When you first start flipping houses, especially right after you quit your day job and you’re finally your own boss for the first time in your life, things can get a little bit disorganized. Because your home is your office, you don’t have to get up early to beat traffic, and you don’t have anyone looking over your shoulder to make sure that you’re getting your work done. All that freedom can – and often does – result in later mornings and less productive afternoons.
Of course, it doesn’t take long doing this for you to realize that your lead funnel isn’t filling up the way it should, and you’re behind on the rehabs you have going on right now. When this happens, you know that you need to make a change, but aside from completely structuring your day (which isn’t a bad idea, but doesn’t work for everyone), what can you do?
In my experience, I work better when I have a little bit of structure, but I also really like to have some flexibility built into my day. For example, if I want to grab some lunch outside of my home office, I don’t want to feel like I only have 45 minutes or I’ll be off track for the rest of the day.
I’ve learned that, to get that perfect blend of structure and flexibility, I really need to start the day off on the right foot. So, when I started figuring out the best way to run my day and improve my productivity for my house flipping business, I started by taking back my mornings.
GET UP BEFORE 6:00 AM
If you’re like me, and you like staying up late, this is going to sound terrible, but it really is the best way to start your day. It took me some time to adjust, but these days, I get up between 5:30 and 6:00 AM every day. This way, I have some time for myself to have some coffee and start to plan my day before the rest of the real estate business world wakes up and goes to work.
To help with the transition, I banned all electronics from my bedroom so that I wouldn’t find myself staring at a screen right up until the moment I went to sleep. Taking about an hour to an hour and a half of no-screen time before bed has really helped me unwind and relax so that I sleep better and wake up more easily in the mornings.
SAY GOODBYE TO THE SNOOZE BUTTON
The snooze button isn’t your friend. You might think that nine more minutes of sleep will make you feel more rested, but scientific studies have shown that the more you hit the snooze button, the more tired you’ll feel when you finally drag yourself out of bed!
START EVERY DAY THE SAME WAY
Morning routines set a good tone for the rest of the day. If you like waking up, making yourself a cup of coffee, and reading the newspaper, then do that. If you prefer to go for a walk or hit the gym, then that should be your morning routine. Whatever helps you wake up and start the day right so that you can go find more leads and make more house flip deals, do it every single morning.
These tips might seem simple, but they’ve really improved the way I go through my whole day. With a better perspective, better rest, and a better attitude, I’m able to do better work for the real estate investing business, and you really can’t beat that!
