By Nathan Hamilton, Sales Manager - New Home Star
It is June and the real estate community is coming off it's busiest month in almost a decade. I hope it has brought you success. If it has, then I would also imagine it has left you feeling tired, backed up and busier than ever. How are you going to manage that entire backlog and still bring in the sales you need for this month?
It might seem like I'm here to talk about backlog management, but I'm not. As important as that is, I am concerned about something else first: you. We work in a fast-paced field, and I'm convinced we don't get there without first mastering the highest level of our personal health, organization, or in short, "you-ness." Productivity and success come from here, and we want it for you.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, "I pray every day and, when I get busy, twice per day." In that spirit, this is a call to action during what many of you will experience as the busiest time of the year. Hopefully, one or two of these suggestions will resonate. So, here are six things to keep in mind as you try to be your best version of you for your sales team.
Eat well – Healthy eating isn't a one size fits all, so give yourself some flexibility. Explore different diets and be honest about how things make you feel. Bring healthy snacks to work that are easy to pack and have on the go. Be prepared so that you don't get too hungry! That's when we choose things like fast food, take-out and pre-packaged junk food.
Exercise – This isn't mandatory gym class. This is an acknowledgement that stress leads to cortisol and cortisol is responsible for just about everything bad that can happen to your body, except paper cuts…that's from paper. Exercise is one of the best ways to reduce the level of cortisol, which will give you a clearer mind, lower the risk of heart disease, increase your immune system, just to name a few. And, exercising might give you a little more confidence, which we know doesn't hurt sales either!
Sleep – If you walked around holding your breath and bragging about it, people would assume you had something wrong with you. For some reason, even though we all recognize the need for rest, and good sleep, like air, we have created a culture that praises not sleeping as a badge of productivity rather than an immature response to procrastination and a lack of organization. The amount of recommended sleep is often 7-8 hours, but that is a generalization. For some of you to achieve "proper" rest, you will need 8 hours and 30 minutes maybe 9 hours...it varies. Figure out what you need, know how much is too much and what leaves you feeling ready to go. Don't sit in bed hitting your alarm. If you do it right, you won't need that alarm clock!
Comprehend – Understanding how our brains work will help us use them to our advantage. For example: When you start a task, your brain is wired to finish that task. So take advantage and jump into the task you're putting off and you'll find yourself getting a ton more done without having to fight yourself every step of the way.
Focus – Similarly, be careful what you start, as breaking away might be difficult. Facebook, YouTube, or other lower priority, yet comfortable tasks can quickly eat up your day if you don't pay attention. You might even want to limit yourself to watching only a few training videos at a time, since it will likely make it hard to break away from that passive posture. When engaged in something more passive like watching videos, take notes! Do something to keep your brain's alpha waves at bay. They are suggestive and more closely mimic sleep and are brought out when passively sit in front of a screen, which is why watching TV makes you a zombie (like the one you're watching on TV).
Organization – What works for you might not work for me, but you will need something to keep all of these people and tasks straight in your head. David Allen's "Getting Things Done" is a great book for how to organize yourself and keep your mind focused on what's most important. If you are looking to organize your space, you might want to look at "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing." Whatever you choose, you will get back more time, energy and peace than continuing on the hamster wheel -- you'll only have yourself to praise.
Let me sum up: Each of these ideas are fields of study and research within themselves. There is simply too much to share in a "bite-sized chunk." Try one or two of these, however, and you might be surprised and how something so simple can make such a huge change.
Nate Hamilton came to us from one of the big public builders. He was immediately taken in by the superior training and the truly exceptional, sometimes eccentric, people who make up New Home Star. Nate is committed to building the best sales team in the world while having some fun doing it. He brings with him a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology and Theology. More importantly, Nate is married with two young children.