Time management can be difficult at first for full time real estate investors or just about anyone working from home for that matter. For most folks that previously had a job that started and ended at a particular time, the idea that your time is now just yours can be quite a challenge. It is so easy to get distracted by “life”.  You can run out in the morning to get a quick oil change or to pick up something at the store with every intention of only being gone an hour or so, and before you know it, it’s 3:00 in the afternoon. Where did the time go?  Life happened!

I have been working from my home office for almost 10 years now and I have kept a pretty regular work schedule for the most part.  I get up early in the morning, shower, put on my makeup and get dressed whether or not I have an appointment that day.  I have to confess, in order to actually go out to an appointment; I usually have to change out of my sweat pants but otherwise I am ready to go.  My suggestion to everyone about to make the change from a “JOB” to working for yourself from home is to just pretend you are leaving the house to go to work. Get ready and go into your office first thing in the morning.  Any thing I want to get done around the house before starting the day I do before my “starting time” for work.

There are many time management tips and tools that can be implemented, but first it is always helpful to determine how you are spending your time. We all get the same 24 hours each day so using it effectively is very important particularly in business. You can do something as simple as keeping a notebook of your activities for a week or two. This will help you identify your “time wasters” and maybe even some bad habits that you just need to change.

Analyze the work that you do. Remember the 80/20 rule?  This rule states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your activities. Put this rule to work in your business and also in your daily life.  Determine what those 20% tasks are and start to work on them the first thing in the morning. You will find that you will get a lot more done each day, your deadlines will be easier to meet, you will have less stress and you just may be just be able to find a little more time for leisure.

I read a terrific book a couple of years ago called “Change One: The Breakthrough 12 Week Eating Plan:  Lose Weight Simply, Safely & Forever” by John Hastings. The premise of this book was that if you just changed one small thing or one bad habit every week (which is actually pretty easy to do), that you would have made a huge change in your diet and your health at the end of 52 weeks. This same principle can be applied to just about every thing in your business or personal life.  Just imagine the positive changes you could make in one year if you use this principal for time management!

Check back later for more time management tips and tricks.