Chris & John
- Feb 18, 2021
- 3 min read

Ep 127: Time Management, Experimentation, and the Execution of Ideas with John Cohen and Chris Grenz

Updated: Mar 2, 2021

Finding your niche is important, but it takes experimentation, which means that getting better at time management is a must. Today on the show, Chris and John had a sudden guest cancellation and decided to use this as an opportunity to talk shop. We start with some contextual details about the work involved in managing Chris’s duplex and what he is doing on the side. John and Chris talk about their various experiments in wholesaling and buying up land to use in different ways. Here they get into the pros and cons of these different strategies, and the value of hiring staff to handle the less enjoyable sides. This idea of outsourcing so that you can focus on the best use of your time acts as a segue into a great conversation about time management. Chris and John share some ways that they have recently optimized their methods of scheduling and automating. They talk about how helpful this has been for saving them time, freeing up more time to try out new things and figure out what they are best at doing. Wrapping up for the day, our hosts weigh in on the value of reconceptualizing failures as lessons and how important this is for people with an entrepreneurial bent. For a valuable exchange about the relationship between ideas and their execution, tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

John and Chris talk about real estate side hustles like wholesaling.
The pros and cons of wholesaling; finding an employee to do the parts you don’t enjoy.
Strategies other than wholesaling and ‘driving for dollars’ which might be more enjoyable.
A land buying strategy of John’s and why it could be so successful.
The idea that feeling confused and brainstorming new ideas is a positive experience.
Differences between asset management and the people side of the business.
Chris’s realizations about which types of hires would add the most value to his business.
Value add work that Chris has been doing on his property in recent weeks.
John’s thoughts on how to time block for different sides of your business.
How Chris could organize his calendar system for setting up calls to be more efficient.
The challenges of time blocking when you are making networking a top priority.
Small automations such as email templates that end up saving a lot of time.
John’s thoughts on how he can add value to projects in a consultancy capacity.
The line between trying new things and using your time efficiently.
Finding your niche by knowing what you are best at doing and leveraging other people.
Perspectives on ‘failure’ and why it shouldn’t be perceived as such.
The disconnect between an attractive idea and the process of realizing it.

Tweetables:

“I don’t think real estate is a solo sport. I think it is a team sport.” — @johnc429 [0:06:37]

“Bringing somebody in first on the property management side like a manager or a leasing person, whatever it is, is going to free up my time.” — @ChrisGrenzig [0:17:05]

“Compartmentalizing, time blocking, or using your week to your advantage can get you over those productivity hurdles of putting stuff on the back burner.” — @johnc429 [0:22:18]

“You could fail a million times, but it takes one idea, thought, concept, or good partner to be very successful at whatever that next idea is.” — @johnc429 [0:35:02]

“I don’t look at the time and money I’ve spent as a waste. I view it as a quick lesson in what I don’t want to be doing.” — @ChrisGrenzig [0:35:55]