Imagine you had $450 to spend every day. Would you blow it all in one go, or budget some for a rainy day? Time works exactly the same, it’s a finite and precious resource, so it’s crucial to spend it wisely.
Here are some budget-friendly ways to spend your time dollars smartly.
And make sure you read to the end to understand how best to spend all your free time.
1. Templates
If you’re repeatedly rewriting the same documents, lease renewals, rent increase notices or maintenance advice, it’s time for better templates.
A solid template should offer options such as with a Lease renewal; “lease renewal with rent increase” or “without rent increase.”
This choose-your-own-adventure format means you don’t reinvent the wheel each time you communicate, saving both time and mental energy as well as helping keep consistent messaging across the business.
2. Automation
Why not take your template, and automate it!
Arrears advices, replies to simple repair requests, open inspection inquiries, and even booking appointments can all be automated and happen while you’re not looking, helping you reclaim your valuable time.
By removing energy-draining tasks through automation, you can free up space to focus on more important work.
And let’s not forget, we are in the service industry, expectations have shifted.
For example, if you want to book a restaurant seating for next weekend but only remember to do so at 10.30pm on a Wednesday night, you expect to jump online, select “book a table” and it will accurately advise you when the next available seating time is.
Oh by the way, they’ll book it in and send a thank you email in the process.
These expectations will naturally flow to our service industry as well, whether you like to admit it or not.
3. AI
Here’s a fun fact, if you feed your to-do list into ChatGPT along with your available time, it can help prioritise your tasks intelligently.
Seriously! I checked it and it was pretty darn accurate.
Why not set up a custom “Chat” dedicated to your daily planning, taking into account your ideal week and meetings.
There is a world of AI tools to consider such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot to assist in smart scheduling, identifying low-value tasks, and workload management.
If nothing else, it will assist you in reducing DECISION FATIGUE.
4. Avoid Overcommitment
According to time–management coach Elizabeth Grace Saunders in HBR, burnout often occurs when we overcommit.
That magical question we always get asked is “how many properties can a PM manage?”
I believe this question is asked due to business owners wanting to be more productive, and Property Managers not having the means, tools, resources and skills to shift into the new way of doing things.
They do feel burnt out, trying to get 160 hours of tasks into a 40-hour week.
The solution? Do the math and commit only to what you can realistically fulfil.
What do you do with all this time you’ve freed up for yourself?
Build Relationships. If I am seeing one thing as technology & AI usher in a new dawn, it’s that human connection is the premium product.
Your voice, face, time & skill is going to become a fantastic commodity.
Build up your relationship equity now, so that it starts paying off as your automation, AI, and systems take away the “busy work”.
When you treat your day like a budget, each time-dollar becomes an investment, not an expense.
Make those minutes hustle, so you don’t have to.
