Organizing your day (and reclaiming your life)

Jake Vermillion	Welcome to Up-Market Sales Success, a series designed to help U.S. Bank loan officers, just like you, make the most of high-volume markets. My name is Jake, I'm a member of the Mortgage Champions team, and we we are incredibly excited to bring this powerful offering to U.S. Bank thanks to Beth Ryan, Todd McFadden, and the entire executive team. Let's dive into the topic at hand, Organizing your day (and reclaiming your life), with Dale Vermillion. Hi Dale!
Dale Vermillion	Hey Jake, how are you today?
Jake Vermillion	In this installment, we want to explore how to maximize the hours we have on the day—few though they may seem. Expanding on the key time management principles you shared in the last installment, what more can busy loan officers do to organize their day?
Dale Vermillion	Well, I want to begin by reminding everyone who listens to this that one thing that top producers and low producers have in common is 24 hours in a day. The one thing they don't have in common is how they use that 24 hours in a day. It's all about making sure that you are organizing and managing and mastering your time effectively to get the very most you can out of it. So, couple things that are absolutely essential to that: remember, if you're going to succeed, you've got to "Plan your work and work your plan." Very old saying, but very true. And the way that you do that first and foremost is you time block, you time batch, and you time master. Now, what does that mean? Well, it means again that you have to make sure that you are establishing time blocks—blocks of time that you are building in your schedule, that you're organizing in there that focus you on very committed activities. You're working in those to make sure that you've got singular focus. That's the whole key to that. Time batching is where you're working on similar activities within those time blocks, because we know that the more you do similar activities the faster you get at that activity, each time you do it. So, you create efficiencies when you do that. And time mastering is simply making sure that you're setting these blocks in a way so that you're organizing and prioritizing each and every day so you're proactive in your approach to your business, not reactive. Don't start your day by checking voicemail and email, because you're going to get caught up in that for the rest of the day and it's going to derail. Instead, plan and organize, set your time blocks, batch things together, and plan what we call power hours. Power hours are where you put those time blocks in and you power through to get things done. And don't forget that you got to block out your emails, turn off those notifications, set up your voicemail and you're out of office—like we talked about in the last installment—and utilize something called flex time. This is such a powerful principle. That principle is simply making sure that again—when you're scheduling—you are not just scheduling for those things that you know you need to do today, but also the things that are going to come up that you don't know what they are yet. Because in every day of business life—37 years of doing this—I've never had a day yet where I could plan eight hours and work eight hours because two or three hours of stuff comes up I didn't expect. So, plan for it. If you think you have two to three hours a day of stuff that happens, and let's say it's month end, and it's more than that, then plan for what it's going to be, take the rest of your day and block it out, and then create these flex times where literally in-between your time blocks you're putting 15- to 20-minute cushions of time. It's like creating small time banks, so you've got overflow on both sides. And so you can address those things. And the number one rule, Jake, of all of these, is focus on sales as your primary focus. Look, if you're a loan officer you're paid to sell. Okay? Don't make your day that of an administrator—make it of a salesperson. So, dedicate a good amount of your day to sales. Make sure that you're blocking out your sales times, both for generating new business and for handling the business you're getting. And remember, it's all about efficiency and effectiveness at the end of the day. If you're following these techniques, you're going to be both.
Jake Vermillion	So, one of the most concerning challenges loan officers face in high-volume markets is burnout. Can you speak a little to some of the strategies you've taught in previous U.S. Bank trainings, which, by the way, listeners can access online at m.mortgagechampions.com to combat burnout and facilitate both personal and professional success?
Dale Vermillion	Well, first and foremost, the key to all of this—and the key to all of our ultimate success—is we've got to manage our day, and our life, and our business, with purpose. It's about establishing your why. It's about making sure that every single day when we get up, we're reminding ourselves of those reasons, those inherent reasons, that we are doing what we do. And we're doing it for a purpose that is meaningful to us. And that means not just a personal purpose—the things you want to accomplish and achieve in life; but, a professional purpose and the way you want to grow. So, the key here is to make sure that you're maintaining focus and staying positive by having little goals that you're creating and little incentives for you around your purpose. So, if there's something you're trying to accomplish, there's something you're trying to achieve right now: break it down. If I want to buy a car, or I want to get a new home, or I want to send my kids to college, or I want to give to a charity—that's my purpose for this day, this week, this month, this year. What I want to do is I want to break it down and say, "Okay, so what do I need to do, hour by hour, to get there?" And then let's create some incentives so I can keep myself motivated. And then you work in what's called sprints. And those sprints are where you take your time blocks now and if you have a one-hour time block, but you know that you're pretty much motivated for 20-, 25-minutes, and then you get a little bit tired out, which most people do. Do a 20-minute sprint with a three minute break where you can grab a cup of coffee, you can, you know, listen to a song that you like. You can spend a few minutes with your spouse or with your children if they're there with you, and get that little bit of refresher so you can get right back in, get right back on your purpose, and make sure you do it well. And don't forget to also spend time in your breaks to collaborate with your team, to work with your teammates, to learn, to grow, to encourage each other to make sure you're doing that. It's so important that we understand that we focus on being positive all the time. So, the key here is: whenever you have challenges, turn them into opportunities. Focus on solutions, not problems. And the number one rule is don't forget to plan, not just your business time, but your personal time. Put those things in your calendar for times with your spouse, times with your kids, time for yourself to stay healthy, times to do things that add value to your life. "Don't major in the minors." Now, what do I mean by that? I mean, don't make big things out of little things. Don't sweat the small stuff. You gotta really make sure that you're taking care of yourself and the people around you while you're taking care of your business. And keep perspective all the time. The perspective is you're healthy. You're making a living. You're in the greatest industry there is. You're changing the lives of your customers. And, you're going to be rewarded financially in the process. And always remember that every single transaction, every communication, every activity that you do, is for the benefit of changing the life of your customer—you're making a major impact on the single largest investment that they ever make in their lifetime. And for that, you can really feel good about what you're doing.
Jake Vermillion	Any parting thoughts on this topic Dale?
Dale Vermillion	I would just say, enjoy the ride! Remember we are in the greatest industry that there is. We are in the business of helping people improve their finances. We're in the business of creating home ownership. We are providing the American dream. So, you know what? Don't look at your career as a job, look at it as a career. Look at it as an opportunity to change a life every single time you get on the phone with every single customer you talk to.
Jake Vermillion	Thanks so much for listening. Before you go, we've included some bonus content at the end of this installment on strategies for maintaining peak production while working from home. Just continue listening for those helpful tips from Dale. Don't forget to complete today's skill challenge by setting-up designated times to check your voicemail and email throughout the day. And then let us know how different your day feels by clicking on the feedback link in the show description. In the next installment, we'll discuss Communicating with customers amidst mass uncertainty. Bonus content coming at you, now. This is such an important topic, especially given the state of remote work in America. I'm sure many listening have personally been navigating the transition to working from home. Dale, what are just a few quick tips you would give to a loan officer who may be struggling with making that transition?
Dale Vermillion	Well, the number one tip is you have to treat your home office the same way you would treat your work office or your business environment. So, that means get up in the morning like you normally would, take a shower, get yourself dressed and ready for work, get your game face on, get your game clothes on if that's what you need. And make sure that you start your day, every day, with something powerful first thing in the morning, before you ever get into the flow of your business. Read something that either motivates you, or inspires you, or educates you, or listen to something that does that. The bottom line is get good input first thing in the morning to get your attitude right. And then, make sure you go into whatever that office space is you create. So, if you're working from home, find a place you can call your office, that you can be free of distractions for most of the day, that you have things around you that motivate you. Remember, you want to set up your home office just like your work office. So, if there's. plaques, if there's awards, if there's pictures of your family, or things you're trying to accomplish, the goals you set in life, you want to put those pictures up in front of you to keep you motivated and keep you driven. That's really, really important. And then make sure that as you move through your course of your day because you're working by yourself, that you're again collaborating with your team, you've got an accountability partner—somebody that you can get in contact with to, you know, brush ideas by, encourage each other, have conversation, make sure you're staying on track. All of these things will help you create a really great home working environment that will lead to great efficiencies, great effectiveness and great success.
Jake Vermillion	Coming up next, Communicating with customers (amidst mass uncertainty).