Have you ever wondered how the most successful agents structure their days? It’s a question that comes up a lot so, I’m going to walk you through how to create a daily routine just like the top agents in the industry. Having a routine may be the most important step you can take if you want to grow your income. Yet so few agents actually have one. Develop yours today!
CREATING A DAILY ROUTINE
Have you ever wondered how to create a daily routine they can help ensure your success, that can help put you on the right path every single day that you wake up, and move you towards the success that you’re ultimately shooting for? That’s what we’re going to be taking a look at today. Let’s jump in!
WAKE UP EARLIER
Now for some of you, you’re like “…but I’m not a morning person!” Guess what? Neither am I (by nature). I hate mornings. I’m more of an evening person. About 10 AM is when I start to get going. But I realized early on in my business that if I truly wanted to be successful I had to be up and at it before everybody else. I had be in the office first. I had to be the one that was setting the tone for the day. Just because I was self-employed at the time didn’t mean that I couldn’t put myself under more control and manage myself as if I was my own worst boss. I want you to be your own worst boss.
What is it that successful people do that others don’t? The first thing is they usually wake up earlier. Most studies show that the most successful people wake up sometime between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. If you’re not doing that you’re not setting yourself up first thing in the morning to control your day and own your morning.
QUITE TIME
Some people call this their Hour of Power. For me it’s my quiet time. This is the time right after I wake up. I grab a cup of coffee and I’m sitting down and I’m praying, I’m journaling, I’m reading stuff and I’m getting my head screwed on straight for the day. That way when I get going and when I move and I’m on the go, I know that I’ve set the tone for the day with that first hour. I use that quiet time to just reflecting and plan out what I want to achieve this day and figure out what my goals are. Start doing your daily affirmations in this time. That hour is like the rudder of the day. If I do this, it makes my day great. If I don’t, I feel it later on that day.
SET A SCHEDULE
You need to arrive at the same time to the office every day. You need to be there at the same time day-in and day-out. I know far too many agents that respond to “what time did you get in the office?” with “ahhh ten o’clock – eleven o’clock…depends on if I have an appointment…” You need to be there every single day at the same time. I don’t care what time it is but you have got to pick a schedule and you got to be there.
But what if you don’t have any appointments? Great! You know you should be doing?
PROSPECTING
Do your prospecting early. This is when you’re making your calls; you’re following up with leads. You’re staying on top of the people, you’re reaching out to FSBOs or expired listings or following up with the Internet leads the came in throughout the evening. Whatever you’re doing, you’ve got to do this early because once your day gets going, it goes to hell in a hand basket. You start getting into a reactive mode and you’re just going to stay in a reactive mode through the rest of the day. It’s very hard to break that reactive cycle. So when you can prospect early, you really set the business generating activities first (your be GA’s) and then you’re on to the business servicing later in the day. That’s why you arrive at the same time. [And by the way, even if you don’t have any appointments, guess what you should be doing? Setting appointments!]
SCHEDULE YOUR STOP TIME
This is absolutely critical. Do you need to stop at the same time every day? No, you don’t. You can have days where you’re willing to take evening appointments up until 7 p.m. or whatever time it is. Pick your stop time and the days you are going to follow that schedule. Then whatever that stop time is, you’re done. Don’t schedule more appointments. All you have to say is “you know what? I’ve already got an appointment this evening with myself, my family, or my kids.” And just schedule somebody for the next day. Most people are pretty flexible that way. You have to start respecting your own time and your own schedule if you want other people to as well.
PLAN YOUR TIME OFF
When are you going to take time off? You should not be working seven days a week. This is not a 24/7 365 business. It doesn’t have to be but a lot of people are running that way because they never plan their time off. Are you going to take Mondays off? Tuesday’s off? Sunday’s off? Saturday’s? I don’t care what day it is. I have a client who takes Thursday’s off. That’s fine; that works for her. Other people say I don’t work the weekends. Or maybe you take appointments Saturday morning but then you’re off Saturday afternoon and all of Sunday. You can do that in this business. I know seven-figure income earners who do not work weekends. It works because they set-up their time that way. I want you to do the same thing.
IGNORE YOUR EMAIL AND PHONE
(Some of you are going to freak out when you see this…) You need to ignore your email and your phone on your days off. Most of you are going “what happens if there’s an emergency? What happens if it’s all falling apart and my clients need to get a hold of me?” Give them a way to get a hold of you in case of an emergency. Set a voice mail message that says “Hey! You’ve reached the voicemail of Travis Robertson. If you need me, if this is an emergency, text me at this number. Let me know what’s going on.” You can give them a way to get ahold of you but other than that I want you to shut off your email, shut off your phone, just disconnect and enjoy your time of. Enjoy the time in the evenings with your family. Enjoy the weekends doing something that makes you come alive and that rejuvenates you.
If you’re not doing these seven things you’re going to burn out, you’re going to get exhausted and your business is just going to fall apart, as your personal life. I don’t want that for you.
