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Steven and Ashley challenge the badge of honor around being “busy” and break down what productive work actually looks like. They unpack why multitasking creates mistakes, how time blocking and short timers make intimidating tasks manageable, and why agents should separate revenue-producing work from maintenance work. The conversation moves into delegation: track the tasks you dislike or repeat, use the systems you already have, hand off the prep work, and reserve your expertise for the decisions only you can make. The goal isn’t a packed calendar—it’s more relationships, more white space, and a business that can keep moving without relying on you for everything.
Creators and Guests
What is LeadingLane Podcast?
Welcome to LeadingLane, the go-to podcast for aspiring and seasoned real estate professionals! Hosted by Steven L. Burch and Ashley Fredrick, two seasoned brokers with a flair for the industry, this show delves into the core of what makes real estate tick. Each episode is a journey through essential topics like mastering time management, unraveling the complexities of real estate finances, and sharing authentic experiences from the field. Get valuable tips and tricks, whether you're a newbie or a pro. This podcast is your key to thriving in real estate.
Fort Riley / Junction City / Manhattan / Abilene Kansas home buying & selling — VA loans, BAH & PCS: https://pcstofortriley.com
Steven L Burch (00:00)
Welcome to the Leading Lane podcast. I I really like this topic. and it is busy, people saying, I'm so busy versus productive. And every single time that somebody says, I'm too busy to do this, I'm too busy for that, like, are you really that busy? Or are you being productive? Because I think there is a total difference. what does it mean to you, Ashley?
for busy versus productive. Let's start there.
Ashley Fredrick (00:34)
Yeah. I mean, I think like busy is just almost running around with your head cut off.
Steven L Burch (00:40)
Mm-hmm.
Ashley Fredrick (00:40)
like there's no actual direction or it's like lots of it's almost like a you know, like on your web screen and like all of the tabs are open at like one time. I
Steven L Burch (00:52)
Mm-hmm.
Ashley Fredrick (00:52)
mean, guilty of that. however, but it's like right, you're trying to like tackle like all of them at one time versus like actually just being productive as to like
what is revenue producing, what is maintenance work. So I think like busy is just all the little things that have to be done, but maybe the way that you're doing them isn't necessarily the best. Versus like productive is like actual things that are gonna move the bottom line at the end of the day.
Steven L Burch (01:23)
and with that too, I think that like busy is almost like a a cop outward of being able
Ashley Fredrick (01:29)
Mm-hmm.
Steven L Burch (01:29)
to say, you know, I I'm I'm really busy, I I can't get to that quite yet. Like, are you sure it's just not that I'm not a priority or this task is not a priority? Because I sure as shit think that if we looked at your phone and look at your screen time or other things, like I'm sure you carved out time to be able to do TikTok scrolling, right? But
you didn't make me a priority off of there. So when people say like I'm too busy to do X, Y, Z and you and I
Ashley Fredrick (02:02)
An open house.
Steven L Burch (02:03)
an open house, you and I are maybe a little bit of extreme high producers and I know we both are extremely productive and busy, right? Like we're doing shit, we're moving the needle, we're making looking at the bottom line.
W how does that make you feel when somebody else that maybe isn't as productive says that they're too busy to do something?
Ashley Fredrick (02:30)
Kind of like nails on a chalkboard, to be honest. I think I normally try to just help people like reevaluate that, like look at it a different way. So for example, like if someone says that they're too busy to do an open house, I'll normally say, like, okay, so the month of September, there are 31 days. I just want to make sure that you and I are on the same page, that in those 31 days, you do not have
an hour and a half that you can commit to putting into real estate. But also that would mean that nothing else can come up. So that would mean that if somebody were to be like, hey, I have a new property that I want to list, you obviously don't have time for that. Or if you have a new buyer that says, We want to look at three houses tomorrow, you obviously don't have time for that either. So then normally it's like a I mean maybe I have some time to
Steven L Burch (03:30)
I think it like I said, it's the cop out, like it's the people don't want to make that commitment for whatever reason, to be able to to move forward. And then when you hold accountable, you know, they they try to skirt away from it, but you really hold to the the carpet and they're not gonna go anywhere with it. And trying and as a leader, our goal is to be able to help shift the mindset. because you're like I can spit you know, run around circles around you.
And here
Ashley Fredrick (03:59)
Mm-hmm.
Steven L Burch (04:00)
we still are having enough conversation, not going anywhere, not moving the needle. so
Ashley Fredrick (04:05)
I think that's some of it comes back to systems too.
Steven L Burch (04:08)
Mm. And so do you think that people that always say that they're too busy, do you think that they have systems in play?
Ashley Fredrick (04:19)
I think that it's kind of like a run amuck or I'll get to it when I can. Or, you know, I think that there's a lot of people that like work out of their email. So it's like their email
Steven L Burch (04:28)
Mm-hmm.
Ashley Fredrick (04:28)
is just open and then as it comes through they just tackle it versus like I've really tried to like close my email down and then open it back up when I have time to commit to it.
Steven L Burch (04:40)
Mm-hmm. let's hit the multitasking, multi tab conversation for a second. do you believe in multitasking?
Ashley Fredrick (04:55)
Yeah, so yes and no. You know, that's so funny. Like back in the day when you used to go to job interviews and people would ask you like what you like what's a good thing. Like you'd be like, I'm a multitasker. And like yes and no, right? Like yes, but in the same sense, I feel like you're not fully finishing something because you've already jumped on to the next thing. And then I also feel like that's where mistakes get made is cause you didn't finish what you were doing and then you
Remember it's something else. I just did it. I like walked out of the office and somebody wanted me to email them something and then I forgot. And then I came back and like 30 minutes later I was like, shit, I was supposed to email somebody something, right? Because you left or whatever. So I think that although as like multitasking sounds great, I guess it's like no different when you think about driving. Like not texting and driving is I mean, right, 'cause you're multitasking and then your focus is taken away from the main thing that you're doing.
Steven L Burch (05:51)
Right. Totally agree. And I think that it's the intentional time and effort that you're you're working on something. And I too used to say, yeah, I can multitask, I can do all of that. I have ADHD and my brain can handle that. Like I can pop around in conversations and jump around the most random stuff for sure. But like actually fully executing a task from start to finish, yeah. No. Like
I won't ever get there if I'm trying to multitask like that. I actually think it was in the buy your time back book in the activity that he said and and I don't know if this is 100% exactly what I said, but this is what I remember of it. So write out a sentence on, you know, a piece of paper. And then now that you're going to multitask, what you're gonna do this next go around.
And you're gonna time yourself this next go around, you're going to go ahead and write two sentences, the same sentence, one on top of the other. But now what you have to do is you have to alternate your letters, going from the top sentence to the now to the next one and going up. And once you put it in that position, like in saying it that way, like you're double if if not tripling the amount of time that it takes for you to write out the same freaking sentence twice by multitasking.
versus just writing one sentence at a time. And I was like, man. So I did that with my staff and like of course everybody like was like, what? That's crazy. But in reality, that's exactly what multitasking is. You're trying to jump around and go one letter at a time. And because now there's structure of how you have to multitask, like it it really put in a position of just do what you're supposed to be doing right in front of you and executing it all the way to the end of result.
Ashley Fredrick (07:42)
Well, I think we've talked about the timer method before, and I'm not the best at it, but sometimes I will do it. And it's actually amazing, like if you just set your timer for like say five minutes, like one, it normally goes by like I feel like it doesn't take as long as I think it's gonna take, and then I got done. So my b biggest thing is that I never want to leave the house with the island, stuff on the island. I don't know what it is, but I can't do it.
But then I also am like, this is gonna take like twenty minutes. So then I just set a timer and I'll be like, I'm whatever. Whatever I get done in 10 minutes and I'll leave. And then I'm like done in five. Right. And then it's done and it's taken care of. So I think like truly trying to block your time so that you can focus on it. And then I think the less interruptions you have, if you're blocking the time, the quicker that you get it done. So then you can actually go back to the other priorities. But I think that the other thing is learning to delegate is where people struggle because
Again, if you're trying to value your time, like maybe all that quote unquote busy work is something you should be delegating, whether it's to a VA or to AI. I mean, let's be honest, like there's a lot that AI can take on now here, right?
Steven L Burch (08:50)
Mm dang we don't mind me.
Okay, AI, yes.
Ashley Fredrick (08:58)
It was so funny. I know. I know.
Steven L Burch (09:04)
alright. Start with that again. So I don't know what happened there. So I think the people with delegation is they don't know exactly what to delegate. And I think this goes right into the busy side of things. Because they're so busy they're not paying attention to the simple tasks or just doing it. It's all in their brain. So how does
One truly figure out like what do I delegate, what does AI even do for me? Because there's so many options, I don't even know where to start.
Ashley Fredrick (09:42)
I think a lot of it is tracking what you do. So like I have a lovely list that I started here of all the things I don't like doing. And the goal is to find someone else or AI to do that. But I think even like asking AI like, I just got a new listing. What's something that you could take off my plate, right? And it'll it'll tell you or what can you schedule for me or those types of things. I think it's a matter of finding things you don't like to do because I think people
put off the things that they don't like to do. And then that ends up being even more so time consuming because you're not doing what you're supposed be doing. but also I just think like if there's something that is like repetitive that can be taken, like that's an easy way to find that. Or, you know, like in our systems like what systems do we actually have that we're not using? Like what's Sky Slope and like emailing things into files versus like downloading and uploading like what systems do you have that you're not actually using to its full potential?
Steven L Burch (10:43)
And so the people that are hesitant and or say, No, I mean I don't wanna give it to AI or I don't wanna delegate it out, only I can do it. I'm I'm the best at doing it. What what does that look like for the people that are busy versus the people that are productive?
Ashley Fredrick (11:01)
Yeah, you know, it's almost like I feel like people have this like badge of honor of saying I'm busy and actually it's like not, right? Like there's one agent that I'll always call about something and then she'll be like, Well, I don't know, I just had poreclosings today, so I that's why I didn't get back to you. And I'm always like, I don't I mean, great, that's fantastic, but I we all had how many you know what I mean? So I think that there's sometimes that's what people like rely on is saying that they're busy. But I think that the people that are tied up in the
busy work are probably the ones that are more likely to actually make mistakes and not catch the things that they're supposed to be catching because they have this control, which I totally understand. But like if you have that much business and you are quote unquote that busy, like we're human. We cannot do it all. So we have to
Steven L Burch (11:50)
Right.
Ashley Fredrick (11:50)
look at ways to
offset it, but then right if other people just see that you make mistakes all the time, like then it starts to affect your credibility and reliability.
Steven L Burch (11:59)
Mm-hmm. So to me, too, those individuals that are not trying to shift, right? It's the complacency, in my opinion. Like they're they're fine being complacent. They are fine doing the status quo, just getting by, and they would rather live in that chaos mentality of being busy versus I think being productive. You're figuring out solutions and you're figuring out
How do I do this to streamline it and how can I constantly improve it so that I'm not having to sit and do these tedious freaking tasks? Like the goal for me is I don't want to do anything. We don't know when things are gonna pop off in real estate. We don't know when anything in life, right? I wanna be able to prepare for whatever the worst case scenario may be and not relying upon me so that the business still can move forward.
so I learned very quickly, like delegate the shit out of everything. but where I think that I've here now recently have learned even more is the checks and balances aspect of thing, making sure that you are not just taking it for face value of things are getting done. Because g if it goes over to somebody that's busy that you're delegating and they're not finding the systems, you're just piling their desk full of stuff and we're not moving the the company forward.
Ashley Fredrick (13:27)
So if you looked at like someone's calendar, what do you think is a good way to see if there's actually priorities in their calendar or not?
Steven L Burch (13:34)
Mm.
That's a good question, because my instant gut reaction I think is probably more so what I want my calendar to look like. I think people try to over time block and put things in their calendar and so structured. So I think that probably the first you'll you'll see somebody that's trying all of these different colors and all of these different blocks and all like all of this to me it's noise.
to where now for me, what I want on my calendar, what are the things that are actual appointments that are making me money? And if I don't have
Ashley Fredrick (14:14)
Hmm.
Steven L Burch (14:15)
blue on my calendar and I have full days that are completely white with nothing on there, that means that I'm not doing appointments that are making me money. So those are my creative days. Those are my days that I actually want to sit down and do different things and I plan for that and allow my myself to be able to
have that flexibility because also if you're gonna try to put me in a box, I'm gonna get out of it as quickly as I can. So I think that good.
Ashley Fredrick (14:43)
I think we talk about you know like the difference
of contracts and contacts is the R, right? Just relationships. So like
Steven L Burch (14:48)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right.
Ashley Fredrick (14:51)
where in your calendar are the relationships? Like where are you seeing people talking to people? Like if it's blank, that would be concerning as far as what that means revenue wise.
Steven L Burch (15:06)
Right. So I I think that if I were to tell somebody or coach somebody like you don't know where to start or you are trying to generate more business, it really is that the the R, if red, when we will, right, for relationships, how much red for relationships are on your calendar. And if you're not generating new or even touching base with the people that you already know, what are you doing?
Right, like that we're in a we're in a relationship
Ashley Fredrick (15:35)
Mm-hmm.
Steven L Burch (15:37)
world and this industry is all about the relationship. So if you're not even planning to get yourself out of the status quo, I think that's probably the the big issue there.
Ashley Fredrick (15:49)
Well think like if you're if you think you're quote unquote like busy, I think figuring out too like what are the necessities and what is just the like ad lib of what you're doing with your time. So I think that maybe what some people are doing are what they think is worth their time, but then you have to evaluate like what is that actually getting me at the end of the day.
Steven L Burch (16:08)
Right.
Right. And and I think it's hard to as you grow a business or grow y your own personal business and production, like what is it that only you can do to make the money? What is the the one or d and I mean all of it we're in business, that's what we're doing, we're making the money. Where where can you eliminate the rest of the things off of your plate so that you can do more of what makes you money? And
more of growing your business and Yes.
Ashley Fredrick (16:38)
the people more productive.
Steven L Burch (16:42)
Yes. I think where people get really crazy is that the more they don't know really what the more is and s because they fill up their calendar, because they fill up their to do list. I'm doing more. But that's just a a hamster on a wheel not going anywhere. We need to get off that wheel and start really running.
Ashley Fredrick (17:03)
Well and I think like a good question too is like what would you do if like you intentionally left white space in your calendar? Like what would that look like as far as like where could you then take a step forward if you had that extra white space?
Steven L Burch (17:19)
Hmm. so where I want to go with this too and productive, do you is everything that you do that is productive actually produce income for you?
Ashley Fredrick (17:33)
No.
Steven L Burch (17:35)
What is you had a smirk there? what are some productive things that you have to do only Ashley can do that aren't really making you money, but you have to do it?
Ashley Fredrick (17:53)
I think that comes back to like relationships. Right. So like those are relationships I've formed. So people have had their experiences with me. I think that's a good question because you could say like,
contracts, you know, putting them in the system, those types of things. Like I don't have to do them, but I do them. you know,
Steven L Burch (18:17)
Yeah.
Ashley Fredrick (18:18)
but should I have to? I don't know. I mean necessarily no. you know, same thing, like, and that's this like list that I started making there. It's like things that I'm doing that I think someone else could do so that I could spend more time. For me, like it's
Like I need to be doing a CMA. Like I need to price someone's house. Like that I'm not gonna give up. Like that's my expertise. That's my 15 years worth of knowledge. I need to be at someone's house to price it, get it ready, et cetera. and then like think like for showings, like maybe not I mean, I prefer to be there for showings, but when I need to see the house, but like I'm the one that should be giving them the advice as to like pricing repairs, those types of things. So I think like the things where it's like,
based off of my personal knowledge are really where the things I need to be involved in.
Steven L Burch (19:05)
And and I think this is where and that the reason why I was asking that is to be able to break that down of giving an example of what can you delegate, what can you offload, right? But do you have to be the person that goes and prints the CMA and puts together the the buyer cons or the seller consult stuff? Or do you have to be the one that goes and prints the disclosures and sets up the appointment and verifies everything? Like there's
Ashley Fredrick (19:33)
Yeah.
Steven L Burch (19:33)
so much
work that can be offloaded.
Ashley Fredrick (19:36)
Let me give
you some let me give some examples, Stephen, of what I would like to offload.
Steven L Burch (19:41)
Let's go.
Ashley Fredrick (19:43)
Digger's Hotline.
So we have to we have to call Digger's Hotline, right? So like Cubacasa. I love Cubacasa, but then you have to download it and then upload it into the MLS. Even like pictures, right? You have to download them, rearrange them, et cetera. We do things here like delivering brochures. I don't need to deliver brochures, putting sale pending signs on, sold signs on, CMAs, making printing, showing books, house books, pre listings, partials, extensions, amendments. These are a few of things that
don't necessarily have to be doing. right. And that's because when you get to like a point where you are quote unquote busy, like there is only so much time in the day, when you are trying to do protect productive things to keep all of that going. And I think it's what we talk about too, is like you have to make you know, you have to spend money to make money. So if you have to spend money on finding someone to do these tasks that are not necessary.
It should then allow time for you to spend the time with people, spend the things that you need to be doing so that you make more keep people more productive, et cetera.
Steven L Burch (20:50)
we should have started with that list. And to me it
Ashley Fredrick (20:53)
There's more. There's like
ten more things. So
Steven L Burch (20:56)
And it's making an investment into yourself and then into your business is that spinning the money. And then my last question for you before we close out on here. That list that you have in front of you, Ashley, five, six, seven years ago, would that be the same list?
Ashley Fredrick (21:16)
No. I think it would be different.
Steven L Burch (21:18)
How so?
What do you think it would be?
Ashley Fredrick (21:21)
I think that there would be less on there. I think that like five or seven years ago I still felt I needed to have control of everything. so I think that like over time you realize that and maybe sometimes like other people are better at certain things. And if you can find that person that likes doing those or are better than you, then then it's a a good fit. So I think that five or seven years ago I would have had a hard time like trusting someone else to do that or knowing that my time is more valuable somewhere else.
Steven L Burch (21:52)
And I think that's the hard part right there is the value in yourself and understanding what you're really working towards and your own personal value and not feeling that it's a bad thing delegating something out.
Ashley Fredrick (22:07)
I mean, right, like time is money, right? Like in a sense, and like how we're spending that time really can affect bottom line. So I think it's just a matter of trying to figure out like what truly you need to be doing and then having that the courage to give up some of those things because it does take courage. Because right, we've also done it, we've all done it where you have hired someone to do those things and then they didn't do them.
the way that you wanted them done and you're like, I I should have just done it myself, right? And it really is just a matter of finding the right people.
Steven L Burch (22:42)
For me, it was also the clarity of what is the outcome that I'm actually wanting and truly articulating it to the fullest, not just assuming that they're gonna do it my way or maybe read my brain and read my mi mind automatically. That doesn't work as much as I would love for it to work.
Ashley Fredrick (23:02)
Well, I think you've also said stuff about like the difference of like perfect and done.
Steven L Burch (23:06)
Mm-hmm. Mike.
Ashley Fredrick (23:08)
Coming
to that conclusion of what that means.
Steven L Burch (23:11)
Yeah. I also from the buy your time back book, right? Like I just need somebody to do it up to eighty percent. Give me the last ten
Ashley Fredrick (23:20)
Mm-hmm.
Steven L Burch (23:20)
percent, that's fine, I'll do my touches on it. Like so prep out the CMA, cool. I'm gonna review it, I'm still gonna pull my comps and do everything, but prep it out and I'll do the last ten percent to to f bring it over to the finish line. So it's all about personal growth, what we get down to every single time.
Ashley Fredrick (23:36)
Yeah. Well, and I think like it's just
you can dabble, right? Like you don't have to hire a VA for forty hours a week. Like hire
Steven L Burch (23:43)
Mm mm.
Ashley Fredrick (23:43)
a VA for five hours a week and start to like slowly hand those things off and see what works and add to it if if it makes comfortable and it feels right, then it's it's not a you know, all or none type of thing at once.
Steven L Burch (23:56)
Right.
Right. Don't have to jump all the way through. Well, I'm going to go be productive. I have showings today. Yeah, we'll see
Ashley Fredrick (24:04)
Good luck. Fantastic.
Steven L Burch (24:06)
how this goes. See if they really want to continue to work with me or not, but I'm sure they will.
Ashley Fredrick (24:10)
I'm sure they do.
Steven L Burch (24:12)
Well, thanks for tuning into the Leading Lean podcast. We appreciate you as always. And make sure you tune into the next one.