You want to build a business that supports you and your family, that provides you with the financial freedom you deserve.
You want to have more time to do the things you love doing, to spend more time with your family, and to not worry about finances.
And that’s what you’re working toward with your real estate investing business!
But right now… it’s grind time.
Time to hustle, not to sit back and relax.
Right?
Well… no (sorry).
The fact is, you can build a thriving real estate business without working long hours every day. And it all comes back to the age-old mantra of “working smarter, not harder.”
Remember Tim Ferris’ 80/20 rule: 20% of the work produces 80% of the results.
A lot of times, when you’re working long days to build your business, it’s not because you have to, but because you feel like you have to (but you don’t). In fact, here are 5 signs that you’re working more than is actually necessary to create your dream business.
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Sign #1: You Find Stuff To Do… Even When There’s Nothing To Do
Sometimes in business, things are going well — you’re consistently getting leads and closing deals — but maybe you’re not closing as many deals as you want. Maybe you’re not generating as many leads as you’d like.
So you painstakingly work on anything you can think of to help your business get to its next level. You play around with your website to try and make it convert better, you change your sales script, you write a blog post that might rank in Google.
You do whatever comes to mind… because you’re an entrepreneur… and that’s what got you where you are.
But often, when things are going well in business (but not quite like you want them), it means you’re doing everything right, you just need more time to build momentum. You don’t need to change any of the details on your website or sales script, you just need to give it time and trust the process.
If there’s nothing to do today, that’s okay — enjoy the break and let there be nothing to do. Tomorrow, you’ll probably have plenty to do.
Sign #2: You Work More Than 6 Hours Per Day
Want to know how much the time the average 8-hour-per-day worker actually spends being productive?
Yep. That’s it.
“Working” is not the same thing as working. Being at the office isn’t the same thing as impacting your business, generating leads, or closing deals. Checking email repeatedly, browsing through social media, or staring at advertising metrics for hours on end doesn’t do anything for your business (even though it sometimes feels productive).
And the crazy part is, businesses survive and even thrive on those 2-hour stints of productivity from their employees!
So how many unnecessary hours are you spending at the office?
I figure, if you’re working more than 6 hours per day on your business (I’m giving you some leeway), then you’re probably overdoing it — how much of that time are you making a real impact on your business?
(My personal favorite question to ask myself has become, “Does this change anything?”)
It’s a difficult question to answer, but a necessary one if you want to spend less time “working” and more time working.
Sign #3: The Stuff You Work On Isn’t Impacting Your Bottom Line
Is the stuff you’re working on every hour of your work-day having an authentic and real impact on your business? Is it helping you close another deal? Is it helping you build long-term moment? Is it helping you build a business that will serve you rather than enslave you?
If what you’re working on isn’t making a real and important difference, then either don’t do it or delegate it.
Sign #4: You’re Working On Urgent But Unimportant Stuff
If you’ve never seen this graph from The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, then it’s time you did.
There are four quadrants which includes tasks that are…
- Urgent and important.
- Not urgent and important.
- Urgent and not important.
- Not urgent and not important.
If you want to cut your work-days in half, stop spending any time at all quadrants 3 and 4. These are time-wasters and do nothing to grow your business.
Quadrant 1 will take care of itself because it represents the urgent and important tasks you must do to build your business (e.g. finding a buyer after you’ve found a seller).
But quadrant 2 is where the real magic happens. You see, that’s where you — as the founder and CEO of your business — should spend as much time as possible; on the tasks that are critical but not urgent. These are the tasks that will grow your business the fastest and create long-term momentum (polishing processes, hiring and training A-players, etc).
Ditch quadrants 3 and 4, delegate quadrant 1, and dedicate yourself to quadrant 2 — that’ll make you far more productive and successful in far less time.
Sign #5: You Think The Only Way To Build Your Dream is By Working 15-Hour Days
I know…
Entrepreneurs everywhere are saying you have to hustle and “do what others won’t” so you can “live like others can’t,” that you have to be miserable now and work ridiculously long hours so you can live the life of your dreams five years from now.
I call BS.
You don’t have to work obnoxious hours to build the life or business of your dreams, you just have to work on the right things; you have to work smarter, not harder. You have to chip away at building your business every day, keep doing what’s working, ditch what isn’t, and trust the process.
You’re going to get there.
But only if you don’t have a stress-induced heart-attack along the way. 😉