The Perfect Work Week

Does your usual work week seem like a smoke-blinded stumble through a burning building, desperately trying to put out new fires as they erupt? If so, that’s a terrible way to undertake what might be the most labor intensive activity of your life. Americans in general, and perhaps real estate agents in particular, probably spend more time working than either sleeping or relaxing, and when that time at work deteriorates into a chaotic sequence of seemingly unrelated events, guess what happens? It creates stress that bleeds over into other areas of your life.

At the heart of most chaotic schedules is a lack of organization. You might think you can keep every task that needs to be accomplished in its rightful place inside your head, and that taking the time to plan is a waste of time in itself. If this is you, good luck on not dying young from a stress-induced heart attack or keeping your spouse from filing for divorce. There are a few simple ways to organize your work week and, magically, have more time and make more money in the process.

The first thing you should do is focus on what makes you money. Don’t get distracted by time consuming activities that contribute nothing to the bottom line. Real estate agent coach, Bob Corcoran, makes priority easy: listing, prospecting, selling, negotiating. These are the activities that make you money. Don’t lose focus on them. Corcoran has figured out that his average client is worth about $1,886 per hour. Bet you could pay someone less than that to answer phones and run down to the local office supply store for ink cartridges.

Next up is to eliminate time wasters. This not only includes the aforementioned runs to the office supply store but handling routine paperwork. How many of us arrange incoming paperwork into various files on our desk and end up shuffling them for eternity? Think how much time you would save by only handling something once. Get in the habit of filing it, acting on it, or throwing it away.

But all this planning and organization will be wasted if you don’t make yourself accountable to the new, productive work week. Figure out how to insure you actually execute the plan. Common ways might be telling a co-worker or spouse what you’re doing and asking them to keep you honest. Institute a reward system for yourself. Doesn’t matter what it is – maybe a movie or dinner at your favorite restaurant. Different inducements work for different people.

Remember, the perfect work week is out there.

The Bonus Commissions Team

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