Real Estate Business Development : Achieving business performance traction: Having command of your workday

In my previous articles, I focused on the importance of having a robust business plan that includes short and long-term goals and objectives that flow down to specific and measurable daily tasks that support your goals. With this in place, it will certainly help set the stage for you to realize some amazing results. However, there is one more element that needs to be considered and that is the commitment to work the plan; even a perfectly written business plan will fail if the execution phase is not getting the attention it deserves. One of the primary factors I continue to see with many of my clients who are struggling to gain some performance traction is poor time management practices and habits. All too often, small businesses are busy wearing a number of hats and tend to focus on the fire of the day. There needs to be a balance between the urgent and critical tasks that will come up in your workday. There is no doubt that addressing a flood in one of your rental units is an urgent task and may require your full attention but by no means is it a critical task in your business development strategy. If your day is filled with urgent tasks, there will be no time left to work on the bigger picture items. Here is where delegation and outsourcing can be a very effective strategy in recapturing some time. There is much information written about time management. Let's talk about some of the more popular strategies: * Time Slicing is a great method for you to implement and will require you to "slice" up your workday into logical blocks that make sense based upon the typically things that you do on a daily basis. An example can be responding to emails and phone calls between 9 -11:00 a.m. * Focus Time can be a very powerful approach in managing your workday. Simply stated, focus time is a part of your workday where you will turn off all external interruptions and only concentrate on the tasks at hand that have been scheduled. Implementing focus time means as you are working through the tasks, you are not submitting to the poor habits that can affect your productivity. I'm sure we have all been guilty of working on something critical and we take a quick look at our e-mail inbox and before you know it, you are now in a tailspin of distractions. In order for focus time to be successful, it must be communicated to your staff so they are aware you are not to be disturbed. * Work on the most critical items first; this will help to ensure that you will get them done. Also, for most of us, the mornings can be where you are at your peak of performance so doing the challenging work at this time can be beneficial. Upon starting each workday, having an understanding of what must get accomplished by the end of the day will help to keep you at a success oriented pace. * Altering your workday schedule is a great opportunity for you to capture some time where the general population of people will not be around distracting you. I'm an avid believer in this method. I'm typically at my desk at 5:30 a.m.; this gives me a few hours with no phones and no people. * Setting up for the next day in advance is a great way to come into the office ready to hit the ground running. It is recommended that before you leave for the day, you have your daily tasks for the next day clearly identified as well as any material you may need staged ready to go. * Organizing your office and desk will go a long way in optimizing your workday by having everything at your fingertips and your desk clear. For me, nothing can be more counter-productive than having piles of stuff on my desk; I typically only have in front of me what I'm currently working on. In closing, time is one of our most valuable resources as a professional and business owner and it is essential that you have command of your workday in order to have the best chance in achieving your daily objectives. Without time management discipline strategies deployed, you will succumb to being a victim of the inefficiencies your day may throw at you. Carl Schiovone is president of Carl Schiovone and Associates Real Estate Coaching, Inc., Oakdale, N.Y.