Productivity Tips to Use During the Summer Months

Summer: the beautiful season where all we want to do is sunbathe outside near a lake and sip a cold one. While this is all we want to do, it is still necessary to keep the ball rolling and stay productive. Agents have it pretty hard in summer. You need to be self-motivated and accountable for your time spent--and not to mention productive--to stay afloat.

We're providing you with several helpful tips to help you make it through the workday and beyond that – to be more productive throughout summer.

Reframe the Way You Think of Work

Before you even step foot in the office picture yourself at work: getting things done, calling clients, making sales. Don't imagine your day at work as just you, sitting at your desk. If you reframe the way you think of work before you even get there, it will set you up to be more productive and you'll value your accomplishments more. Once you're at work, declutter your desk and add photos and decorations that you like. Surrounding yourself with positive images and memories can help you stay positive even when the workday feels long.

Create Attainable Goals

Have you ever had a goal that reads like this?

I will respond to every email by the end of the day.

There are two things wrong with this example. One is that, depending on your inbox, this goal will be very difficult to accomplish. Two, this goal isn't measureable; it is either "Yay, I did it!" or "Darn, I didn't make it."

Day-to-day goals need to be more specific and ranked by priority. Here is our revised, narrowed-down do example:

I will respond to 25 emails from leads in the purchase phase of the customer journey by Friday at 12pm.

Now you have a goal that is measurable, specific, and set within a time frame. Stay on track and motivated by creating bite-sized goals throughout the summer.

Remove To-Do List Items that Don't Help You

You have a challenge ahead of you as a real estate agent: 52 percent of buyers in every generation said that finding a property was the most difficult step in their home buying process (according to the National Association of Realtors). You're the guide who will help them through the most difficult part of the process, and to be successful you need to be focused on that goal.

To get to the end game, you have to remove all of the distractions on your to-do list that aren't helping you convert leads to buyers. If something isn't helping you earn revenue, don't do it. Now that isn't to say you should completely abandon all improvement projects that don't directly impact sales, but definitely table them if more pressing things need to be done. There are several projects, like updating your website or IDX property search, that directly impact your sales numbers and customer experience even if they seem like less important tasks. The point is: remove anything you don't need to get done right away and prioritize what you have left.

Celebrate Your Accomplishments

After all of this hard work reframing your workday and creating goals that are worth being on your to-do list, you have a reason to celebrate! Each time you check something off, make sure to reflect on the positives and what you learned from the experience. Celebrate the small accomplishments and the big ones, and when you accomplish especially difficult or large tasks, give yourself a reward. Don't scold yourself when things go wrong: be happy when you have a breakthrough and keep on keepin' on.

To view the original article, visit the WolfNet blog.