisals and inspections and reports).
The latest stats show we’re heading out of the slump (or is the bubble about to burst?) and agents are busier than ever with enquiries up all over the city (or is that everywhere except where I work?). The agency is getting lots of enquiry but vendors just don’t get it (and don’t get me started on the carpet crunchers who waste my time!). You should see the types we’re getting in now looking to lease! Landlords have become “property investors” and know all there is to know about how a property should be managed.
There’s getting the kids back to school and the New Year just beginning (and it’s going to be another interesting one, with the economy on the mend and interest rates rising – or is that falling?).
How are we supposed to get the time to do our job? There’s only 24 hours in a day – I said it myself at the top of this page!
Here’s a few tips that may help:
- Plan your next day before leaving your desk – or knocking off for the day. Note the priorities for the day ahead. Schedule it all in – if you want/need a regular coffee break – put it on the list!
- Get to bed 30 minutes earlier. Go to sleep reading instead of watching the TV – even if it’s only a couple of pages.
- Get up 30 minutes earlier each morning. Spend the time getting prepared for day ahead – so you don’t rush!
- Delegate. There are things that only you can do – but there are some things you can have someone else do. Thought through and trained properly, it will get done as you would like it done – and there’s some extra time for you to fill with other things!Determine not to sit in front of the box watching something that will never make a difference in your life. Use the time to do something else that will.
- Use technology to manage time. Use voicemail to screen your calls and answer on your own schedule. Check email at specified times of day, not continuously. Don’t just adopt new technology because it’s trendy or available. Adopt it only if it suits your style to do so.
- Control your television time. Work out what nights are TV nights (and have 1, 2 or 3 “TV-free” nights a week). Another method is to work out what shows you want to watch and schedule those into your week. Determine not to sit in front of the box watching something that will never make a difference in your life. Use the time to do something else that will – like spend time with your family, read, start a hobby, join a group, take a course, volunteer.
- Learn to multi-task. The more skilled you become at this, the more able you will be to fit much more into your daily allocation of 24 hours. If you can’t multi-task, then you’ll just have to cope with the 24 you’ve got – don’t forget to sleep for some of it though!
- Schedule some special time. Make this a priority. This includes time with yourself, your significant other, children or friends. When it comes down to it, these are the things that matter. This is what counts in life and will recharge you so you have more energy. Don’t leave the most important people in your world to have the left overs!
I hope 2010 is a great one for you!
Tony Rowe is General Manager of Corum Training www.corumtraining.com.au, a specialist provider of training to the property sector in NSW. Corum Training has fully qualified trainers with extensive knowledge, expertise and experience in the delivery of assessment and training services in Real Estate across Australia and New Zealand.
