168 Hours: Why You Have More Time Than You Think (Yes, Even You!)

Ready for a reality check? We all get the same 168 hours every single week. That's right—168 hours. The mega-producer closing 100 deals a year? 168 hours. The part-time agent juggling a full-time job? 168 hours. You? Also 168 hours.

So why does it feel like everyone else has discovered some secret 25th hour in their day while you're drowning in your to-do list?

The Time Inventory Wake-Up Call

Here's an exercise that changed my perspective forever: Track where your 168 hours actually go for one week. Not where you think they go—where they REALLY go.

When most agents do this, they discover something shocking. Even after accounting for:

• Sleep (56 hours if you're getting a full 8 hours)
• A full-time job (40-50 hours)
• Commuting, eating, basic life stuff (20-30 hours)

You still have 30-40+ hours left. That's basically another full-time job's worth of hours!

The "I'm Too Busy" Myth

"But I'm different! I have kids/elderly parents/a demanding job/fill-in-your-reason-here!"

I hear you. Life is complicated and messy and doesn't fit into neat little time blocks. But here's the truth bomb: Being busy and being productive are two very different things.

We've gotten really good at being busy. Checking emails 47 times a day? Busy. Scrolling through real estate Facebook groups for "education"? Busy. Reorganizing our desk for the third time this month? Super busy!

But busy doesn't build business.

The Part-Time Powerhouse Secret

Some of the most successful agents I know are part-timers. How? They've mastered something full-timers often struggle with: intentional time allocation.

When you only have 10-15 hours a week for real estate, you can't afford to waste it on busy work. Every hour has to count. These agents aren't checking emails all day—they're having conversations, setting appointments, and moving deals forward.

One part-time agent shared her schedule with me:

• Monday & Wednesday evenings: 2 hours of prospecting calls
• Tuesday & Thursday lunch hours: Follow-ups and admin
• Saturday mornings: Showings and open houses
• Sunday evenings: Planning and content creation

That's roughly 15 hours a week, and she closed 18 transactions last year.

The Time-Creating Magic of Systems

Here's where the game really changes: When you stop reinventing the wheel every day, you suddenly "find" hours in your week.

Think about it:

• How much time do you spend figuring out what to post on social media?
• How long does it take to write a listing description from scratch?
• How many minutes do you waste trying to remember who to follow up with?

Systems aren't glamorous, but they're time machines. A good CRM, email templates, content calendars, and standard operating procedures don't just save time—they multiply it.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Priorities

If something is truly important to you, you'll find the time. If it's not, you'll find an excuse.

That might sting a little, but sit with it for a moment. When your kid has a school play, you find the time. When your favorite show drops a new season, you find the time. When there's a family emergency, everything else gets pushed aside.

The question isn't whether you have time for your real estate business. The question is whether it's important enough to claim its rightful place in your 168 hours.

Your Time Audit Challenge

This week, I challenge you to do a real time audit. Not a "guesstimate"—an actual tracking of where your 168 hours go. You can use a simple notebook, your phone's notes app, or a time-tracking app.

Track everything for one week:

• Sleep
• Work (primary job if you're part-time)
• Real estate activities (be specific!)
• Family time
• Personal care
• Entertainment/leisure
• Everything else

Then ask yourself:

1. Where am I spending time on things that don't align with my goals?
2. What activities could I batch, systematize, or eliminate?
3. If I found just 5 more hours per week for income-producing activities, what would that mean for my business?

The Bottom Line

Whether you're full-time or part-time, you have 168 hours each week. That's 8,760 hours per year. Even if you dedicate just 10% of that to building your real estate business, that's 876 hours—more than enough to transform your life.

The agents who are crushing it aren't working 24/7. They're not blessed with extra hours. They've simply decided that their goals are worth protecting their time for.

So, what will you do with your 168 hours this week?

Drop a comment below and share one time-waster you're committed to eliminating this week. Let's reclaim our time together!