Separating Your Important and Urgent Tasks
"What outcome do we want to drive?"
- Dan Rochon
Episode Summary
Separating Important vs. Urgent in Real Estate
Welcome to another thought from me, Dan Rochon, host of the No Broke Months for Real Estate Agents Podcast.
Working in real estate is rewarding—but it can also be frustrating if you feel like you’re working nonstop and not seeing results. The truth is, not everything that demands your attention deserves it. Some things are urgent, but not important. Others are important, but not urgent. Learning how to separate the two will change the way you run your business.
What’s Really Important in Business?
In business, “important” means something that drives a result. It’s not about being busy. It’s about the outcome. So the first question to ask yourself is:
👉 What outcome do I want to drive?
For me, there are only two outcomes that matter in real estate:
Getting more clients
Exceeding client expectations
Everything else is secondary. If what you’re working on doesn’t connect to one of those two outcomes, it’s not truly important.
The Role of Urgency
Now, urgency is different. Urgent means time-sensitive. For example, returning a client’s call about a showing today is urgent. But not everything urgent is important—and that’s where many agents get stuck.
Lead generation, for example, is important but not always urgent. That’s why it must be scheduled daily. It’s the domino that everything else falls from. If you don’t have leads, nothing else matters.
Examples of Important vs. Urgent
Lead generation → Important and urgent (must be done daily).
Strategic planning → Important but not urgent (schedule it weekly or monthly).
Professional development → Important but not urgent (invest in yourself over time).
Networking → Important but not urgent (relationships pay off later).
CMA prep → Depends. It could be urgent and important if the listing appointment is today, or urgent and not important if it’s for next week—something you might delegate.
Why This Matters
Separating important from urgent isn’t just time management—it’s clarity management. When you know what truly drives results, you stop wasting energy on things that look busy but don’t move the needle.
At the end of the day, focus on what grows your business and delights your clients. Do that consistently, and you’ll experience what I call no broke months.
Until next time, be grateful, make good choices, and help someone today—you never know when that one action will lead to your next listing.
