“Work smarter, not harder.” It’s something I tell myself often—usually when I find a better way to tackle daily life. I’ve gotten pretty good at streamlining chores and everyday tasks, but I realized this week that I haven’t brought that same energy to my businesses.

Last week was a whirlwind, personally and professionally. Between my full-time job and two young kids, real estate definitely took a back seat. And it made me wonder—would that have happened if I had stronger systems in place?

Ken, my very patient husband, has been asking me to use our shared calendar for ages. My current success rate is about fifty-fifty. I’ve always kept things in my head and, until recently, it worked. But now? My head is full. Between work, parenting, investing, and being an agent, there are simply too many moving parts. And trying to relay all of that to Ken without dropping the ball has become its own challenge.

One of the things I did manage to fit in last week was a UWM conference. One major takeaway stuck with me: most of us already know what we should be doing to grow our businesses. Whether it’s time blocking, following up with leads, or showing up consistently on social media, the hard part isn’t the knowledge—it’s the execution. And execution only happens when you have reliable systems.

So my new short-term goal is to put sustainable systems in place. I need to get clear on what absolutely needs to happen each day, week, and month for my businesses to stay healthy. I need a way to manage my responsibilities in each of my roles so that nothing falls through the cracks. And yes, I need to put things on the calendar—not just to make Ken happy, but because it will actually help.

Real estate investing doesn’t grow through good intentions—it grows through repeatable action. You can’t scale without structure. And as much as I like to think I can keep it all in my head, I’m realizing that it’s time to stop trying to be the superhero and start building the system.