MY HOROSCOPE – A TIME MANAGEMENT LESSON

I know that may sound like a strange title but stay with me ok? This morning like every morning I looked at my horoscope in the paper. By the way I am a Virgo. Today’s reads “Multi- tasking is the only way you can be sure of accomplishing your goals.”

WHETHER YOU BELIEVE IN HOROSCOPES OR NOT … there is a valuable lesson here I want to share with you. First, let me say I am a hyper –A type ADHD personality. So maybe these things are true? Who knows?

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU DO DURING A DAY. Most of us only really “WORK” a few hours a day. In fact, a recent study has shown the time of actual work to be 53 minutes of the average 8 hour day.

We read. We answer e-mails. We surf the net. We look out the window. We get interrupted by staff. We see what’s for lunch or dinner. So let me share a few ideas with you that will make you much more efficient and hopefully make you more money.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON”T KNOW — I am still originating loans everyday with my partner Sue Haviland but don’t be fooled — while the examples are mortgage related– ( or service related) but this applies to any business whether you are selling a service or a widget !

OUR JOB IS TRULY A JUGGLING ACT. We must market our services or we don’t close loans. Then we must meet with the clients. In our niche of REVERSE MORTGAGES our customers, their advisors, and their families generally have many questions and we must be sensitive to make them comfortable.
Then we must take the application. Make sure they have been through counseling. Make sure the appraisal has been ordered. Review it. Coordinate with the title company. Make sure the loan closes properly.
WOW- I am getting tired just writing this.

THE PROBLEM IS AN ETERNAL ONE IN OUR INDUSTRY. Ever notice the peaks and valleys in your business and of course in your income. It’s very simple. When you are busy originating you stop marketing – no time right? Then you close all of your loans and wake up and say “OH NO I better get busy getting some new deals.”

THIS VISIOUS CYCLE CONTINUES ALL YEAR –EVERY YEAR. So what’s the solution. Well, honestly there a few. So let me list them here.

Block at least 2 hours a week – undisturbed to work ON your business instead of working in it. During these 2 hours you need to review your marketing plan and implement new techniques and improve the ones you are currently using.
Work in 45 minute spurts- UNINTERRUPTED. This is a very little known technique yet it is highly effective. Concentrate for the full 45 minutes. In fact Sue and I use an egg timer for this. No phones. No e-mails. No “Crack-berry” going off. Just focused attention on the task.
Make sure you are not doing $10.00 an hour work. What I mean here is that you should not be doing tasks that are not related to marketing your services, originating , or closing loans.

Sending out your newsletter, licking stamps, etc. is work you need to outsource. So now go back and mentally think about your own day. Were you effective? Did you accomplish what you NEEDED to? If not you now have some tips to use to increase your commissions and your sanity!

Dedicated TO Increasing Your PRofitsandWealth,

Brian Sacks

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