Written by Breakthrough Broker President Eric Sachs
Hi there, it’s Eric over at BreakthroughBroker.com and I’m here to present a radical idea for all of you to-do listers. GET RID OF IT!
All too many of us are bound by the to-do list, yet in our daily life and within our businesses, there’s not much accountability behind these tasks actually seeing completion, whether that be from lack of time or mental exhaustion. Procrastination looms and suddenly it’s July and your to-do list is full of January items. Why is that? Because the dates you set for these tasks are arbitrary, relative to only you, and even worse, no one to hold you accountable.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever been victimized by ‘Big Menu Syndrome.’ You sit down at a restaurant, peruse the menu, the waiter asks what you would like, and your brain shuts down. You’ve been presented with too many options preventing you from making a decision. Your to-do list and ‘Big Menu Syndrome’ have a lot in common. If your list is 30+ tasks and counting, your brain is likely struggling with where to even begin. There’s a proverbial fork in the road and your mind is going with the path of least resistance in this scenario. The tasks down this path probably are neither high-priority or high-reward.
My challenge for you is to get rid of your to-do list for one month. Instead, write down your top five money-making priorities.
For example:
- Send a low-inventory letter to your sphere letting them know right now is a good time to buy a home
- Host a large weekend open house
- Set up your spring client appreciation event
Then write down your monetary goal by accomplishing each of these.
For example:
- If you’re sending a low-inventory letter to your sphere of influence to get someone off of the fence and list their home for $500,000, then just by sending that letter you have the potential to gross $15k.
- If you’re hosting a mega open house for a property listed at $500,000, the average commission will be $15k.
- If you’re hosting a spring client appreciation event, the goal would be to keep in touch with your past clients in return for one or two referrals. Now, calculate your average sales price, for instance $500,000, then calculate your average commission, in this scenario would be $15,000. If your client appreciation event brings forth two referrals, you’ve made $30k in gross commission.
Now, prioritize your items from highest reward to lowest. Per the examples, your number one priority in this scenario would be the client appreciation event as you are hoping to gross $30k. Let the rest follow suit. Once you’ve established your top five priorities, create sub items per each activity. Your client appreciation event is still priority number one and its sub items would include tasks such as: set a date, locate a venue, create an invitation, and so forth. These sub items will be your reinvented to-do list. It’s also important to log your time as you work your way through each priority. From start to finish, how long did your client appreciation event take? Write this down so you can visualize your time monetarily.
My goal with this challenge is to establish an efficient execution rather than contributing to a dysfunctional to-do list. I know the feeling of scratching through an item on a to-do list, but I promise the feeling of executing an activity that will bring you a direct ROI of your time, is much, much more rewarding! By implementing this strategy, watch yourself become a closer rather than a procrastinator.
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About our President
Eric Sachs

After a successful career as a top-producing real estate agent and building a mid-sized real estate company in Colorado, broker and owner Eric Sachs and his business partner sold their company. Then, they followed their passion for helping those in the real estate industry by founding Breakthrough Broker. Eric is a recognized national speaker and is dedicated to helping real estate agents, title companies, and mortgage companies build successful businesses.
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