Get More Out of Your Day: 3 Time-Saving Tips for REALTORS®

Louisiana REALTORS® • November 15, 2022

There are 24 hours in a day. While that may sound like a lot, once we begin those hours fly by. As a REALTOR® each day is filled with generating leads, following up with potential clients, handling the many moving parts of your current transactions, and of course, the countless other duties and responsibilities that never fail to pop up. Keeping all of these balls in the air can be quite the challenge, not to mention all of life’s other aspects that don’t fall under the real estate umbrella. However, with a few scheduling and routine tips and tricks, you can not only streamline your day but even have a few minutes left over.


Add “Time Blocks” to Your Daily Schedule

Did you know that studies have shown that a 30-second interruption can cost you 30 minutes of time and concentration? This is what makes time blocking so valuable. Each day schedule uninterrupted blocks of time that are dedicated to accomplishing a single task. An example of this would be setting aside 45 minutes each morning to prospect. During this time you won’t answer phone calls or emails, eliminating those costly distractions, and allowing you to effectively and efficiently complete core daily tasks. Studies also show that time-blocking can reduce errors by 50%.


Identify Your Proactive Hours

Keep a record of your activities over a typical week. How many hours do you spend doing things like taking listings, marketing them, and taking measures to close deals? How many hours do you spend prospecting? These hours can be identified as proactive hours, and the more of them you have, the more productive your day and week will be. Time spent sitting around the office or in other types of meetings can clog your schedule and reduce your potential productivity; while other types of activities are necessary and unavoidable, increasing your ratio of proactive hours can make each day much more fruitful.


Control and Reduce Your Distractions

We live in a distracting world. We are constantly plugged into all of the information and events from around the world. Of course, many distractions are unavoidable, but the ones that can derail a day are very much in our control. Checking email, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more are easy traps to slip into. Fortunately, there are some tools out there that can make these time-stealing actions easier to avoid. You can block certain websites on your computer during certain times of the day. You can even set your email inbox to pause notifications in the same way. Also while looking at your schedule, make a commitment to only check your email at certain times of the day, and use a time block to respond; this will make focusing on any task at hand much easier.

REALTOR® RESOURCES
Compliant advertising under the Fair Housing Act
By Louisiana REALTORS® April 24, 2026
Avoid costly fair housing violations with expert tips on compliant real estate advertising, from listing language to social media targeting strategies.
By Louisiana REALTORS® April 24, 2026
Week seven of the 2026 Regular Session was one of the most active weeks yet for legislation affecting the real estate industry. Louisiana REALTORS® remained heavily engaged as lawmakers advanced bills dealing with property disclosures, appraiser liability, rent regulation, insurance, blight, redevelopment and other issues that directly affect real estate professionals, property owners and consumers across the state. One of the most important bills this week was HB 1166 by Rep. Kim Carver , which would require disclosures for vacant residential property. The bill was reported from House Commerce with amendments on a 14-0 vote and then amended on the House floor, ordered engrossed, and passed to third reading. Louisiana REALTORS® testified on the bill in committee and worked closely with the author to better posture the legislation. Amendments advanced by our team were accepted by the author, helping improve the bill while preserving a practical disclosure framework that increases transparency without creating unnecessary confusion in the transaction process. Another closely watched issue this week was consumer-fee disclosure legislation. HB 617 by Rep. Mandie Landry moved this week, advancing from House Commerce and then the House floor, while HB 580 , another hidden-fee disclosure bill touching real estate transactions, remains pending. Louisiana REALTORS® is opposed to these measures in their current form to the extent they apply to real estate professionals because they are not well-tailored to the realities of real estate transactions, where many costs are negotiated, variable or controlled by third parties. Louisiana REALTORS® testified in opposition to the bills we oppose and is actively working with the author to better posture the legislation and remove real estate professionals from its scope altogether. On HB 472 by Rep. Alonzo Knox , the rent stabilization bill, the author is expected to try to bring the measure back before the committee next week with amendments. Even so, Louisiana REALTORS® remain opposed to the bill on principle. Price gouging is already illegal under existing law, and government-imposed rent regulation is not the right answer to housing affordability challenges. Louisiana REALTORS® testified in opposition to the bill and continues to oppose the measure because policies like this risk discouraging investment, reducing housing supply, and creating further market distortions rather than solving the underlying problem. HB 468 by Rep. Troy Hebert , which regulates the wholesale of residential real property, remains pending in the Senate Commerce Committee and continues to be an important bill for the industry. Likewise, HB 1027 by Rep. Troy Hebert , dealing with appraiser liability, had a strong week, passing the House 90-0 and moving to the Senate. Both measures are significant because they promote greater clarity, consumer protection and confidence in the real estate marketplace. Blight and redevelopment issues also remained active. HB 284 by Rep. John Wyble , which would allow certain local governments to expropriate blighted property through a declaration-of-taking process, remains subject to call and continues to raise serious concerns about private property rights. By contrast, HB 214 and HB 217 by Rep. Chance Henry , which create tax incentives for the rehabilitation of blighted property, represent a more constructive redevelopment approach by encouraging reinvestment rather than expanding government taking authority. Insurance legislation also remained a major focus this week, with multiple bills heard that could affect homeownership costs, market stability and post-storm recovery. Measures dealing with Louisiana Citizens assessments, pre-suit insurance claim review, the Fortified Homes Program and insurance market transparency all carry real implications for affordability and transaction viability. In Louisiana, insurance remains one of the most important issues affecting the real estate market, and Louisiana REALTORS® continues to closely track that legislation. Taken together, week seven showed that Louisiana REALTORS® remains actively engaged where it matters most: supporting practical transaction standards, protecting private property rights, testifying for and against legislation when necessary, pushing back on unworkable regulation and rent-control-style policies, and advancing policies that strengthen housing opportunity and market stability across Louisiana. Please view the weekly bill tracking report provided by our lobbying team over at Harris, DeVille and Associates.
By Louisiana REALTORS® April 23, 2026
NAR is pleased to share the latest consumer guide helping buyers navigate shifting interest rates. The one-page guide covers how lenders set rates, the impact of small shifts on monthly payments and strategies to get the lowest rate possible. As a reminder, all guides in this series are available for download—in both English and Spanish—on facts.realtor . Please allow up to two weeks for the Spanish version of the latest resource to be translated and uploaded. For ease of reference, below is a list of the most recent guides: NEW: Navigating Interest Rate Shifts Financing a Renovation When You Buy Staging Your House for a Sale Spotting Deepfake Scams in Real Estate Are You Ready to Invest in Real Estate? Thank you for your continued engagement with the “Consumer Guide” series and for sharing the resources with prospective clients to ensure they have the information they need to find success in their home buying or selling journey. Remember that these guides are for informational purposes only and are not meant to enact or change any existing NAR policy. Be on the lookout for the next consumer guide, which looks at how solar installations may impact home sales transactions.
Show More