The pandemic has brought to the forefront of the industry the idea that success is attainable without the chaos — the hustle of the 21st century, the grind, the everyday relentless and on-the-go lifestyle that the world has become accustomed to.
Providing exclusive awareness to your clients and your priorities without dividing your attention will bring you a level of success like no other. By becoming aware of your activities and proactively reducing distractions, you can begin to increase your productivity and enhance your value.
1. Turn off your notifications
Smart phones are great, but they are not always the smartest. Every single app wants to send you live notifications — your gaming apps, news apps, email apps and shopping apps. Even the App Store app wants to send you regular notifications.
Is it all really that important? No. It is basically a time-suck that draws you in and interrupts your groove way too frequently.
Having notifications turned on for calendars, instant messaging or other productivity features can add value and be helpful when used wisely. Keeping to your schedule is important, and not missing showings is absolutely something you want to stay in front of.
However, it may be time to take a minute and review all the notification settings on your phone and computer. Even websites try to send you regular notifications these days. The constant stopping and losing track of your focus is extremely detrimental to your overall productivity.
2. Avoid the social media time warp
We all get sucked into the social media time warp every now and then. Some of us (myself included), have even used the excuse: “I’m on Facebook for work.” Well, it’s now time to fess up.
We start posting campaigns for work, notice someone’s birthday, stop by their page to wish them well, and then we notice an ad — a strategically chosen, perfect-for-me, just-what-I-was-looking-for ad. Five minutes turns into an hour and a half.
Now is the time to realize your time is way too important to lose in a social media time warp. Just like you schedule meetings with peers and showings with clients, you should adopt the habit of scheduling how much time you are going to spend on social media.
We all know it’s pertinent to our business — we need to have an online footprint and places for leads to find us. So, carve out two hours say, twice three times a week, to dedicate to your social media.
Be strategic and focused. Spend 15 to 20 minutes engaging with your sphere with comments, likes, replies and birthday wishes. Spend the remainder of the time strategically designing, executing and implementing your marketing campaigns.
Utilize social media schedulers and schedule an entire week in one session. Get these things accomplished and out of mind so you have more time to spend on other lead-producing activities and expanding your network.
3. Change your physiology
The way your brain processes information can be altered. When we sit for hours on end hunched over at our desks staring at a computer screen and become stagnant doing repetitive tasks, our bodies need a change.
To get out of this stuck feeling, whenever you feel your focus waning, get up. A sudden change in your physiology can improve the responsiveness of your brain and help you get reignited for the task at hand.
Taking breaks and moving your body is important to keeping the blood flowing, and getting your brain-and-body team performing at its best to achieve your goals. You can dance, do jumping jacks or take a short walk outside.
Even something as simple as getting up and smiling at yourself in the mirror can improve your mindset and create positive vibes from the outside in! What your body does, your mind will follow. It’s a little trick you can use to get yourself back on track.
4. Hyper focus
Our society has created a false honor in the ability to multitask. By being too “busy,” unstructured and constantly inundated with phone calls, notifications and emails, we have evolved into a culture that covets the grind.
It really does not have to be this way. If you follow the tips above and prioritize the task at hand, your focus will lead to success. Doing something in haste when you are deprived of sleep, over-exhausted or not concentrating can oftentimes backfire.
When you become exhausted and seem desperate for the business, your potential customers will feel that. You are doing yourself a disservice by not slowing down and trying to sharpen your focus.
It happens in every part of our lives, between multitasking at work, at dinner time when you need to help the kids with homework or even in basic conversation. It’s time to go back to being respectful instead of being overworked.
Focus on what you are typing so you make less mistakes, give undivided attention to the people in your life — from your toddler to your spouse, your clients and your peers. They deserve your attention, and when you make it a personal goal to focus on what others are saying, the outcome will well outweigh the risk of change.
By deleting useless notifications, not wasting time on social media, moving your body and practicing focused attention, you can make the conscious decision to quit the unnecessary distractions in your life. Before you realize it, these actions will take your productivity from lacking to lucrative.
Mayleene DeFreece is the director of communications and professional development at Reading-Berks Association of Realtors in Wyomissing and Reading, Pennsylvania. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
