If there is one thing that the pandemic has taught us, it’s that staying home adds some new challenges to our lives. Not only were many people faced with home schooling the kids and/or keeping them busy, but carving out a schedule when you stay home much of the day provided many people with some new challenges.
For one, staying home or not having to be at an office, can create a bit of laziness or a lackadaisical feeling. No need to get up and iron your 3-piece suit, when people may only see you from the neck up, right?
So, now that the United States is open for business again, how can real estate agents who’ve been faced with that lack of motivation get back on schedule? Here are 5 tips for improving your daily systems and processes that will make you—I hope—get back in the groove and start selling more real estate.
5 Tips for Improving Your Daily Real Estate Systems and Processes
- Stick to a schedule. Whether you need to be at an office or not, it doesn’t really matter. Create a daily schedule that keeps you focused on the activities you need to complete in order to have a successful day. Set your alarm and stay the course, whether you are leaving the house or not. And, if you are struggling with this in particular, consider Pipeline Planner, which has lots of tips and tricks if you are losing or have lost motivation to stick to a schedule.
- Exercise daily. There is tons and tons of data online about how daily exercise works to increase your energy level and help you sleep better. And, now that we have pandemic experience, there are many more home exercise programs than there used to be. Take a walk, join a gym, do an online exercise class, ride a stationary bike or go for a swim. Even if you are only walking the dog, daily exercise will help you to improve your focus on real estate.
- Allow for self-care and family time. There are some folks that live and breathe real estate and don’t spend time with family or on self-care. If you are the person who never goes on outings with your family or misses school plays due to work appointments, revisit your daily routine and make sure to be present when it comes to family and self-care.
- Use apps on your phone. It is so much easier to get stuff done if you have everything working on both your computer and your phone. In that way, you can accomplish tasks on your phone between appointments or without being at a desk. Consider social media management platforms and CRMs as a way to curate information instead of having to hop between and among apps to get things done.
- Hire a Virtual Assistant. There are some people who may say that they cannot afford a virtual assistant. But, I’m here to say that perhaps you cannot afford NOT to hire a virtual assistant. How many things will an assistant take off your plate? If an assistant will free you up to do the money-making activities that you do best, then perhaps the best use of your time is offloading administrative tasks–from writing offers to posting on social media.
There are so many ways to improve real estate systems and processes. But, my biggest suggestion is to focus on progress over perfection. Everyone falls off the wagon and wastes an hour or a few minutes, but focus on sticking to a schedule and trying a few of the items I suggested above, and you may find that you have improved your real estate processes to your satisfaction!
