With nearly two decades of experience in the UK Mortgage industry, Gillian McAllister delves into the important but sometimes ignored topic of time management for brokers in today’s fast-paced and constantly evolving market.
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In this article, we will explore:

- Industry Challenges

- A Green Frog, Time Blocking and the Eisenhower Matrix

- Taking the Time Back

- Beyond 9 to 5

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There’s so much talk about “efficiency” in today’s modern era of the Broker industry. We need to streamline, simplify and make the most of the time and resources allocated to us. The reality though, is that life is busier for everyone than it has ever been.
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The fast evolution of technology, the adoption of said tech, and more competition drives the narrative that we should all be able to do more. If we don’t, then the problem must be us, and how we manage time.
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The biggest and most misleading myth around the concept of effective time management is that there is an end goal to achieve, but there isn’t. Good time management isn’t a monolith, it looks different to everyone.

For me, good time management doesn’t mean I have to do more in a working day. It means the time I spend on tasks needs to be efficient and productive, and hopefully frees up time where I can support my team and my own well being.
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It’s not about creating additional capacity until you reach burnout: it’s about making your time worthwhile in a holistic way.
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Industry Challenges

I’m a firm believer in that we can only control what is within our gift to control,  and this makes practising effective time management tricky. The best-laid plans can be easily derailed by a single phone call, email or Slack message, and just like that, your time is now dedicated to something totally different.
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A great example of this in our industry is the seemingly constant rate change environment we operate in. A new rate or announcement could have an impact on a client outcome, making it tricky for brokers to stay on plan as they attempt to manage their time.
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A Green Frog, Time Blocking and the Eisenhower Matrix

I have a couple of tools I use to help me prioritise and make the most of the day, but like anything, what works for me may not work for everyone.
 

This is a bit more of a phrase than a tool: ‘eat the green frog’ is a principle I tend to abide by as much as possible. It’s unlikely that anyone would want to eat a green frog, and that’s something that one would put off for as long as possible,  and every list has a ‘green frog’ equivalent.  
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I used to create meticulous lists with fancy stationery and color-coding, and I loved the satisfaction of ticking items off. However, I realised this didn't make me as effective as I could be. Aside from the time it took to create those attractive lists, the tasks I dreaded most – difficult conversations, complex analytics, or lengthy projects, the eating of a green frog if you will – were the ones that kept getting pushed to the next day's list. I'd complete the smaller tasks, feeling briefly satisfied, but I avoided the one task that would truly free up my time.
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The Eisenhower Matrix is another tool I’ve used previously, which helps me park tasks that aren’t a top priority. First, prioritise the tasks that are urgent and important, and park the ones that aren’t either. Then, categorise the ones in the middle once your urgent and important ones are out of the way.  This concept is good for those who can’t yet abandon the “pretty list-making” mentality.
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Recently I’ve taken on the practice of time-blocking, and for me this looks like a combination of “eating the green frog” and clearing space in my diary. I block out time in my calendar as 'busy' to focus on specific tasks, like writing articles for Broker Boost or managing logistics. I wouldn’t miss a meeting that was put in my diary, so treating work tasks like meetings helps me focus during that dedicated time.
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Taking the Time Back

Early on in my career, my biggest frustration was self-induced. I’d have a constant pressure from the to-do list because when I had planned to do my tasks, a meeting would drop in and derail my day. To complicate things, it was often the occurrence that the meeting was one where I felt like I didn’t add value. In reality that meeting created additional pressure on the already limited time that was “left” in the day.
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I was known to moan, quite regularly in fact: “My day has gone to pot’, or “my day has been hijacked again.” In reality though, I was hijacking myself. It was when I saw a post on LinkedIn that I began to rethink things: “Why were other people able to control my diary more than I could?”
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Also, as my career experience grew so did my confidence. It took a while but it is ok to say “no” in a constructive way: “I’m sorry that time doesn’t work for me, but here are a couple of other options.”
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Beyond the 9 to 5

If it’s one thing I’ve learned throughout my career in the mortgage industry, is that a Broker’s job is seemingly never done. There’s always an enquiry, an application, a call or a meeting, and the work piles up quickly.
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At its core, being a broker is a people service vocation: you’re helping people achieve their goals, from buying their first home to expanding on their existing property portfolio. As such, brokers are inherently programmed to help people when they can, which can easily take up time leading to overload and eventually burnout.
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While the industry as a whole has paid more attention to mental health and well being, there’s always more that can be done. That conversation is a top-down approach, but at the day-to-day level, we can do more to respect people’s time, consider the impact of the time request and be more mindful of someone’s additional or external pressures.
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This leads me to my final point: time management doesn’t exist within the typical 9 to 5. Our time outside office hours are equally, if not more important than the 9 to 5. We all have commitments, pressures and responsibilities that are also time-sensitive outside the working day.

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