To do… to do… to do…

My to do list is never ending. Actually I should make that plural, my to do lists are never ending. I’ve moved well past one list to several lists… in several categories… some business, some personal, some broad, some detailed, some are items that need done ASAP, some are for today, or tomorrow, even next week, there’s my bucket list and let’s be honest some are just a wish and a hope and I will never get to them.

I’m a serial list maker. I admit it. There is something very soothing to me about making a list. I’m pretty happy when I can check something off the list too but it’s the creation of the list that I like the best. And there is nothing better than taking a bunch of road worn, ragged 3 day old lists and combining them into one again. AHHHHH, bliss.

I’ve always known this about myself but I’ve never really thought about why it is, or how to “harness” the beast but last Thursday it all started to come together for me. Myself and about 20 other agents from my office took a Kolbe A Test, then we went over our results and discussed the why’s & why nots. I’m sure you’ve heard of DISC, Strength Finder, Briggs Myers and this is kinda like that but way different.

The short version of the story is that I’m a 3-4-9-3, my strengths are that I simplify, maintain, innovate and envision. I have lots of ideas, plans, my head is always spinning with new ways to market properties, add clients, better the client experience, get more business and on and on – that’s the innovate and envision part. But I naturally want to simplify my life and my business, so I make a list of all those things and then I make a sub list of what needs done for each item. Then I start to get overwhelmed with the details and I combine them back into one list that I’ll look at tomorrow.

Like I said earlier, I’ve always know this about myself to some degree and this test reinforced that its not something I can will to change but I can manage it. I will try to remind myself to tackle one project at a time and get thru it. 80% done is better than 100% never done. I’ve also learned the fine art of hiring help and delegating items to my team. I don’t mean that in a bad way, its a great thing! Every person is different, every person has a different set of strengths and some even thrive on the things that bog me down! Another AHHHHH moment!!!

Maybe someday I’ll show you the checklist we’ve created for every new listing, or the one for new pendings, and there’s the price reduction update list, don’t forget the list of projects to accomplish this winter, or my weekly social media posting checklist… ooh that made me remember… write blog post on Sunday, CHECK!