It can be incredibly frustrating as a professional to put in long hours without achieving desired results. In our minds, we think, “Doesn’t a 12-hour workday lead to success?” Despite the hard work and effort, the expected success never manifests. What you’re not paying attention to is this: Underlying issues often lies in prioritizing the wrong activities. And the other truth is that you don’t have to work more hours to make more money. To achieve your goals, it’s crucial to carve out time and show up for the right money-making activities and leverage your way to success.
The Importance of Prioritizing Money-Making Activities
One of the biggest pitfalls for real estate agents and entrepreneurs is failing to focus on activities that directly contribute to the bottom line. It’s easy to get caught up in administrative tasks, meetings, and other non-revenue generating activities, but this can detract from your main goal: growing your business to work for you, not the other way around.
These are are a few tips that can help you reframe your actions to focus on results:
Identify Money-Making Activities
These tasks are the lifeblood of any business and should be prioritized above all else—without these, you’ll have to close up shop. These can include prospecting new clients, recruiting, following up on leads, and closing sales or deals etc. Show up for these and they’ll show up for you in the long run.
Dedicate a Third of Your Day
Time block a third of your workday to these money-moving levers. This means blocking out substantial chunks of time each day to focus solely on tasks that directly impact the growth of your business and calendar these to make sure that you don’t miss them.
Cancel Everything Else if Needed
Regardless of how busy your day gets, money-making tasks should never be the first to be rescheduled or canceled. This could mean prioritizing a client meeting over an internal meeting or leveraging administrative work instead of prospecting calls. By ensuring these high-impact activities remain a top priority, you set yourself up for consistent results.
Avoiding the Trap of Busy Work
Many professionals fall into the trap of confusing busy work with productive work. Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you’re being productive, and that’s especially true when it comes to prioritizing the right things in your business. Understanding the difference is crucial for achieving your goals. I recommend taking these two critical actions:
Separate What You Should Do and What Can Be Leveraged
Busy work includes tasks that, while necessary, do not directly contribute to generating income. This can include administrative tasks, billing, managing contracts, and other routine activities. Your business will crumble if these aren’t done (ask anyone who doesn’t have an assistant), but they shouldn’t dominate your time.
Then Leverage Away: Delegate and Automate
Delegate or automate busy work wherever possible. Hiring an assistant, automate and optimize your CRM, and outsource certain functions like marketing. Free time = additional time allocated to money-making activities.
Setting Clear Priorities and Sticking to Them
Setting clear priorities each day is essential for ensuring that you’re always working on what matters most. This requires a strategic approach to time management and a commitment to maintaining focus on high-value activities.
Create Your Ultimate CEO Calendar
Start each day with a clear plan that outlines your top priorities. Identify the key objectives that and allocate specific time slots for them, making sure that both you and your assistant know that those time blocks are nonnegotiable.
Review and Adjust Regularly
If certain activities aren’t yielding results, analyze why and make necessary changes. Maybe you need to tweak your prospecting approach or focusing more on high-potential leads. Regular reviews help ensure that you’re always moving toward your goals efficiently.
Conclusion: Focus on What Matters
Seeing results requires a strategic focus on the one aspect that keeps your business alive today: revenue. By dedicating a significant portion of your day to these high-impact tasks and ensuring they are never canceled or deprioritized, you can achieve the results without drowning in additional hours. Avoid the trap of busy work, delegate or automate routine tasks, and maintain clear daily priorities. With this approach, you’ll transform your workday into a life by design.
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