How to Make the Most Out of Your Loan Officer Work Hours

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How to Make the Most Out of Your Loan Officer Work Hours

How to Make the Most Out of Your Loan Officer Work Hours

Loan officer work hours vary widely, depending on personal preference and company. There are some mortgage originators who are in the office for the traditional 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Others choose to mold their work hours to fit their personal preference, family needs, or customer database. 

How to Make the Most Out of Your Loan Officer Work Hours

However you choose to schedule your day, it’s important to make the most out of your loan officer work hours. Here’s how. 

Decide What Works Best For You

Clearly, there’s no one size fits all for loan officer work hours. You may choose to start your day early (think, 5 A.M.), go to the gym or take your kids to school, and be in the office by 7:30. Or, you could get your work day started later. And stay at the office until between 6 and 9 P.M., when many of your potential borrowers are at home. 

Either way, determining a work schedule that fits your personal preferences and customer’s needs is a great way to strike a healthy work/life balance. 

Then, Stick To It

Once you decide on a schedule that works for you, stick to it. By being consistent with your loan officer work hours, you set yourself up for success. After all, if your realtor partners and customers don’t know if or when you’ll be in the office, it will be difficult for them to feel like you’re available for their needs. Plus, for most of us, consistency in our schedules makes us more successful. 

Additionally, by adhering to a consistent work schedule, you’ll be able to maintain more regular hours for sleeping, which is beneficial to your health. 

Find Your Quiet Time

Whether it’s mornings, nights, or weekends (only pick one!), we all have a quiet time that we are at our most productive. By slotting time in your schedule from 7:00 to 10:00 A.M. to tackle high priority projects, you’ll be able to focus better. After all, most people aren’t at work yet during those hours, so you are less likely to be distracted by emails or phone calls. 

Or, if you’re more of a night owl, dedicate focused work time between 6:00 and 9:00 PM to your high priority projects. 

Write Everything Down

It doesn’t need to be with pen and paper, but when it comes to appointments and to-do lists, it’s critical that you take note of what you need to do. There’s just no way that you would be able to remember everything on your plate otherwise! 

There are many apps and programs you could use to keep track of your obligations, including the calendar app on your phone and computer, your Outlook or Gmail calendar, or even your CRM. 

Focus, Focus, Focus

Once you’ve determined how you should be scheduling your day, really focus on whatever the task at hand is. A critical part of this is to block out distractions. Whether that’s your email, ringing phone, or text messages, mute the notifications that are not completely necessary. After all, it takes about 23 minutes to refocus after a distraction. That means that checking your most recent text message takes up a lot more of your time than just a couple quick minutes. 

Hire Out Low-Priority Tasks

If you find your days filled with necessary, but low-priority tasks, you need to consider how to free up your schedule for the money making projects. For instance, if managing your email inbox, mowing your lawn, or cleaning your home is taking up time you could be spending on high value projects, you are effectively working for $10 to $20 an hour. 

By hiring others for these tasks, you will be amazed by how much time will be freed up! If you’re not sure about the idea of hiring a house cleaner or personal assistant, start small. For instance, perhaps you pay someone to clean your home twice a month. Or, an assistant to work for you one day a week. Then, you can determine if having this person as a part of your team frees you up to tackle the high value tasks on your list. 

Automate What You Can

Another option is to automate your daily tasks. We understand that the job of the loan officer includes many detail-oriented tasks that you can’t just stop doing. 

The good news is that today’s technology allows for many of these tasks to be automated. Does sending text and email updates to borrowers and referral partners suck up an hour of your morning? How about tracking down a client’s loan documents? Or maybe creating and sending your marketing emails is a frustratingly time consuming process.

Automate these tasks through your CRM, and rest easy. Because you’ve delegated to one of your best employees: your computer.

Bottom Line

Making the most out of your loan officer work hours to boost your production doesn’t mean working more hours. Instead, focus on being efficient with your time. Focus on just the high value and high priority tasks. By finding solutions for the more repetitive tasks, you can free up time in your busy schedule.Â