Mastering Your Time and Taking Control! Tino Peabody RMP®, MPM® Broker VA/DC Excited To Be Presenting

In This Session The top three TM skills Five common struggles and Strategies for Time Management Getting the most from your time schedule - developing an ideal week schedule

Getting Your Mindset Right! “I am effective and efficient with my time”

USE TECHNOLOGY TO RECORD WHAT YOU DO AND Skill One - Record Everything! Write everything down - remember nothing! Make a daily list of what you need to do. - Don’t exist without a list! - Refuse to start your day without a plan! - For every minute of planning, you save 10 minutes with your tasks! - Your plan must be always within your sight! GO PAPERLESS USE TECHNOLOGY TO RECORD WHAT YOU DO AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

FIND AN APP TO USE TO CREATE AND TRACK Skill Two - Prioritize Your List Prioritize your list - number them in order of how you will complete the tasks on your list! Increases your speed when you don’t have to think ‘what do I do next’? Urgent and most important first! FIND AN APP TO USE TO CREATE AND TRACK YOUR LISTS

LIVE BY YOUR LIST Skill Three - Focus On Your List You must focus until your task is 100% done Focus gives you accuracy and thoroughness! Learn to loathe mistakes and double-handling! Focus until the task is 100% finished, before moving on to the next task. If you cannot give your time now to get it done right, when will you have more time to handle it again? LIVE BY YOUR LIST

Common Time Management Struggles And Strategies What are the most common Struggles in Time Management? No Daily Plan or Schedule Procrastination Crisis Management Too much time with the wrong people Poor use of appointments

1- Daily Plan or Schedule The Struggle 65% of Property Managers are poor planners! Common Excuses “But I know what I have to do!” “But I do what needs to get done!” “But its a just how I like to get things done!” “But it works for me!” “But my time is spent doing work!” PERCEPTION IS RELATIVE RESULTS CAN BE MEASURED

1– Daily Plan or Schedule The Strategy Create a habit of making it fist thing in the morning or at the end of the previous day Go From HARDEST to EASIEST Be Realistic on how much time it will take for each task Leave Time in between for a quick mental break Schedule Lunch Make your it motivating for you Believe in it PLAN AND SCHEDULE YOUR WORK LIFE

IT’S EASY TO PUT THINGS OFF 2 - Procrastination The Struggle Under confident and uncertain of skills Fear of failure Dreading the worst scenario in a problem Putting off answering and returning calls Delay in handling difficult situations quickly and decisively IT’S EASY TO PUT THINGS OFF

KEEP YOURSELF MOTIVATED 2 - Procrastination The Strategy Do it NOW! Don’t procrastinate ‘Eat That Frog’ principle (Book by Brian Tracy) Do the hardest things first Don’t be scared of making mistakes Use your initiative and give it your best! Provide solutions, not problems (even when asking for advice from colleagues) Realize that what you think will happen most probably wont - if you do it now! (or fix it / own up to it quickly) KEEP YOURSELF MOTIVATED

3 - Crisis Management YOU DON’T CONTROL EVERYTHING The Struggle Always receiving aggressive phone calls Long hours spent resolving complaints Always on the back foot - never getting ahead Loose ends not tied Shortcuts taken by you / others Reception staff faced with agitated callers and people refusing to leave messages YOU DON’T CONTROL EVERYTHING

BE PROACTIVE AND IT WILL GET BETTER 3 - Crisis Management The Strategy Prevention is better than a cure. Train your landlords and tenants! Review and amend systems where required If you have had a bad morning, don’t take it through to the afternoon Take regular breaks Act proactively as a property manager - kill the problem before it occurs! Work some extra hours to get back into control. BE PROACTIVE AND IT WILL GET BETTER

4 - Too Much Time with the Wrong People The Struggle Understand the 80/20 rule 80% of your time is spent with 20% of your clients Who are you spending 80% of your time with? WORK ON HOW TO RECOGNIZING THEM

4 - Too Much Time With The Wrong People The Strategy In the office: Have ‘stand up’ meetings at reception Have an ‘appointment’ culture Establish an email communication culture No rental payments into the office Leave keys for contractors at reception Put up a red flag! CREATE WAYS TO HANDLE THEM

5 - Poor Use of Appointments The Struggle Not planning meetings, appointments and inspections to reduce time and fuel wastage Waste of time and gas Allowing and changing your plans to accommodate a “blow in” IS IT IMPORTANT? AND ARE YOU THE PERSON WHO HAS TO BE THERE?

5 - Poor Use of Appointments The Strategy Don’t destroy your schedule to fit into someone else’s Allow space in your schedule for activities out of the office Alternate AM and PM times in your schedule for out of office activities, allowing you to accommodate others with time constraints STICK TO YOUR SCHEDULE

Scheduling An Ideal Week Taking Control of your Time

Developing An Ideal Week Time cannot be managed - the clock ticks relentlessly - you cannot control this! Time is the most important resource we have as it is irreplaceable! Time is an equal opportunity employer - we all get the same amount of time given to us We all get the same allotted time - it’s just that people fill it more efficiently than others - they have the ability to pack more in Time management is not about managing time, but the management of our tasks and priorities within that time allotment BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF

Developing An Ideal Week The most effective people are those that can plan and use their allotted time in the most efficient and productive manner possible This is what separates the successful from those who are not! Your day in your role WILL BE FILLED, it is about HOW it will be filled that will determine your success BELIEVE YOUR TIME IS THE MOST VALUABLE

Developing An Ideal Week Why should we develop an ideal week? It is FACT that doing multiple tasks is more efficient if done in groups The SAME type job in the SAME block of time Imagine if routine inspections where not done in the same time block? DO SIMILAR TASKS TOGETHER

Developing An Ideal Week So what stops us doing our tasks in this manner? Interruptions - Phone and Door Traffic Old Habits - ‘We have always done it this way!’ Unwillingness to change KEEP AN OPEN MIND

Developing An Ideal Week What can we do to control calls and incoming traffic? Some possibilities Rentals – Schedule Short Open Houses Maintenance - insist it is reported in writing Train people more to use email (where possible) Educate people that you will return their call within a specific timeframe Use an answering service to take calls INFORMATION IS YOUR FRIEND

Developing An Ideal Week Set an appointment culture Front line staff to answer basic queries (if possible) Front line staff to collect and manage calls until call back time Ensure messages state when the call will be returned CREATE A CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGY

Managing Email Response Times Set achievable expectations for yourself. Use your email auto-responders more effectively, and consider placing it on more often, even permanently! Set expectations when an email arrives. Consider “Thanks for your email. We are kept busy with out-of- office appointments and regretfully we are unable to respond to your email at this time. However please be assured we will return your email within 24 hours” LET YOUR SCHEDULE AND RESPONSE TIMES BE KNOW

Developing An Ideal Week Step 1 – Determine recurring activities Activities such as: Repairs Returning calls Administration Mail Accounts Dealing with contractors Vacating Inspections Ingoing inspections Periodic inspections Accounts payable Rent statement run Leasing property Checking tenancy applications Lease sign-ups Landlord liaison Tenant liaison

Developing An Ideal Week Step 2 – Determine WHEN these activities need to be completed Daily Weekly Monthly Yearly Morning Midday Afternoon

Developing An Ideal Week Step 3 – Timetable recurring activities 1 - Identify what time slots for what task blocks 2 - Allow movement for the unexpected - don’t pack too tight 3 - Provide copies to your manager, support staff, other PM’s. Get their support and backing 4 - Stick to it as best you can 5 - Modify as required - only after giving your 100% D.I.T.B. DO IT THE BEST

CONTENT DEVELOPED AND INSPIRED BY THANK YOU Any Questions? CONTENT DEVELOPED AND INSPIRED BY BY DARREN HUNTER www.DARREN HUNTER.COM