Take Control Of Your Schedule And Make Time Your Friend

Today was the first day of school for Alex.  Even with working full time I still have the fantasy of being able to walk him to and from school every day.  I view it as our time together and an important opportunity for Alex to open up and share how things are going in school.

Of course this takes up a good chunk of time each day and Murphy’s Law, as I want to take some extra time with the boys work seems to keep getting busier with new clients. (A very good thing 🙂 )  Determined to ‘have it all’ I took some deep breaths and started to systematically work through everything so that I could be there for my clients and also be there for my family as a Mom and wife.

Here’s what I did:

~ Before I scheduled anything with anyone, I ran it all by Gary to make sure that we were both on the same page and that it worked for both of our schedules. (Anytime I have an evening or weekend appointment with a client I always tell them that I need to double check Gary’s schedule before I can commit to the time.  No one has ever had an issue with this or has been upset when I couldn’t meet because of a family commitment.)

~ I set clear expectations with everyone early and often.  For example ~ we were due to get an inspection response this past Friday for one of my listings.  I knew that my Seller’s were anxious to hear what the Buyer had come up with, but I also had planned dinner with the family on Friday and had some other commitments on Saturday morning.  Rather than wait around for the information and interrupt family dinner to call my clients ~ something that I have done many times before which never goes over well ~ I called my clients at 4pm when it was clear that I would not have the information before needing to leave the office to let them know that I had not received it and would call them Saturday at noon when my morning appointments were through.  They were more than fine with that.  They just wanted to know what to expect.

~ Make friends with time.  As things start to stack up on my to do list I start to get anxious and want to check everything off as fast as possible, however, that just isn’t possible.  As I looked at my list yesterday I felt incredibly grateful for time and realized that I it really was my friend.  For intance, two of my clients that want to put homes on the market are out of town for the rest of the week which means that I can start the prep work, but I really don’t need to be ready until Tuesday which allows me time to spend walking Alex to school.

I may not be able to walk Alex to and from school EVERY day, but with taking a moment to truly prioritize my day and set clear expectations with everyone it will definitely be a lot easier.