As we edge closer to Q4, the importance of effective time management cannot be overstated. With the end of the year fast approaching, optimizing your productivity becomes crucial to meet your annual goals. Here are some productivity hacks that could significantly improve how you manage tasks and time.
Time Management Hacks for Insurance Brokers
1: Create a daily schedule. Begin each day by outlining your planned tasks and appointments. This to-do list will help you stay organized and focused on your key priorities.
2: Implement time blocking to your calendar. Being able to block off time on your calendar is a great time-management technique and a wonderful way to boost your productivity. Your blocks can include time for client meetings, prospecting, CRM data entry or other administrative tasks, or whatever you want. Just don’t get carried away and block more time than you really need.
3: Establish clear goals. Set daily, weekly, monthly, and annual goals for yourself and your agency. Defining achievable short-term and long-term goals will help guide you toward measurable progress. Make sure your goals are SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Read our prior blog for more information.
4: Prioritize tasks. Consider a task priority technique like the Eisenhower Matrix, Ivy Lee Method, ABCDE Method, Pareto Principle, or other approach. Zapier offers more information.
5: Get rid of distractions. Identify – and then eliminate – distractions in your work environment. This will help you maintain your concentration and boost your daily productivity. UCI (the University of California, Irvine) says it takes almost 25 minutes to get back on track after a distraction.
6: Embrace technology. Research possible task or project management apps, calendar reminders, communications platforms, and other tools that can help streamline your workflows. Implement those that make sense and won’t break the bank.
7: Delegate where possible. If you have others with whom you can share tasks, delegate to them non-essential tasks that need to get done – but that don’t require your participation. Reallocating your time or outsourcing certain responsibilities can free-up your time for more high value/high return tasks.
8: Adopt the two-minute rule. Early in the morning, right after lunch, or at the end of the day, tackle smaller tasks that take two minutes or less. (If it will take longer, put it off to another time.) This will help you avoid task build-up that can often lead to greater time consumption later.
9: Be strategic in taking breaks. Build short breaks into your focused work schedule. That will allow you to recharge, increasing your overall productivity and efficiency.
10: Snooze your notifications. It’s easy to be thrown off schedule by email notifications, Slack, pop-up messages, etc. Turn those off.
11: Review and adjust – often. Regularly reconsider your strategies. Think about what’s working, and what is not working. Adjust your goals and expectations accordingly.
12: Use a General Agent. When you align yourself or your agency with a General Agent (GA), you’re able to remain independent, earn full commissions, and save time and money. A GA – like Word & Brown – can provide you with insurance company appointment support; sales and marketing assistance; valuable carrier relationships; a broader product portfolio; enrollment and underwriting assistance; quoting and other broker technology; Continuing Education (CE) and additional training; and often much more. If you’re not already working with us, call 800-869-8969 or fill out our online form to get started.
Talk with your friends, family, and colleagues, too, about what works for them in prioritizing their tasks and workdays. They may have valuable insights about some technique you could adopt – even if they work in a completely different field.
