Time Spent on Maintenance: Where Does It Actually Go?

"I spent all day on maintenance and I didn't even fix anything."

It's a common lament. You weren't the one swinging the hammer, but your entire day was consumed by a "leaky faucet."

Where does the time actually go? We've analyzed the maintenance workflow of hundreds of property managers. Here is the breakdown of the "Invisible Labor" of maintenance.

The Anatomy of a Single Request

A single routine maintenance request typically consumes 12 to 18 minutes of a manager's time across these steps:

1. Reading & Understanding (2-3 min): Reading the tenant's email, looking at photos, and figuring out what they are actually complaining about.
2. Context Gathering (2-3 min): Checking the tenant's history, verifying the property address, and finding the right vendor for that category/city.
3. Acknowledgment (1-2 min): Drafting and sending the "we got it" email to the tenant.
4. The "Wait" (Hidden Cost): The mental load of a "pending" task that sits in your inbox.
5. Dispatching (3-5 min): Drafting the work order, explaining the issue to the vendor, and sending the email.
6. Owner Communication (2-3 min): Explaining the issue and the estimated cost to the property owner.
7. Follow-up (2-3 min): Checking in 3 days later to see if the vendor actually went.

The Cumulative Impact

If you manage 100 units, you likely receive 60 requests a month.

60 requests x 15 minutes = 15 hours per month.

That's nearly two full workdays spent just on the administration of maintenance. And that doesn't include the "Emergency Crisis" calls that can derail an entire afternoon.

The High Cost of Context Switching

The 15 minutes per request isn't the whole story. The real killer is context switching.

If a maintenance email comes in while you're working on an owner's financial report, it takes your brain an average of 23 minutes to get back into "deep work" mode after the interruption.

Maintenance doesn't just take time; it steals focus.

How to Reclaim Your Time

1. Batching: Only check maintenance emails twice a day (e.g., 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM).
2. Standardization: Use templates for everything. Never write a work order or a tenant reply from scratch. (See our guide on building a maintenance SOP).
3. Automation: Use a tool that handles the "Reading," "Context Gathering," and "Drafting" phases automatically.

Conclusion

Your time is your most valuable asset. If you can reduce the 15 minutes per request down to 30 seconds of review, you aren't just saving 14.5 minutes—you're saving your sanity and your ability to focus on high-value tasks like business development.

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OpsPilot Note: OpsPilot was built by operators who were tired of the "15-minute maintenance trap." Our AI handles the initial 10 minutes of work for you, so you can review the "Triage Packet" and take action in under a minute.