Does anyone have too much time on their hands? **crickets** Yeah, me neither. One of our most valuable resources, the amount of time in any given day is out of our control—firmly set at 24 hours. But what we do with those 24 hours is in our control.
Reaching our goals requires intentional work, and there is a lot to choose from in real estate: prospecting, taking the time to coach team members, following up with buyers and sellers, and the many administrative tasks needed to move transactions forward. In order to maintain a productive daily routine without sacrificing our lives outside of work, we must choose to stay away from “fake work.”
Fake work is the opposite of intentional work, but we don’t always see it because fake work looks a lot like real work. So what makes something “fake work?”
Have you ever sat in a meeting feeling disengaged? Ever sent out generic emails to a list of random people? Have you ever had a day that felt busy and stressful, but you have little to show for it, not knowing if you pushed the needle forward or not?
You may say, “But Verl, this contract negotiation is challenging and requires a lot of my time.”
Great! And good for you and your client for getting to this stage. If you’re being intentional about your actions and what you want them to achieve, take all the time you need to make sure the contract is a winner. But remember, you aren’t accountable to Verl Workman. You’re accountable to yourself, the family you support, the team members you’ve partnered with and your clients to do your work with integrity and intentionality.
Being dialed in and intentional about work is a turnoff to a lot of people. In fact, it’s such a turnoff that most real estate professionals leave the industry for good within the first two years. They don’t leave real estate because it’s complex work. Those who leave do so because they get caught up in the fake work, where it feels busy and there’s always a lot to do, but the actual activities are barren from a profitability perspective.
Those who succeed do so because they embrace intentionality in their daily lives. They have the same amount of time as everyone else, but they don’t spend it doing fake work.
Ask yourself where your time is being spent. Is it being spent on what’s important to you and your team? Is it spent working toward your goals? If not, make the commitment to be intentional about your time. Your clients will notice—and you will, too.
Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems, a real estate consulting company that specializes in performance coaching and building highly effective teams. Contact wssm@workmansuccess.com for more information and free downloadable resources.
