Recently, after several calls to real estate agents with various companies, I discovered that once again time management tends to be one of the biggest problems agents have in today’s business world. First, let’s set the record straight; one can not manage time that is an oxymoron comment because time can not be managed. A person only has the ability to manage what they do with their time. Step one is discover your goals. What are you trying to accomplish? What will that do for you? Lastly, why is that important for you? Not having goals is the quickest route to no where.    

 In Brian Tracey’s book “Eat That Frog,” www.BrianTracy.com he states “According to the old saying, if you eat a live frog first thing each morning you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing it’s probably the worst thing you’ll do all day. Using “eat that frog” as a metaphor for tackling the day’s most challenging and most prone to procrastination task. Eat That Frog shows you how to zero in on these critical tasks and organize your time. This means not only getting more things done, but getting the right things done.”

Now, take that analogy to your personal and business life. Try this, take your calendar and break it into quarters. At the beginning of each quarter I block out the days for me and my family first. Holidays, days off, vacations, etc… This way, you are putting your family first and it becomes your priority. Next “BLOCK” your time for building your business and set it for appointments. Now I know what you’re thinking, yeah yeah, I have heard that before. Well you probably have and the reality is until you accept that it is because it works and it works every time. If you have time “management” challenges, it is more than likely the result of your best thinking. That means whatever your struggles may be or wherever you are in your life, your best thinking got you there. In order to make any sort of change, we must first realize that we are the result of our best thinking and others have come before us so there is a better way. This way is proven by the success of those people that have already accepted the better way.     

John Maxwell asks the question in “Today Matters,” is time or money more valuable? My friend John says time is more important because money mistakes can be corrected and when you lose time, you can not get it back or fix the mistake. When I approach each year, quarter, month, day, and hour, I first identify my top priorities that must be accomplished for me to meet my goals. Until my top priority is complete, I do not get to do anything else. Basically, use this rule of thumb; ”Until Your #1 Priority is Done - Everything Else is a Distraction!” In short, when you are ready to make a change and overcome managing yourself with the time you have, and then start today, not tomorrow, it must start today and it must start with you.