The 3-3 Method for Conquering Your To-Do List
Do you ever work from a To-Do List? It’s a great idea, but what generally happens is that most people end up beating themselves up about all the things they didn’t get accomplished on their to-do list rather than acknowledging what they did accomplish.
The 80-20 rule says that 80 percent of the benefit in our businesses comes from the top 20 percent of our activities. Rather than tracking what you didn’t do, keep a list of all the things you did do. To illustrate this point, if you had ten
items on your to-do list, you could beat yourself for not accomplishing four of the items.
A better approach is to ask yourself, “Did I accomplish the top 20 percent of the items on my list?” Acknowledge yourself for what you did accomplish rather than beating yourself up for what you didn’t do.
An excellent way to accomplish more and make more time in your schedule is to identify the three most important activities you need to accomplish today to stay on track for achieving your business goals and the three personal activities you need to engage in to have a great personal life. When you have accomplished these, anything else on your list is part of the 80 percent that only contributes a small fraction to your success in both business and your personal life.
Try this 3-3 approach out for a month and watch what happens with your business. Chances are you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Think Like a Millionaire
The next time you’re thinking about staying late at the office rather than spending time with your family or doing something you love, you might want to rethink your decision. One of the most seductive traps in the real estate industry is
the belief that giving up weekends, time with family, and other non-business activities is key to being successful.
Thomas Stanley’s book, The Millionaire Mind, puts this myth to rest. After an extensive study of many millionaires, Stanley has discovered how rather ordinary individuals achieve incredible financial success.
His findings emphasize that what makes these individuals different is the four following characteristics:
- Tremendous focus.
- Their commitment to giving back to others.
- An emphasis that is “family first.”
- Extraordinary passion for what they do.
Notice, it’s not about working harder and giving up your evenings and weekends for your clients.
Use the “Four D’s” to Master Your To-Do List
Let’s face it—between all the emails, text messages, phone calls, social media posts, prospecting, showings, and prospecting you’re expected to do, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Managing all this
incoming communication and information is virtually impossible without a system.
Here’s a tried-and-true method that has been around for years that works well for both paper and digital communication. The system is called the “Four D’s.”
Here’s how it works. When you receive any type of communication whether it’s a voicemail, email, social media posts, etc. immediately decide what to do with it. You have four choices
- Do it (deal with it) now.
- Delegate: Reassigning work is one of the most efficient strategies of time management, provided that the person you’re delegating to has the skills to handle the job.
- Defer: It’s best to handle items as they come in, but that’s not always possible. If something is not time sensitive, you can defer it, but be sure to schedule a date to handle the item to make sure it gets done.
- Delete: Learn to say “No,” and eliminate junk emails, meetings that are neither urgent or important, or anything else that keeps you from focusing on the core activities that matter most to your business.
This system really works—try it out for yourself and see.
Take a Break!
Are you constantly feeling worn down by the stress of today’s market or other issues? Do you constantly consume caffeine or sugar to crank up your energy?
A simple way to improve both these issues is to take more breaks. A break consists of brief activity that differs from the main activity you are doing. In fact, taking ten-minute breaks every 60-90 minutes allows
you to maintain peak attention and performance.
The challenge is that many people confuse diversions with true breaks. For example, playing computer games is a diversion since it doesn’t take you away from your computer. Neither is talking on the phone since your phone is so closely tied to your work.
A better choice would be to take a quick walk outside, have a snack, or do something that takes you away from your computer or mobile device. The key in taking a break is engage in an activity that puts you in a different place doing a different activity.
Ten minutes is all it takes, but you’ll be more alert and accomplish more when you return. Try it for a week and see how it works for you!
It’s Time to Rewrite Your Marketing Materials
Here’s a great way to upgrade all of your marketing materials that will definitely help you to generate more leads.
- The first step is to print out a copy of all your marketing materials, whether it’s postcards, a newsletter, your website, social media ads, etc.
- Next, take a red marker and circle each time you use the word, “I” in the ad copy.
- Now go back and use a different color marker to highlight how many times you use the “you.”
If you’re like most agents, you will have a lot more “I” language than “you” language.
The secret to generating more leads from your marketing efforts is to be focused on your customer, not on you and your accomplishments. The simplest way to do this is to shift from using the word “I” to using the word “you.”
Always remember to stay focused on the question that matters most to your clients: “What’s in it for me?”