I have worked with many agents over the years and I can assure you that many of those agents were in a state of complete disorder when I met them. Disorganization at work, at home, in their personal space and especially in their mind creates a level of stress that is not good for a self-employed business owner.
When an agent can stop long enough to address their state of disorganization and work towards a plan for it then amazing things can happen in their business. Here are some steps to take to help you relieve some of the stress you may be feeling and to help you be more organized and able to tackle whatever the day brings:
- STEP ONE – list your areas of disorganization by the level of stress it causes you, NOT the level of the disorganization. Although your file drawers may be in complete chaos you may not be in those file drawers on a daily basis. Is that what is causing you the most stress or is it the 35 messages in your email that you need to respond to? Find the one item that is going to have the most overall impact on your peace of mind and tackle that first.
- STEP TWO – Determine the events that happen during the day that get your heart rate up. Is it that call from a seller who you have been avoiding? Is it a new client wanting to learn more about your services? Stress can cause us to feel more disorganized than we actually are. Make a list of the events that cause you stress and see if there isn’t a one-time task (such as having a weekly report that you send out to sellers or a buyer or seller package ready-to-go) that could solve that problem for you.
- STEP THREE – Take five minutes and mentally dump everything that is swimming through your mind. If you are trying to keep track of all the things you have to do in a given day in your head, this can be enough to give you a headache! Instead, take out some paper and write down everything that you need to do. The act of writing it down helps you process the information differently and allows you to put the issue in the appropriate category in your head. Plus now you have a “to do” list!
- STEP FOUR – Talk about it. Sometimes the answers to our problems are right in front of us, but we can’t see the solution because we are too close to the problem. Sometimes the gift of perspective can provide the answer we have been looking for. Taking a shortcut to a solution like this can do wonders for feeling more organized.
For example, I once had a client who was frazzled because she hated cooking dinner during the week. Everything from the time crunch it was causing in her business to making sure she had the right ingredients and the amount of time it took – she hated it all! The solution was right there in front of her – her teenage kids who liked to eat were more than equipped to take this burden off her shoulders, but she didn’t even think of the solution because she was too close to the problem.
- STEP FIVE – Get a good night’s sleep. Your brain needs to be able to process and file away the events that happened the previous day. When you don’t get enough sleep your brain can’t create order out of the disorder that may have been your day, keeping you from working as efficiently the next day. Although you have probably heard this dozens and dozens of times, I challenge you to get at least seven hours of sleep per night for one week and see what that does to your stress level and how organized you feel.
Of course, exercise and meditation are both great ways to get your brain more organized. If you find that you are about to blow due to stress, take a 10 minute walk outside or sit in a quiet spot to meditate for a few minutes. Leave your phone on your desk. Take a few minutes to regulate your breathing, take in the fresh air, and you won’t believe how much better you feel.
While it is great to have an organized car and file drawers, without an organized and calm mind, you will actually be less productive! Do you have ten minutes right now? Please do one of the above exercise and see how much more organized you feel at the end. You will be glad you did!