Wow, the world of broking is fast paced at the moment.  Between licencing, KYC, lender policies there is a lot to keep up with.  That is why it is vital for you to regularly take the time out to work on your business.

It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day of working in your business.  Attending accrediation and training days, following up on lender requirements, customer time.  But are you taking the time to evaluate HOW you are doing business?  It seems like a simple thing yet so many brokers and other self employed people fail to do it.

Here's a case study.  Marty (not his real name) was a broker who was continuously telling me how he was busy all of the time and how he was getting frustrated with the lack of time he had for his family.  Now, one of the reasons we became brokers was for lifestyle (wasn't it???) so keeping that work life balance is important.  The only problem was, Marty's loan volume was well under what you would expect for someone who was so busy.  So, I asked Marty to evaluate how he spent his time every day.  So, for a few days Marty actually kept track of what he was doing with his time.

When i saw his results, my suspicions were confirmed.  Marty wasn't that busy, he was just inefficient with how he managed his time.  For example, Marty would check his emails sometimes 20 or more times a day.  He would be halfway through inputing a loan and then he would click on his outlook button and check the latest emails.  He would also answer every call as soon as it came in, no matter what he was doing at the time.

So, all day, Marty was stopping and starting and repeating activities.

No matter how well you think you manage yourself, take the time out regularly to think about how you spend your time and look for improvements.  The less time you spend sitting at your desk, the more time you can spend either chasing new business or spending time on yourself or with your family.

Here's a few handy hints:

1. Always finish what you start.  Don't get halfway through and stop to do something more interesting - that's called procrastination.
2. I know the phone is important, but if you're in the middle of doing something else, let it go to messagebank and then call them back once you've finished your task.
3. Only review your emails at certain times of the day, don't be an email junky.  Make specific times to check your emails, and then act on them immediately by either deleting, responding or actioning.
4. Try to manage your time in blocks of related activities.  When booking appointments, try to group them together so that you decrease the amount of time spent coming and going from the house/office.
5. If you pick something up, then act on it immediately - don't double handle tasks.

Most of all, take the time to regularly give your processes a review.  It's your time and it's precious.

Michael Calam www.visionms.com.au

Mortgage Broking has become a fast paced industry, with many changes occuring at the moment as the new licencing regime comes into play.  As brokers it's vitally important to keep up to date with the latest changes etc.

While there is a wide range of publications and websites to provide the latest updates etc. one of the most overlooked but (in my humble opinion) most valuable tools is networking with other brokers.  Over the years that we have been mentoring new brokers we have seen the best results from those brokers who continuously make an effort to network with other brokers.  This interaction helps brokers to keep abreast of what their colleagues are doing, how changes are impacting them and what efforts they are taking to keep up with the market.

Our Qld Vision team meets once a fortnight for a lunch and catchup.  It's an invaluable way of helping your business to grow.