Staying Productive When You Own Your Own Business

Being a Realtor? offers the satisfaction and reward of helping clients find their dream homes. It also comes with the challenge of staying productive amidst numerous responsibilities and distractions. Achieving a balance between work and personal life while maintaining high productivity levels requires discipline, effective time management, and the right tools.

Set Daily Goals and Priorities

Start each day with a clear set of attainable goals and priorities. Whether you need to follow up with clients or get through a list of emails, defining your goals using the SMART criteria—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timebound—will provide direction and purpose. Write down the five most important tasks you need to accomplish before the end of the day. Breaking down larger tasks into smaller, manageable steps can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed by an extensive to-do list. “Goal setting is huge for me,” said Kyla Montore-Niewinski, Realtor? and brokersalesperson with Weichert Realtors?. Along with utilizing apps like Reminders and Calendar to manage her daily to-do list, she also shares longterm goals with her team. “At the start of each year, I create a dream board and business plan I share with my team to keep us all on track,” said Montore-Niewinski. Creating a plan before diving into your workload each day will help you focus on what needs to be completed and ensure you stay productive.

Create a Structured Schedule

While flexibility is one of the perks of being a Realtor?, having a structured schedule can significantly boost your productivity. Allocate specific time blocks for different tasks such as client meetings, property showings, administrative work, and personal time. Stick to your schedule as closely as possible but allow some room for adjustments when needed. Realtor? Wajiha Kamal with Better Homes and Gardens Real EstateMaturo said it’s okay if not everything gets done in one day. On days when your schedule doesn’t go as planned, she suggests giving yourself grace. “Cut yourself some slack on the days where everything goes sideways. Some days will still be wild no matter your plan. Prioritize your list and focus on the top tasks,” said Kamal.

Leverage Technology

Technology is constantly advancing and can be a game-changer in managing your real estate business efficiently. “There are so many apps, automation and gadgets that can make your days easier,” said Kamal. A lender introduced her to a way to set up email signatures for repetitive messages Realtors? constantly send. “I have templates for sending offers, new contracts to attorneys, and what to bring to closing. Currently, I have 21 templates set up in Gmail for these routine emails. I tweak them as needed, saving myself hours of time each month.” Use customer relationship management software to track client interactions, automate follow-ups, and manage your contacts. Note-taking apps can help you keep track of important information, while online calendars and scheduling tools can remind you of important dates and appointments. These tools can often integrate with your personal phone calendar, ensuring your reminders are always with you. Project management apps can also keep your tasks organized. “Sure, it takes some time to set up these tools, but once they’re running, they work like a well-oiled machine, making daily tasks smooth and efficient,” said Montore-Niewinski.

Stay Organized

Montore-Niewinski said staying organized is the “secret sauce” to her success. An organized workspace is essential for daily success. Keep your desk and office tidy, and ensure your digital files are systematically arranged for easy access. Cloud storage solutions like Google Drive and Dropbox allow you to access your documents from anywhere and keep them secure. “Google Drive is my go-to tool,” said Montore-Niewinski. “It lets me effortlessly share my calendar across all my devices, create custom templates for prospecting, and keep track of client timelines like a pro. Paired with my CRM, it ensures nothing falls through the cracks.”

Delegate Tasks

You don’t have to do everything on your own. Delegating administrative tasks, such as data entry and appointment scheduling, to a virtual assistant or a part-time employee allows you to focus on tasks that require more of your time and attention. Decide which tasks would be most beneficial to delegate. For example, if you find yourself spending excess time on marketing and maintaining social media accounts, delegating those tasks can free up your time for higher-priority activities. “Be okay with delegating,” said Kamal. “Understand that just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean you should.”

Invest in Continuous Learning

The real estate market is constantly evolving, and staying updated with the latest trends, tools, and regulations is crucial. New Jersey Realtors? offers members updated information about legislation, housing market trends, educational courses through the New Jersey Realtors? Academy of Continuing Education, and webinars to keep you informed and improve your business. Email [email protected] to ensure you’re on our email list and stay updated on social media by following New Jersey Realtors? on Facebook (New Jersey Realtors), Instagram (njrealtors), and X (NJ_REALTORS) so you never miss the latest industry developments.

Practice Self-Care

Taking care of your physical and mental well-being is essential for maintaining productivity. When you’re constantly on the go, it’s easy to forget to take breaks and care for yourself. “We often put ourselves on the backburners. If we don’t put our oxygen mask on first, we won’t be able to help our clients, kids, friends or family,” said Kamal. “Take care of yourself! Take some time out to do what you enjoy. Allow yourself to refresh as needed.” Incorporate regular exercise, healthy eating, and adequate sleep into your routine. Schedule breaks throughout your day to recharge, take time off to spend with family and friends without working, and make time for activities you enjoy outside of work. “Let your clients know that after a certain time, your phone goes on personal mode and that you will return calls and texts in the morning,” said Kamal. “They will respect that. If you don’t, they will think any time is fair game and expect a response from you right away. It can wait till the morning.”

Monitor Your Progress

Regularly review your performance and progress toward your goals. Identify what’s working and what’s not and be willing to adjust. Use analytics tools to track your productivity metrics and seek feedback from clients and colleagues to improve your services. For example, you may choose to set weekly, monthly, or quarterly reviews to assess your workflow, achievements, and overall growth.

Network and Collaborate

Building relationships with other professionals in the industry can open new opportunities and provide support. Join a Realtor? committee, attend networking events at your association or office, and collaborate with other Realtors? on joint ventures. Additionally, consider joining local business groups, attending industry conferences, and participating in online forums or social media groups dedicated to real estate. “Instagram has been a real game-changer,” said MontoreNiewinski. “It’s become my go-to platform for networking, connecting with other professionals, and staying in touch—even when we can’t meet in person. I love using it to shout out fellow Realtors?, share their successes, and keep those relationships strong.” Volunteering for community projects or hosting your community events can also help you connect with like-minded professionals. Sharing insights and resources can help you grow your business and overcome challenges.

Stay Motivated

Keeping your motivation levels high is crucial for long-term success and maintaining productivity. Celebrate your achievements, no matter how small, and give yourself credit when credit is due. For instance, set up a rewards system for yourself—treat yourself to a nice meal or a day off after reaching a significant milestone. Additionally, join a mastermind group or find a mentor to keep you inspired and accountable. Surrounding yourself with supportive people who inspire and encourage you can help remind you of your long-term goals and why you started in the real estate industry. “Remember to appreciate your support system. Whether its spouses, brokers, parents, or your agent buddies who will step in when you need to be covered for a showing. We often forget to thank those who help us stay afloat,” said Kamal.

5 Essential Productivity Tools for Realtors?

While you might not always set aside time for focused work, these productivity tools can help you stay on top of your game, from coordinating with clients and team members to managing your daily workflow.

Trello is a visual project management tool that uses boards, lists, and cards to help you organize tasks and projects. Realtors? can create separate boards for each property listing, track client interactions, and manage to-do lists for open houses. The ability to attach documents and images directly to cards makes it easy to keep property details and client preferences at your fingertips. With Trello, you can create a pipeline for managing incoming leads or requests for any type of contact or customer relationship management. Project templates allow you to organize contact information and notes or even create a content template for your newsletter.

Evernote is a note-taking app with notes, project planning, and enables tagging for organization. You can use it to record client notes, property details, and meeting summaries, ensuring your important information is always accessible and organized in one place. Organizing notes by client, property, or project, and attaching photos, documents, and audio recordings to notes can be useful for keeping track of important client details. For example, you can create a notebook for each client with notes on their preferences, budget, and properties they’ve viewed, adding tags to quickly find notes related to specific neighborhoods or property features.

Todoist will help you manage daily tasks and long-term projects with task lists, priorities, and comprehensive project management. You can organize tasks by project or client, set priorities and due dates to stay on top of deadlines, and use recurring tasks for routine activities like weekly marketing updates or drafting social media content. Todoist also allows you to set up priority levels and constantly monitor the state of the delegated tasks to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

RescueTime tracks time spent on apps and websites and provides productivity reports. RescueTime will help you to identify time-wasting activities and improve focus on highpriority tasks. By automatically tracking time spent on different activities and tasks, receiving detailed reports on productivity patterns, and setting goals to improve focus and efficiency, you can optimize your workflow. Try using RescueTime to track how much time you spend on emails, client calls, and administrative tasks, then analyze your reports to identify areas where you can best allocate your time and streamline your workflow.

Google Workspace is a suite of productivity tools including Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and more. You can use these tools for communication, document storage, and collaboration with clients and team members. It allows you to share and collaborate on documents in real time, store and organize property photos, contracts, and other important documents in Google Drive, and use Google Calendar to schedule showings and meetings. The collaboration features enable your team members to access shared files, so you can create a dedicated Google Drive folder for each property listing, complete with subfolders for photos, marketing materials, and contract documents.