Ways to Boost Your Real Estate Productivity and See Stellar Results in Q4

Summer is over for us in North America.

No more summery open houses. No more client meetings on patios.

Cold temperatures are rolling in, and the first snowfall isn’t that far away. Yep, the fourth quarter is soon here, and so is a big dip in motivation.

Or not!

With the right productivity tips and hacks, you can crush it in Q4 and end the year with your best real estate results yet.

Ready to win? Get started with these productivity boosts for your real estate business.

Create time buffers.

Schedules are handy, but stressful.

If a client is running late, if you get stuck in traffic, if a prospective buyer strolls into your open house at the last second … your entire schedule gets thrown off, and it can affect your client relationships, your productivity and your mental state.

To avoid all that, create buffers in your schedule. Add windows of time to your calendar — before or after appointments — just like you would a meeting.

These scheduled chunks of free time create buffers for you to get from point A to point B in stress-free fashion, in the case that something goes off track.

And if everything goes to schedule, it’s bonus time for you! Show up to your meeting early, or take 30 minutes to tackle emails, grab lunch or take a nap.

Use a better planner.

Even in our increasingly digital and paperless world, physical planners and agendas still have value.

Now, don’t freak out. You may first think that having to actually write things down is tedious, and counterproductive. However, this is far from the case.

There have been various scientific studies that conclude that the physical act of writing things down is actually beneficial. It has been found to improve memory, and stimulate learning, AND you still have your notes to turn to in case you need to check something.

As for efficiency, with the right set up, whipping out a journal and writing in it can take only as much time as taking out your phone, unlocking it, opening an app, and typing in it. (Plus journals never run out of batteries!)

Whether you prefer plain, unlined, pocket-sized notebooks, fancy bullet journals, trusty daily schedule keepers, or glitzy diaries, go find a journal that’s right for you. You’ll thank yourself for it!

Don’t check your email first thing in the morning.

We know, we know. It sounds like terrible advice. But hear us out.

When you check your email, you create dozens of mini tasks for yourself. You need to respond, delete, and sort. Maybe you see an email about a big sale and spend 40 minutes doing some online window shopping. Or maybe you get bogged down in unsubscribing from junk.

Those mini tasks add up, both in the time and energy you spend on them.

Try completing a few non-email tasks to start your day. Return a phone call, order business cards, drop off a client gift, and so on.

Once you’ve crossed a few of these tasks off your daily to-do list, then move onto email. We promise you’ll feel more efficient and more productive.

Try the two-minute rule.

This rule comes from David Allen’s bestselling time management book, Getting Things Done.

It’s crazy simple, but it works by helping you overcome procrastination.

The rule is that if a task will take you less than two minutes to complete, then do it right now.

Easy, right? The best part is that completing these little tasks will create a sense of accomplishment that will motivate you to keep going until you’ve crossed off most of the items on your to-do list.

Hire help.

Productivity lags when you’ve got a million things to do, and only half of them are related to growing your real estate business (though you can also hire someone to handle some of your business-related tasks, too, of course).

Hiring some assistance to take care of those tasks could be well worth the money.

• Can’t find time to clean your house? Hire a cleaning service to come twice a month.
• Have your groceries delivered, or sign up for a meal planning service where recipes and ingredients are brought to your front door. Boom: stress-free meals.
• Find a dog walker to take Spot out in the afternoons.
• Give a personal shopper a list of the closet additions you need to make it through the month.

Ready to crush it in Q4? What other tips and tools will you be trying?