How did you become an appraiser? Maybe you just stumbled upon it. Maybe it was your dream career ever since you knew what appraising was. No matter how you got there, at some point you said, yes this is for me. You decided, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. What was your why behind that moment? Many people who decide to run their own small business do it in large part because of the flexibility that comes from creating their own schedule and running on their own time. You didn’t want to show up at the same place and clock in and out at the same time every day just to do it again the next day. Punching in and out of a job is not a bad way, it’s just not the way you’ve chosen. And because of that first choice you made, there are other things you can decide as a business owner, like the way you control your time and make your own schedule. If that’s a big reason why you do what you do, are you taking advantage of that why?
If you know what you need to get done and you know the times you’re slow and the times you are busier, you can consider that in planning your day to day. What are some things you need to do but the world gets in the way? Look at the patterns in your life. When are you the most productive? When do you know you will have focused, unbothered time? Is it late nights, early mornings, weekends, holidays? Can you plan around that? In considering this, these new productive hours should not be in addition to a 40-hour work week. It’s not work full time and then come in two hours early every morning to get 10 more hours in. It’s a trade. Maybe you try working every Saturday and taking Tuesdays off. The principle is this: if you know when things are slow, when you can be more effective and more concentrated, take advantage of that and take off when things are busier.
You might be surprised with the results that come from refocusing your time productively. Not only do you have the potential to have better control of your life and get more done, you may never have to face a busy Saturday crowd again. You can go skiing on a Tuesday afternoon when the ski hill is empty instead of waiting until the weekend when everybody else is there. You can give time to your family when they need you most. When you started this, you decided, I want to be my own boss. You wanted to make your own schedule and enjoy flexibility and freedom with your time. Well then the question is, are you?
Check out The Appraiser Coach Podcast for more info on this topic:
