Ryan Serhant, who's sold $10 billion in real estate over 16 years, swears by his '1,000-minute rule'

• In his early real estate career, Ryan Serhant was overwhelmed by the requirement to be his own boss.
• He said he uses a tool he invented called the "1,000-minute rule" to manage his time effectively.

When Ryan Serhant started his career in 2008, he had a daunting realization: Real-estate agents are entirely on their own.

Unlike in the corporate world, where a boss might dictate your schedule, agents are responsible for structuring their own days to find new clients, hunt down leads, and close deals.

"There's no boss, there's no mentor," Serhant recalled to Business Insider. "You eat what you kill."

The high-stakes environment crystallized for Serhant exactly what he needed to prioritize: his time.

As his career progressed — earning $10 billion in sales over 16 years as an agent, opening his namesake brokerage, and listing the most expensive apartment in New York City, among other achievements — Serhant developed a north-star strategy: the 1,000-minute rule.

As Serhant sees it, everyone is given 24 hours, or 1,440 minutes, in a day. About 440 of those minutes (7.5 hours) are taken up by eating, sleeping, and family time. The remaining 1,000 minutes are the waking time each day anyone can apply to advancing their career and achieving their goals.

"The 1,000-minute rule helps me stay quick in my decision tree," Serhant explained.

He broke down how it works.

View each day as a time bank, with a fresh $1,000 deposit

With 1,000 minutes at his disposal each day, Serhant views his day in 15-minute chunks.

Those segments are then stacked to best meet Serhant's short-term goals, like business he needs to attend to for the upkeep of his firm, as well as long-term goals.

Running your own business, Serhant explained, involves both big ambitions, like his desire to become New York's top brokerage, and quick tasks.

"You always have to make small decisions, like, 'Do I eat now or do I eat later?'" Serhant told BI.

But critically, Serhant said it's important not to get too caught up in the small chunks of time.

Serhant sets major goals for his business at the beginning of the year, like a certain sales volume for his brokerage, and estimates the number of hours it will take to achieve those goals, he explained on his YouTube channel.

When it comes to allotting his time each day, he ties the 15-minute chunks back to those top-line goals.

The key premise of the 1,000 minutes is not to let any one obstacle derail your day.

Serhant likes to compare minutes to dollars. When something goes wrong, like a meeting that went nowhere or a showing that didn't result in a deal, he doesn't waste the whole day ruminating on the disappointment.

"If someone ruins $15, you're not throwing out $985, that's stupid," he explained. Similarly, if someone asks for an hour of Serhant's time, he thinks about its value in his overall day.

"Like, that's 60 Ryan dollars, you know?" he said.

The 1,000-minute rule can be grueling and rewarding

The biggest downside to the 1,000-minute rule is its inflexibility, Serhant told BI.

"Sometimes it is nice to have an hour-long conversation with somebody and not be as beholden to your calendar," he said. "Maybe one day I'll get there."

But for now, it's important for the star broker to stay on the grind.

Serhant predicts that as young people embrace freelancing and earn multiple income streams, the 1,000-minute rule could help deal with the time-management challenges required to be your own boss.

Serhant hopes up-and-comers see the 1,000-minute rule as "a path towards greater honesty and authenticity about what you really want in life and where you want to be — in one, three, and five years from now."