Real Estate Blog

When I am working with referral partners or loan officers in my mortgage business, the first question I ask them is, "What's stopping you from being more productive?" The answers that keep coming up are pretty much the same from everyone.

In this blog, we will take a look at these beliefs one by one, and see how you can turn them around.

1. There's too much information coming at me too fast

Belief: My email is overwhelming me. I can't keep up with it.

Reality: The volume of email isn't the issue. How you process and organize the volume is the issue. Learning how to better manage your email by using McGhee Productivity Solutions' "Four D's for Decision Making" will transform this belief.

Each year we receive more and more data that we can access from an increasing number of locations on a growing array of devices. If you are not careful, the quantity of data starts to drive you instead of the other way around.

2. I have to keep everything

Belief: Being organized blocks my creativity, and there's nothing spontaneous about it.

Reality: Organization actually fosters and supports creativity and spontaneity. You may find your creativity being disrupted by the non-stop flood of reminders spinning around your head, such as:

• Call Kevin for his birthday.

• Review the P&L spreadsheet.

• Review PowerPoint slide deck.

• Decide on a Valentine's Day present.

Imagine if you could clear your mind of all these lists and transfer them to Microsoft Outlook. You can do this by creating an Outlook task for each item. Those items then appear in Tasks.

To create a task:

• In Outlook 2010

• In Outlook 2007

• In Outlook 2003

Storing your tasks in Outlook will create space for new ideas and creative thinking. Being disorganized can also stifle your creativity. Imagine you're an artist and decide to paint the Colorado autumn colors in Aspen. You drive for three and a half hours from Denver to Aspen to find the perfect spot. When you arrive, you realize you've forgotten to pack your paint brushes. That can make being creative really hard! Preparation does support your creativity.

A booked calendar leaves no time to be spontaneous, which can be frustrating. However, if you pre-plan, you can block out large chunks of time with no organized events, and you’ll have more freedom to do something on the spur of the moment.

To get control of all the "stuff" in your life, I recommend you set up a system for storing reference information, turning action information into tasks and scheduling tasks on your calendar. After you've set up your reference system, you'll find that it supports your creativity and spontaneity. The best result is that you can close your system, knowing that everything is taken care of so you can relax and let go!

4. There's not enough time in the day!

Belief: I just don't have the time to do all the things I want.

Reality: Time is not the issue. The issue is deciding what you can do given the time you have.

As you know, managing your time with Olympian skill doesn't create more hours in the day. We all have the same 24 hours, so the issue isn't managing time—it's managing what you can do with the time you have. You can't do everything, but you can do anything, as long as it fits into your calendar.

If you keep your to-do lists in multiple locations—in email, on a calendar, on paper, in an Excel spreadsheet, a list in your head, and notepad paper—you might want to consider centralizing and prioritizing this list in Outlook. Start by creating tasks, as described in step 3. When you create a task, you can set reminders, make it recurring, track its status, and more, so you always know what to do when. Then organize your tasks in the task list so you are at your most productive. Tasks also appear in the To-Do Bar in Outlook, together with other Outlook items, such as email messages or contacts, that have been flagged for follow-up. The To-Do Bar appears in all views of Outlook.

5. It takes too much time to become productive

Belief: I don't have the time to set up a system. I've got too much to do.

Reality: You can save one to two hours a day by using a system to manage your information, so the return on the investment is significant.

Here are some interesting statistics. On average, people we work with spend two to three hours a day working in email and 60 minutes a day finding and filing information. After setting up a system to manage their information, they spend one to two hours a day working in email and 10 minutes a day finding and filing information. That's a savings of nearly two hours a day, or almost 12 weeks a year!

Take a moment and consider the time you spend:

• Finding and filing information.

• Writing a to-do list and then rewriting it a week later on another list, and then another.

• Opening email, reading the message, closing the email and then coming back to the same email to read it again tomorrow.

• Going to the store and realizing you don’t know the model of the hardware you need to pick up.

These are just a few examples of how we waste time by not having an Integrated Management System to help us remember what, where, and when. Take the time to set up your system. You are worth it, and you cannot afford not to make the most of ALL your time.