5 Time Blocking Tips to Boost Your Real Estate Productivity

By Jacqueline Smith

Jacqueline Smith started in real estate in 2015 and sold 52 homes her first year in the business as a solo agent. After considering growing her own team, and exploring different team models, she decided to partner with Place in 2017. The partnership allowed her to fast track her growth, and provide better systems and models to her agent partners. Her and her team in Vancouver Washington now close over $165M in annual sales volume, while keeping the quality of the agent and client experience at the forefront.

If you’ve been around the block in real estate for even a little bit, you know how fast-paced this job can be. There’s always something to do—calls to return, listings to prep, clients to meet, and the list goes on.

But here’s what I’ve learned after years in the game: time blocking is the number one thing that separates the top-performing agents from everyone else. It’s not about working more hours—it’s about working smarter with the time you have.

So today, I want to share with you five time blocking strategies that will help you get more done in less time and actually feel productive.

5 Time Blocking Strategies for Peak Real Estate Productivity

1. Use a Calendar. This might sound obvious, but it’s shocking how many agents skip this step or use a calendar inconsistently. Whether you like a digital one or a paper planner doesn’t matter. What matters is that you use it regularly.

Think of your calendar like a gym membership. The best one isn’t the fanciest—it’s the one you actually show up to. So pick a system that works for you and stick with it. Start by scheduling your most important tasks first, and build your week around them.

2. Prioritize Your Top 20% Activities. There are a lot of things you could be doing as an agent, but only a few of them will actually move the needle in your business. Here are the five key activities that give you the biggest returns:

• Script practice

• Lead generation

• Lead follow-up

• Showing homes / going on appointments

• Negotiating contracts

These are your “top 20%” activities—the ones that bring in 80% of your results. Block time in your calendar for these every single week. Don’t wait for free time to appear. Schedule it, protect it, and do it.

3. Block Time for Personal Commitments First. Let me ask you this: What’s the point of building a great business if your personal life falls apart?

Your health, your relationships, your family. They come first. If you don’t schedule those personal priorities, they’ll always take a backseat, and that’s when burnout creeps in. I built a successful real estate business while never missing my kids’ football games. You can do both, but you have to plan ahead.

Block out time for:

• Exercise

• Family dinners

• Date nights

• Kids’ events

• Rest and recovery

Schedule those first before anything else. Because if you don’t, someone else will fill your calendar with stuff that doesn’t really matter.

4. Include Appointment Prep Time. One of the biggest mistakes I see agents make? They schedule client meetings or listing appointments but forget to block time beforehand to prepare.

And that’s a missed opportunity. The more prepared you are going into an appointment, the more confident you’ll feel—and the more professional you’ll look to your client. Preparation builds trust, so make sure to schedule time before each meeting to:

• Review your data

• Run your numbers

• Do drive-bys

• Prepare your presentation

• Don’t wing it. Show up ready to impress.

5. Give the Other 80% a Time Limit. We talked about the top 20% of tasks that bring in most of your results, but let’s be honest, we still have to do the other 80%. There’s admin work, marketing pieces, social media posts, emails, and more.

But if you don’t set boundaries, those smaller tasks will eat up your entire day.

An example? Designing a flyer in Canva. Sure, it needs to look good, but you don’t need to spend three hours perfecting it. Set a time limit. Stick to it.

Give yourself a specific time slot for these types of tasks and walk away when the clock says you’re done. That’s how you avoid getting stuck in the weeds.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me anytime at (360) 560-1156 or jacqueline@evergreenrealestatepartners.com.

Are your systems holding you back? Don’t let excuses about the slow market stop you from closing more deals. Discover the strategies our top agents use to thrive today by checking out our post: How Top Agents Close More Deals in Today’s Competitive Market.