Careers Business Ownership Top 5 Time Wasters in Real Estate Time Management Print Business Ownership Industries Real Estate Retail Small Business Restauranting Nonprofit Organizations Landlords Import/Export Business Freelancing & Consulting Franchises Food & Beverage Event Planning eBay E-commerce Construction Operations & Success Becoming an Owner By James Kimmons James Kimmons Jim Kimmons is a real estate broker and author of multiple books on the topic. He has written hundreds of articles about how real estate works and how to use it as an investment and small business. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on 11/20/19 Real estate agents and brokers are self-employed independent contractors in most cases. Effective use of your time is critical to financial success. Learn the top time-wasting activities and how to avoid them. 01 of 05 Starting the Day Without a Plan A plan, in this case, is much more than just "What do I do today?" This is your business, and it's incumbent upon you to have a detailed plan for the activities necessary for success. Long and mid-range plans should be in place and then you extract from these the daily activities you'll need to do in order to reach the planned goals. Some of the most successful people in business have a routine, usually in the morning, when they take the time to review their situation, what they have on tap, and plan their activities for the day. 02 of 05 Procrastination - Particularly with the Less-than-Fun Tasks jackSTAR / Getty Images If your day's tasks require an activity that you aren't fond of, do it first thing. Getting past it will give you a lift and make the rest of the day a pleasure. It's also best to do those hated things when you're fresh. I always have to do the things I most want to avoid first on my list. I can look forward to more fun things, rather than the other way around. 03 of 05 Not Using Effective Contact and Task Management Systems Rawpixel / Getty Images If you're working with yellow sticky-notes all over the place, you're probably not getting value for your time input. If you're not into technology, at least have a good day planner system and use it religiously. Better yet, get into the new world and work with a computerized contact, project, and task management system. There are many out there. The best these days are online and available on any of your devices, whether computer, tablet or smartphone. Some of them integrate into your website back end, bringing leads into the CRM, Customer Relationship Management system directly from the lead generation forms on the website. 04 of 05 Allowing Non-critical Interruptions of Your Planned Activities Noel Hendrickson/Blend Images / Getty Images With many real estate agents working in offices with cubicle dividers and a lot of activity close-by, it's easy to get distracted. Just executing the plan without discipline isn't going to be successful. If your fellow agents like to stop by for chats, they're passing on their inefficiencies to you. Be polite but firm. Even if you must put up a sign, make sure that other people in the office are aware of your dedication to your plan and the times that you're working it. Let them know that you aren't available for chats during your planned activity times. Today's technology can allow us to work at home and remotely, away from the office. I'm much more productive when not in an office environment with others around to distract me. 05 of 05 Letting Disappointment and Negativity Destroy Your Plan MangoStar_Studio / Getty Images We all experience the blown deal, the buyers' change of heart and all those other things that keep us from the closing and commission goal. What you can't do is allow one of these situations to impact your ability to work your plan. Sure, an indulgent long lunch to soothe your nerves, but then get back into the planned activity. By remembering that it's your plan that produces all the successful transactions, you'll be better able to jump back in after a disappointment. Don't let a bump in the road become an obstacle.