You're struggling to manage your time as a property manager. What's the most effective way to take control?

Assessing priorities is easier than you might think: - Identify the most urgent activities - Identify the activities that bring the most leads/ROI/revenue This starts with taking a step back and figure out what really needs your attention right now. Maybe it's dealing with urgent guest requests or addressing homeowner concerns. By identifying your top priorities, you can focus your time and energy where it matters most.

Organize your day by prioritizing tasks based on their importance and urgency. Allocate specific time blocks for essential activities, such as tenant communication, property inspections, and financial management, creating a daily schedule. Delegate tasks whenever possible and use property management software to boost efficiency. Establish a system for handling emergencies quickly and efficiently. Regularly review and adjust your schedule for optimal time management. Emphasize open communication with tenants to address any issues promptly, reducing the time spent on problem-solving. Evaluate and streamline your processes regularly to enhance overall productivity.

The PARA Method, popularized by Tiago Forte, an expert in productivity and digital organization, encourages individuals to organize their digital environments—such as documents, notes, and files—into these four categories to streamline the search and retrieval process, reduce clutter, and enhance productivity. By systematically categorizing digital information, users can quickly access what they need, when they need it, and maintain focus on their current priorities. This method is flexible and can be adapted to various digital tools and platforms, making it a versatile approach to personal and professional organization. Consider using it in NOTION (free software) where you will find many free templates to get you started. Game changer!

Scheduling your day is essential for optimizing productivity and achieving a balanced life. In the realm of property management, the variability of each day can be both an advantage and a challenge. Unforeseen emergencies, can throw off planned showings, and scheduled inspections, causing disruptions in your day. However, having a basic plan or outline for daily objectives is crucial (even if you need to veer from it occasionally). Planning my day a week in advance and reviewing it and tweaking if needed the night before helps keep me organized and focused. Sending confirmation emails for meetings the day before helps to avoid any unnecessary drives and Zoom is still a real time saver as opposed to in-person meetings.

Automation makes your job much easier. It helps you streamline your process - and you can get much more done! For instance using a software to handle guests bookings or outsourcing cleaning to an external company can buy back your time, but also increase the standard of service.

Property managers can enhance their efficiency and reduce the workload by leveraging software solutions designed specifically for the property management industry. It may cost you some money monthly, but what is your time worth? Rent collection - platforms like Cozy or AppFolio, streamline this process allowing for automatic payment processing and reminders. Maintenance requests and tracking - software like Buildium or Property Meld, can organize requests, schedule repairs, and communicate updates automatically between tenants and service providers. SUCH A TIME SAVER! Tenant screening and lease signing- TurboTenant and DocuSign, offer online applications, background checks, and electronic signatures to expediate this tedious process.

Setting boundaries and managing expectations is and has been a huge challenge for me. I have learned along the way. Start as you mean to go on. If you regularly draft emails at night (taking advantage of the quiet after the kids have gone to bed), tenants and owners will come to anticipate this level of availability. Schedule the email to be delivered the next morning. This way, if an owner replies right away to your late-night email and doesn't receive an immediate response, it prevents any frustration on their part due to mismatched expectations about your availability. List your office hours in your email signature line and discuss them prior to taking on a new owner. Email is best, both for a paper trail and time management.

Have you heard of Parkinson's Law? It's the theory that "Work expands to fill the time available for its completion." This principle suggests that if you give yourself a week to complete a two-hour task, then (psychologically speaking) the task will increase in complexity and become more daunting so as to fill that week. It may not even fill the extra time with more work, but with the stress and tension about having to get it done. By setting shorter deadlines, the theory posits, you can encourage efficiency and reduce the time you spend on any given task. In short, it's important to set realistic deadlines and practice using time effectively to increase productivity. Mental breaks, time away from your computer and phone are important.