Tech Savvy Agent – Winner of 2010 Inman Most Innovative Blog Award

Effective time management for realtors has been an ongoing issue for many.   If you are running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off, then you probably need to sit down for 5 minutes and take some notes!   The most successful business people, whether it is within the real estate industry or not, are those that manage their time effectively.

There are some very effective ways to manage your days and just like anything, once you have these systems in place they become second nature.  Take a look at the following five tips on how to effectively manage your time each day and see which ones you already use and those that you may want to consider adding:

1.  Make A List Each Night

Making a list of your following day’s activities not only prepares you in advance but also allows you to get started straight away the next morning.  I used to create my list of activies in the morning, however, I found that it took away time in my most productive part of the day (being the mornings).  With that being said, you may be more productive at night, but the most important thing is to create a list that is reasonable and attainable to complete each day.

2.   Keep It Quiet

Keep distractions down to an absolute minimum.  If you are anything like me, you’ll have multiple things going on at any given time and having additional distractions will significantly reduce your management of time.  By shutting down your email and turning off your phone ringer during your most productive hours of the day, you can improve your completed work load exponentially!  It may feel strange or even scary to keep everything quiet for a few hours, but it will definitely be worth it!

3.   Don’t Procrastinate – Prioritize!

Whether you want to believe it or not, getting your dry cleaning done does not take precedence over creating an action plan for your past clients!   Prioritization goes hand in hand with procrastination – it’s so easy to push items that you don’t really like doing to the end of the day (or even tomorrow), even though the priority is certinaly there.   Best thing to do is make a habit of getting those dreaded tasks done first and make them the priority and then move on from there.  At the end of the day you’ll be glad you did and probably feel like you’ve accomplished a lot more than if “it” is still on your list.

4.  Learn, learn and learn some more

By consistently picking up (and using) more tools of the trade, you will natually become more efficient in your work.  Tech Savvy Agent (our other learning resource site) is a great place to go to gain some amazing tips and information on the latest and greatest tools within the real estate industry.    TIP:  Instead of having to remember a bunch of resourceful websites to go back and read, sign up for their new information to be automatically emailed to you when they are posted through their RSS feed.

5.  Invest in technology tools

It seems like every day new techy tools are being introduced to the industry – from iphone apps to ipads – it’s a little overwhelming, right?   Think about what technology tools you currently have in place that you don’t use (or don’t help you manage your time), and which ones you believe you should get more information about?   Ask around and see what your co-workers or broker says, or post a question on your Facebook Fan Page and see what responses you get.

Making conscious decisions each day in and around these five tips will definitely assist you in becoming more effective in your time management and ultimately your success as a realtor.  Give them a try and let me know how you are doing!