How To Be More Productive
Wasting time is probably the biggest problem most entrepreneurs face today i’m going to show you four productivity hacks that are not only going to help you stop wasting time but will help you to work more efficiently hey i’m michelle risi founder of the aligned agent academy where i get to help agents like you create a multi-figure business by increasing productivity and reducing the overwhelm and today i’m going to show you how hey there and welcome back to this week’s episode if you’re new here i just want to give you a quick reminder and a helpful tip head on over to that subscribe button and click that button this way you don’t miss out on future episodes and another really great feature is the notification bell so if you turn that on you’ll be notified every time i publish a new episode and so what i wanted to do was to share with you four productivity hacks that are going to help get things done quicker for you so get things done faster easier and help you to reduce that stress and overwhelm that goes along with running a real estate business especially during the times and the market changes that we’re seeing this way you guys can be a little bit more intentional about carving out time to enjoy your life and actually start doing more of the things that you love sound good before i dive in i just want to know from you what things you are struggling with doing or keeping up with in your business right there’s always tasks that we dread that take up that mental space and energy and really depending on what your blueprint is what your personality profile is how you work best that’s going to be different for each and every one of us so i’d love to know what things take up the most time in your business and if you can do me a favor and just drop that in the comment section for me and then i can circle back and share maybe a few helpful tips outside of what you’re going to learn here today so that you can maybe help get those done easier more efficiently less stress and overwhelm because you guys know that that’s what i’m all about on the topic of getting things done productivity hacks are abundant right honestly there’s so many things that you guys can do to help boost production reduce time wasting be more organized be more efficient so today i’ve narrowed down my four favorite hacks or tips so that you guys can start enjoying more of your summer and more of the things that you love because this is why you got into the business you know if you wanted structure and to have that really you know structured routine where you’re working for somebody and you really don’t have much flexibility and say then you would be working and doing that but you came into the industry to start your business so that you one of those freedoms you can enjoy is time freedom productivity hack number one is the one minute rule okay if you can get it done in one minute do it don’t add it to your to-do list this is how we end up over complicating things guys the simple rule that you know that one minute rule is going to help you save hours in your day and trust me when i say that you know we do these things without even realizing we flag emails to come back to later or we keep adding more things to our to-do list or sending more voice notes to ourselves or emails to ourselves if you can get it done in one minute or less do it that is the rule okay whether it is setting up appointments sending happy birthday messages to your clients or your friends going onto social media and working on some engagement we put all of these little little things off right because we feel like they’re not important but all of those little things tend to add up and then they continue to grow and grow and before we know we have this long never-ending to-do list so the more that you can get things off your list the better off you’re gonna be i mean imagine how much overwhelm and stress we cause ourselves just for the sheer fact that we keep putting things off right and all my procrastinator friends out there will know exactly what i’m talking about we do this on a daily basis so the more that you can get things off your list the better off you’re gonna be the less overwhelmed and stressed you’re gonna be and you’ll be freeing up more time for yourself trust me i know it seems like but i keep having to now do little things get all of those little things done if you can do them in one minute or less get them off your plate and get them done productivity hack number two is to build in small rewards now those of you who have ever taken any of my mindset programs i talk a lot and extensively about this and and teach people how to really manage their time more effectively so that you can get more time freedom but that building in small rewards is very simple and here’s what the concept is all about first of all it’s important to know that dopamine which is a neural chemical in our body naturally produced is what controls our motivation and focus and when we can start training our body to release more dopamine that’s when we get more motivated that’s when we have more energy that’s when we can now stick to tasks longer and we’re more open to doing the things that maybe once you know we dreaded now we know that we have tasks in our business that drain us and there’s certain things again depending on your blue pit that you’re going to love and certain things that you’re going to hate and those draining tests are usually the things that are hardest to get through they’re usually the things that we put off and procrastinate on and add to that to-do list and so when you can build in this concept of small rewards what you’re doing is helping your brain release dopamine because every time we check something off of a list we get that hit of dopamine and all my list people who are watching and listening know exactly what i’m talking about right that’s part of the addiction of having lists it’s like as soon as you can cross something off you feel good and all of a sudden that feel good is followed by a rush of dopamine and that dopamine is what’s going to help you stay more motivated and engaged and focused so what are some small rewards guys it’s very simple it can be grabbing a cup of your favorite tea or or a snack it could be taking five minutes to just do a quick social media break it could be going for a little walk a cuddle with your pet or your partner or your child anything that can be done in a very short period of time that is going to make you feel good and the way you work in small rewards is once you complete a task again not those one minute tasks those are the things we want to get done quickly but if you’re you know setting up a client on prospect match or you need to prepare an offer or whatever it is as soon as you complete that task start getting into the habit of building in a small reward five minutes or less and that’s going to help you to start training your brain to start releasing this dopamine and the more you can have a steady stream of dopamine in your body and in your brain the more motivated and energized and happy you’re gonna be and of course when we’re happy things are just always so much easier and so what i want you to do when you’re considering this particular strategy or tip is to plan that out in advance because here’s what happens you know when we’re in the middle of something stressful or we’re feeling overwhelmed our brain does not process the same way it doesn’t think logically it can’t think about solutions as well as when we’re in a calm state and so if you can plan out in advance maybe just a list of 10 things that might be a small reward for you all you need to do when you complete a task is to look at that list and say got it this is the one i’m gonna do because this is what i’m feeling right now and you’re more likely to do it and the more likely you are to reward yourself the more you are training your brain to release dopamine all right productivity hack number three is to plan the night before now for all of you that like to fly by the seat of your pants please don’t shut this down right away hear me out you know when we are going about our days first of all your role as a realtor your role as a business owner is not one thing right we are constantly being pulled in a million different directions and it can often time feel like we are on reactive mode but in order to be able to manage the reaction mode that we have to be in sometimes we have to make sure that we’re also planning things out that don’t need us to you know be on on reaction and so when you can plan things out the night before what you’re doing is actually reducing overwhelm because here’s what happens you know when we start to hit these moments of overwhelm or stress or we’ve got so many things going on i don’t know about you but you know it really does feel like i have a million tabs open in my brain sometimes that overwhelm when it sets when it sets in causes us to not process information the same way right and in order for you to be as efficient as possible and efficiency looks like you getting things done easy without procrastinating without adding more time onto there you have to be able to prepare your brain in advance and so what does that look like planning the night before it is really simply you before you go to bed think about what you’re doing the next day you don’t have to have your whole agenda done but identify what’s your one priority what’s your top three priorities when you can just identify the one or the three things that you want to do the next day or that you have to do the next day here’s what happens while you sleep your brain is already filtering and processing and organizing and prioritizing for you as you’re sleeping it’s already going okay michelle needs to set this client up on a prospect match or send them you know whatever it is a cma and while you’re sleeping your brain is already going through all the steps it needs to take for you to get that action step done now here’s what happens when you don’t plan in advance and you wake up in the morning to start your day you’re stuck in the what do i have to do i have to send so and so this you know this email okay where do i have to go for that and so you’re actually wasting and using more time and energy trying to figure out all the micro steps that have to happen for you to get this simple task done so plan in you know plan your day the night before is going to be able to help you to kind of reduce that overwhelm really help to position your brain to alleviate some of the processing it has to do because it’s already structured and wired to do that planning and prioritizing while you sleep so hack that natural system take advantage of that and plan your day the night before productivity hack number four is to chunk down tasks now here’s what i see most often when i work with realtors our projects those projects that you have often become your goals and i think we’re interchanging and confusing the two if you say you want to revamp your listing presentation or you want to create a buyer’s guide or you want to whatever create an advertising campaign those are projects those should not show up on your to-do list because those tasks as they are are too big for your brain to process so you have to start helping your brain by chunking down tasks right if you’re spending a lot of time in that what do i need to do zone then you’re wasting time and when you’re wasting time you’re not being as efficient and as that clock ticks you start to get more stressed and overwhelmed because you’re thinking about all the other things that you need to do so help your brain out by chunking down tasks so let’s just take social media as an example okay let’s just say you wanted to do something on social media you had a great idea for a post and this is what you wanted to work on and that that ends up on your to-do list well your brain goes okay great where do we start and as you sit down to write it’s already now focusing on what photo you’re going to do do you have your hair done what background are you going to use if you’re doing this on blog and it’s already going to start to try and proofread and edit while you’re writing and all of that’s going to consume way more energy and time and it’s going to overwhelm your brain so i want you to learn how to chunk down tasks by breaking them down into manageable pieces so posting on social media can be broken down into four things write content find photo proofread and edit and then schedule or post right and when you can sit down and say all i’m doing is writing the content your brain is not worrying about all the other stuff because you’ve already identified that you’ll get to it so learn how to chunk down your tasks to help your brain process information as you guys have seen throughout all of these tips that i’m sharing with you it really all has to do with how you are helping your brain out because remember your brain is not wired for success it’s wired for efficiency and to keep you safe and so it has a natural tipping point in overwhelm and you want to do your part to kind of reduce that because the less stressed you are the more effective you are okay those are my four productivity hacks for you guys so it’s the one minute rule if you can get it done in one minute do it don’t add it to your to-do list build in small rewards plan the night before and chunk down those tasks and trust me guys in doing these four things even one of those things you’re going to start to notice that you’re going to get more time back in your day and it’s going to help you stay more motivated more focused on the things that matter now action is key so before you go i’d love to know which one of these tips you’re going to try. Thanks