Productivity is a popular subject these days and rightfully so! We fight more distractions in our work day than any cohort of working adults before us. Are you maximizing your productivity as a real estate agent? Or, rather, is it a constant battle for you to work smart and complete your tasks each day
?
A productive day may help you sleep better at night, compared to an unproductive day, which can also be frustrating. Here is a list of 5 habits that interfere with productivity, along with some suggestions on how you can turn them around to be a more productive Agent.
Habit 1. Beginning your day in a frenzy.
The first few moments of your day set the tone for the rest of your day. Do you rush around the house, down a cup of coffee, and barely leave time to brush your teeth? Lots of us are in the habit of hitting the snooze button a few too many times and rushing through the house in semi-panicked chaos. This hectic morning habit takes a toll on your well-being and productivity for the day.
Break this morning habit by setting your alarm 10-30 minutes earlier. Take some time to breathe before you start your day. Choosing your outfit and preparing your lunch the night before can relieve your morning stress. You’ll begin your day feeling calmer, more centered, and more industrious.
Habit 2. Working without structure.
Some people roll their eyes at the notion of a “to-do” list. But the reality is that most successful Agents swear by some sort of task list. You’ll struggle to focus on a task without a defined list in place to structure your work day or week. Many of us tend to work on whichever project is the easiest or most urgent without mapping out other items that need to be completed.
Start structuring your day by using a “to-do” list and reviewing it each morning. Focus on the items on your list and tackle something challenging first thing in the morning. It feels good to check something off the list and most of us are more motivated and clear minded when the day gets started. A good real estate CRM will come equipped with a task list. It will even send you reminders of when it’s time to check off an item.
Habit 3. Overdoing the Multitasking.
Real estate agents are always on the go and have a thousand things to do at any given time. I would wager a guess that you consider yourself an excellent multitasker, am I right? There is a time and place for multitasking. However “singletasking” can be just as important when you’re working on an important project.
Research at the University of Michigan showed that a 3 second distraction can lead to double the mistakes in your work. So when you’re bouncing between two tasks as a multitasker, you’re more likely to make more errors. And unfortunately, working on two tasks at the same time can result in poor cognitive performance on both tasks. For a real estate agent who is working with sensitive timelines, financial documents, and tight schedules, you want to avoid as many errors as possible. Resist the urge to work on multiple tasks at the same time and try “singletasking” one important thing before moving on to the next. Your work will be more accurate and your productivity will increase!
Habit 4. Postponing dealing with something.
Do you ever skim an email and think, “I’ll deal with that later”? Then the next day you look at it and postpone it again. You think about it a few more times and eventually you reply to the email days (or weeks) later? If you had replied to the email immediately, you would have saved time, energy, and space in your inbox! Postponing tasks is a time vacuum that many of us fall in to.
Whenever possible, try dealing with items only once. This rule applies well to emails, meeting invitations, or requests for help. When you deal with an item only once, it frees up your mind to move on to more pressing issues, and increases your potential to be productive.
Habit 5. Manually carrying out tasks.
Some important tasks are time consuming, but they can’t be avoided, right? Well, it depends. There are some amazing tools available to Agents now that can automate much of your work for you, freeing up more of your time to focus on selling homes!
Do you spend time frantically trying to find a past client’s phone number, or attempting to respond to web leads via email? Tasks like these are unavoidable, but they don’t have to dominate your entire day! Choose a real estate CRM and email marketing solution where you can organize all of your contacts in a single database, then take advantage of the automated features to free up your time. A good CRM can send follow-up emails to leads and even assign them to a drip email nurture campaign, so your new leads are receiving communications from you without you having to type them out! Automated task reminders will ensure you’re not forgetting any important to-do’s. Stop manually working on tasks that can run like clockwork with little to no effort!
Takeaways
Do any of these productivity-sucking habits sound familiar to you? Feeling productive can alleviate stress and improve your overall well-being. Try these tips to structure your day more efficiently, focus on a single task at a time, and deal with tasks just one time. Perhaps most importantly, find the right real estate CRM that can help you get better organized and automate many of your important tasks.
Try IXACT Contact CRM free for 5 weeks and see how good productivity can feel!