Stress – not everything has to happen now!

Stress, the most common side effect of working in property management can be a tough hurdle to overcome. We are bombarded each day with mounting tasks, increasing expectations, and some weird and wacky demands from our dearly beloved clients.

Stress can make can you believe that everything has to happen right now and it really doesn’t have to feel that way! In our moments of complete stress it can be hard to decipher what is urgent, what is necessary, what can wait, what can be reallocated and what does not need to be done at all.

When we are running full tilt and it’s all building up, we often need to just stop, take time out to replan and reprioritise. Often, this can be the hardest thing to do as this isn’t seen as dollar productive activity.

By taking time out to re-write your to-do list, making sure you list each task that needs to be done even if it seems small and insignificant, you will be able to clearly see exactly what has to happen. The next step is to go through and prioritise. I like to use a simple common ‘A, B, C’ system that helps:

• Prioritise what has to happen today
• What would be nice to happen today and 
• What can wait until tomorrow
• I also use a fourth label which is ‘Q’ - Q stands for quick win and means I can knock that task over relatively quickly allowing you to cut your to-do list down.

The next step is to plan, out of your A’s, decide what you will do first, how long it will take, and plan the time into your diary. For those tasks that haven’t made it to your urgent A’s list, make sure you communicate any delays to your clients, so their expectations are met. I.e. a quick email to a client letting them know you won’t have a response to them today, redefining their expectation.

By taking time out to re-plan and re-prioritise you will often see that not everything has to be done immediately. Each task will fit into your daily/weekly plan at an allocated time, you will feel relieved that you know when it will be done and this in itself can alleviate some of the stress we go through!

For a free copy of my to-do list prioritisation checklist click here!