Time Management Hacks & Good Music Tips :)

Time management. Ufff. She and I have danced a lot of dances over the years. More like dance fights. 

It has been one of the hardest disciplines I have had to work on each and every day. I have read many of the great books, The 4-Hour Work Week,  Eat That Frog, The One Thing BUT, I still struggle and still have to be EXTREMELY intentional about managing my time or I could be doing a million things that are not moving the needle (non-money making) tasks/projects/research. 

Case in point, when I am flipping a house, I CANNOT, without a shadow of a doubt, CANNOT be on Pinterest for more than 5 minutes during normal work hours if I don’t have a specific thing I am searching for on a saved board or I will fall down that beautiful designing black vortex for hours. 

I would love to walk you through the top processes that have helped me manage my time and see if any help you. 

Time BLOCKING. I know, I know. It has been said a million times, BUT even though I’ve read it a million times it took me far too long to implement this method to really help me scale. My assistant blocks off time for me for EVERYTHING. We now have a dance that we have perfected where she knows (to some pretty legit accuracy) how long it will take me to do pretty much everything. The time it took to perfect that is priceless. 

I have found recently though, that if I am working on a big project, I can’t just give it 60 minutes and then shift gears. It is too hard for me to come back and sometimes the creating is so fun I don’t want to lose inspiration. 

Along the same lines; color blocking my calendar. This makes it easy for me to look and see at a quick glance where my focus needs to be and where I need to be. I have red for any agent/administrative meetings, blue for prospecting, light purple for anything with my listings, dark purple for each of my kids, teal for buyers, grays for my other businesses and the list goes on. 

Lists. They make me feel safe. I need to make a list of my most important tasks that are already not appointment tasks. Meaning, I would love it if all my clients only wanted to meet in the afternoon, but that isn’t the case. I need to communicate and have it written down what I need to accomplish the day prior so it lives in my calendar and the only way to do that is through these lists. 

Enter Mondays.com. We invested in this amaze software a few years ago and it has been a game changer for myself and my team. The ease to which we can maintain and knock out a list collectively for a project with it is seamless. We run a good majority of our business processes through Mondays.com. It keeps my staff's time managed well and allows them and myself to easily see the progress. 

Also, the rules you can set up in Mondays.com are HUGE TIME SAVERS. As an example, I send staff “See Me” emails. Meaning, I had an idea or want them to help me with something or remind me of something or add/delete something, you name it, something that I want them to “See Me” about WHICH makes that monkey theirs now. 

After Morning Huddle, they collectively go through any See Me’s that I have sent. The rule we set is that if an email comes through to any of them with the words “See Me” in the subject line it automatically gets added to their “Amy See Me Board'' in Mondays.com. This elevates them having to sort or search through emails next day (less clicks means more productivity). And gives me a fast way to make sure I don’t forget a great idea, etc. 

We also use it for the agents to sign up for open houses. So slick. Most of our agents use the mobile app for this and it is fan-tab too. I can’t honestly say enough about this product and the way it has helped us save time and manage so many processes. 

Ahh Mondays.com, I love you. 

If you don’t already use Mondays.com, save some money on their product by clicking here. You will love it!!  

Putting my phone on DO NOT DISTURB. I am 100% addicted to each and every beep, buzz, bleep sound my phone makes. I have phantom phone buzzing feelings in my pockets….often. My phone is my portal to my business. I. NEED. HER. 

I burn through phones pretty quickly, sadly (proof of said addiction-but I am working on it).  My husband says in the Toy Story version of an iPhone factory, once the phone realizes it is being assigned to me, The iPhone Killer, it starts resisting and trying to hop back to its safe shelf screaming all the while. 

Set the rule in your phone for those on your favorite list to be able to get through, but let everyone else wait until you are done with the task on your cal. (Tony Robbins 101: if it is not on your calendar, it does not exist). It has worked wonders for me. 

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Shut down all emails. Again, it's been over said a GAZILLION times, but for good reason, it works. And I have to be very intentional about it. It hurts a little, but the end prize, a completed task is worth the pain. 

Changing my perspective. Meaning, where I am working. I have a desk in my office and a table. Sometimes I am far more productive at one over the other. I do the same thing when working at home. I can crank out a list like a crazy woman sitting in the kitchen at the island but then am completely blank after a quick break sitting in the same seat. Off to the couch with pillows all around me, and here I go again, woman on fire. It maybe in my head, but it works. 

Jazz music. Not crazy over the top jazz music but this great station called Piano Bar. When I really need to focus and put my head down and do the work, that little station has kept me rolling along. 

Since the complex beautiful human brain can be trained to do so many fabulous things, now when I turn on that station and put my Airpods in, I feel ultra-focused. Pavlov's dog. I love it! 

And when jazz doesn’t work…..I take a break, stretch, do some breathing (I keep a yoga mat in my office which comes in SOOO handy), turn on some Queen B and take a breather to clear my mind. Recharge and start again with the goal in mind knowing how good that rush of serotonin is when you get to the finish line. 

Here’s to you finding the time management dance that feels right and most simply helps you move the needle in the right direction.