Build A Great Day

I finished the other day with more stuff on my desk than when I began. It’s a frustrating experience to put in a long day and find that you can’t really define what you accomplished. Our industry is often interruption-driven, always requires flexibility, and demands that we quickly serve our clients regardless of what we may have planned.

So, how can we build a successful day, and maybe even shoot for a great week? Here are a few suggestions to help you create a terrific day:

It’s really about you: There is a great deal to learn about time management, setting goals, and measuring our steps. These areas are critical to success in sales. However, my perspective changed when I heard someone say, “It’s not about time management; its about self-management.” Ouch! Setting the schedule each day is really about learning to train ourselves to stay on task. Step number one for a successful day is making a commitment to yourself to succeed and stay on track with your most important objectives.

An appointment with yourself: The most important business appointment you have each day is the one you set with yourself. The day will flow with far greater impact if you reflect in planning before you engage in business. Build your schedule for the day (better yet have routine appointments for prospecting, listing service calls, property showing blocks, etc.) by taking time to chart where you want to be and what you want to do at major time markers through the day. Make sure that each day includes working on something that impacts your business long term. Even thirty minutes invested in a long-term activity will pay large rewards for you in the future. Rather than letting deadlines happen to you, reduce stress by taking control of them. You begin that process with a thoughtful schedule each morning.

See the Three: Between client calls, falling into the e-mail black hole, a couple of “gotta-minutes” with colleagues, and “OH NO! It’s 3 p.m, and I am supposed to be at school to pick up the kids!” - our objectives can easily be put aside. Some days even begin with a feeling of failure, because we recognize that there is more to do than can be accomplished. Here’s my suggestion: Reduce it to three. Each morning in your planning time, meditate a few minutes on this question: “What are the THREE most important things that I have to get done today? Keep a stack of index cards (yes, that’s old school) on your desk (even if you do everything on your Blackberry). Write your three primary accomplishments on the card. Take sixty seconds and consider how you will feel when those things are completed. Then keep the card in your pocket and review it several times during the day. If you have a business partner, consider e-mailing these three targets to each other each morning .

Plan for spontaneity: I often find that I have built a schedule that is perfect on paper but blows up because there is no time available for the unexpected things that absolutely will come. Planned gaps are a key to building a successful calendar for the day. Make sure that you have 15 or thirty minutes between most appointments. Use these buffers to fit in a return call, deal with an urgent e-mail, expand a meeting that needs more time, or just give yourself a break (try a yoga pose, a quick walk around the building, or a five minute workout).

Distinguish between Urgent and Important: As a college student, I was deeply impacted by a short essay by Charles Hummel, Tyrrany of the Urgent, Click here to read a copy posted on the web. The essay is written in the language and terms of the Christian faith, but one of the its universal concepts is developing the ability to distinguish between what is important and what is urgent. We often make the mistake of giving all our time to things that are urgent but not truly important. Make a commitment to focus on what is important, and invest your time heavily there. Steven Covey in his book First Things First provides a great treatment of this subject as well. Find more at this entry on Wikipedia . From time to time, look back on your day and distinguish the time you spent on imporant activities vs. urgent ones. What did you learn? Adjust and make the next day better.

Schedule Rest: Realtors are some of the hardest working people of all. You have a natural desire to serve and help, do one more thing, add another event, and spend your time and energy on everyone else. To make sure that you can continue to perform at optimum levels, be sure to schedule time to rest. Like daily planning, you can benefit from having rest as a written appointment in your daily and weekly calendar. Block time each night or mid afternoon to rest your mind, boost your energy and re-fire your creativity. Consider taking a day each week to disengage from work. One of the mysterious conclusions is that we can accomplish more in six days than we can in seven.

Okay, take a few of these ideas and weave them into your day. I would love to get your feedback, hear about your experiences in this area, and learn more about your professional challenges. Happy Sales!