Start With The "Not To Do" List!

It’s Not Necessarily How Hard You Try; Ask Avis

It’s not necessarily how hard you try; ask Avis. 

The top 1% know you can spend an inordinate amount of effort inefficiently and gain nothing, and sometimes you can invest less effort more efficiently and gain plenty. 

Choose more often what’s important over what’s urgent. 

The best entrepreneurial drug: momentum. And the hardest part of building momentum is starting. A barrier to starting: the daily whirlwind. 

Start with the “not to do list!”

Why? 

There are few things as pointless as doing something well that shouldn’t be done at all. 

Build Your Not-to-Do List

Start with a short list of things that drain your time without moving your business forward:

  • Checking email every few minutes instead of at set times.
  • Meetings without a clear purpose or outcome.
  • Tasks someone else could do better or at lower cost.

Cross them off, then spend the time you win back on what’s important. Effort only pays when it’s pointed in the right direction.

Start With The "Not To Do" List!
Start With The “Not To Do” List!

Framework: This post is part of Action Produces Data, the coaching framework for consistent production: take the next right action, track it and let the results, not opinions, guide what you do next.

Want help applying this in your brokerage? Book a 30-minute conversation with Mark at calendly.com/mjsession.

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Mark D. Johnson

Mark D. Johnson, MBA, is Managing Partner of Recruiting Insight and the former CEO of the nation's 35th largest brokerage firm, which he grew roughly fivefold to $8 billion in annual sales. A real estate broker since 2000 and a California licensed broker, he is adjunct faculty at Chapman University and South Orange County Community College District, and author or co-author of six California real estate textbooks and the book Up In Your Business. He coaches broker-owners, managers and recruiters on recruiting, retention and leadership.

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