CANADA EDITION
BE THEIR REALTOR® FOR LIFE: How to Build a Relationship With Your Clients that Will Last a Lifetime
FEATURED AGENT
KIM HEIZMANN
COVER STORY
TROY AUSTEN
3 Mental Tasks that Will TAKE YOUR BUSINESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL Are Your Presentation Skills Costing You MONEY?
4 Reasons Why MULTITASKING CAN ACTUALLY DERAIL YOUR DAY
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TROY AUSTEN
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KIM HEIZMANN
CONTENTS 4) BE THEIR REALTOR® FOR LIFE: HOW TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CLIENTS THAT WILL LAST A LIFETIME 13) ARE YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS COSTING YOU MONEY?
19) 3 MENTAL TASKS THAT WILL TAKE YOUR BUSINESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL 22) 4 REASONS WHY MULTITASKING CAN ACTUALLY DERAIL YOUR DAY
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Be Their REALTOR® for Life: How to Build a Relationship with Your Clients That Will Last a Lifetime In the world of real estate, an agent’s relationship with their clients can make or break their career. This industry revolves around working well with people, and being able to develop a strong relationship with your clients is the foundation that you business is based upon. Just like with a house, if that foundation is weak, the rest of the structure is also going to be unsteady and fragile. The mark of a good REALTOR® is their ability to build up a good referral network and following of loyal clients. This isn’t something that just happens by accident. Building healthy, strong relationships with your clients takes work and knowing how to gain another person’s trust, respect, and friendship. Here are some ways to make sure you are building the right kind of relationship with your clients. 4
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1. Use Your Friendliness and Optimism to Win Them Over: No one wants a pushy, overly confident salesperson for a REALTOR®. Clients are much more inclined to put their trust in the hands of someone who is friendly when it comes to one of the biggest financial transactions of their lives. A pleasant, outgoing disposition will win you more clients as well as friends. You want to establish rapport in the first few minutes of first meeting prospective clients. Rather than starting with business right off the bat, begin your meeting with some small talk such as similar interests, hobbies, and family life. This will immediately help to put your clients at ease, and show that you are not simply trying to “sell” them something. People also respond well to optimism. During what can be a very stressful time, clients need someone to help them stay positive when a situation looks difficult and challenging. Optimism also tends to radiate charisma, and people want to be around and do business with charismatic people. You want to learn how to understand, motivate, and inspire people.
2. Be an Inquisitive Learner and an Empathetic Listener:
out any potential concerns they might have. After you’ve gained as much information as possible, you can then gauge their interest in your possible solutions by asking “what if” questions. Being inquisitive also demonstrates to your clients that you are genuinely interested and invested in their situation. On the other side of this coin is knowing how to listen empathetically. Empathy involves actually putting yourself or your mind in their shoes so you can genuinely understand their concerns, needs, and opinions. That understanding and empathy is then reflected in your conversation with that client. Your clients want to know that you care about their situation, and that they’re not just another sale for you to make. People are much more willing to put their trust in you when they can sense that you are actually making an effort to feel what they feel in order to understand their situation. Showing your interest through questions, and then thoughtfully listening goes a long way towards gaining trust. Showing empathy and acknowledging the feelings and emotions involved in your clients situation helps build a relationship founded on genuine care and trust.
3. Watch for Nonverbal Clues:
Don’t be afraid to show your curiosity and ask your clients a lot of questions. Some of these questions may even be difficult and uncomfortable. You want to discover and learn as much as you can about your client. Don’t make the mistake of jumping straight into the role of the know-it-all. Every different client has unique needs, so you want to learn as much as you can about their specific situation before trying to propose a solution. You want to uncover their primary motive for buying or selling, and flush
Most communication happens nonverbally, so knowing how to interpret your client’s body language can be incredibly helpful. Here are a few things to pay special attention to: Eye contact: Be careful with the level of eye contact you use with clients when first meeting. Too much and too little eye contact can send the wrong impression. You want to try and maintain eye contact around 70 percent of the time. That is the amount that most people are comfortable with. Pay attention to your client’s level of eye
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contact to determine how comfortable they are. When someone avoids eye contact that could mean they are not engaged in the conversation. A good way to quickly build a feeling of rapport when first meeting clients is to make eye contact when you first meet them and then start nodding yes to what they’re saying. If the client reciprocates the eye contact and nodding, you’ve established a connection.
4. Prove your honesty and credibility:
Choose the right handshake for each client: One handshake does not fit all people, and that first handshake can be crucial to making a good first impression. The way to do a good handshake for each client is to try and mirror the other person’s handshake in strength, keep your shoulders aligned as you are preferably standing when you shake hands. While you shake your client’s hand make sure you make eye contact and give them a sincere smile.
Showing a little weakness can actually be to your advantage in this situation, and will actually make others more inclined view you as honest. You don’t want to come across as too good to be true. When revealing this weakness, however, the key to coming out on top is turning what sounds like a weakness into a strength. For example, your service may be more expensive, but that’s because you offer more personalized and extra services than your competitors.
Honesty and integrity are the two traits that 98 percent of buyers and sellers report are qualities they consider “very important”. The thing is you can say you have these traits all you want on your website, bio, etc., but trust has to be earned, and the only way to do this is to prove your credibility.
Here are a few tips for how to sound more credible:
When you talk to your clients avoid using filler words such as “um” and “uh”, which can decrease your credibility. You also want to watch the tone of your voice. People tend to translate a deeper tone as sounding more credible.
You want to develop a relationship to last a lifetime when interacting with your clients. There are many things you can do to accomplish this, and using these tips can take you from getting just a few referrals and repeat customers to gaining a loyal client following. Taking the little extra time to make sure you are projecting the right attitude and making sure that you are doing things to gain your client’s trust can make a world of difference for your business. 6
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TROY AUSTEN
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TROY AUSTEN Halliburton Highlands, located in the Canadian province of Ontario, is perhaps one of the most scenically stunning regions in the world. A picturesque, cottage-laden landscape comprised of stately forests and more than 600 lakes, it attracts visitors and second-home buyers from all over central and southern Ontario. Top Agent Troy Austen of RE/MAX North Country Realty, Inc. is a fifth-generation resident of this bucolic location, and is currently one of its leading real estate agents, imbuing every transaction with a vast reservoir of local knowledge. With 8Copyright Top Agent Magazine
over 22 years in the industry, Troy has become the go-to person when looking to relocate to the area or to purchase a vacation home. “When I was only twenty,” says Troy, “my friend’s mother kept trying to recruit me to do real estate. My grandfather had done a lot of developing in the area, and I’d watched him doing that, so there was always some interest in real estate. I thought I’d give it a try, and I did. The rest is history.” Currently working with a team of seven people, Troy has since developed a reputation for a stellar work ethic and a sincere dedication to Top Agent Magazine
providing each of his many clients with the very best in customer service. “We work really hard and we provide excellent care and service while we’re going through the transaction,” he says. “We’re just honest, and we’re very knowledgeable, especially about the area. It seems to work. The bottom line is that we just work really hard.” Part of that hard work is making sure he stays on top of his real estate game. “I’m a huge advocate of continuing education,” says Troy. “I do a lot of networking with other agents just to see what they’re doing, and we’re always implementing new kinds of technology and systems. Top Agent Magazine
We’re completely systemized with what we do, it doesn’t matter if it’s a 100k listing or a 2 million-dollar property, we use the same systems we’ve put in place. Also, the fact that I usually do over 100 transactions a year is, in itself, an ongoing education.” Troy’s close familiarity with the area serves his clients well when they first begin their journey towards owning a home in the area. “We get to work with great people,” he says. “Along the way it’s really important to educate buyers and get an idea of what they’re looking for. Are they boaters? Do they like to snowmobile? Do they want Copyright Top Agent Magazine9
privacy? Would they rather be five minutes from town or do they want to be remote?” It’s this level of local knowledge that keeps his many grateful clients returning to him and referring new clients. When asked what he likes most about his job, the answer comes quickly. “I’m my own boss,” he says, “and every day is different. There are a lot of highs and lows in this business, but it’s really rewarding. I’ve made a lot of lifelong friends.” When speaking with Troy, one element stands out clearly: gratitude. For what he does, for the clients he gets to help, and for where he lives. “The leaves are just starting to change,” Copyright Top Agent Magazine 10
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he says. “It’s just starting to chill off at night. I’ve traveled to a lot of places around the world, and there are very few as nice as Halliburton County. It’s beautiful here.” In 2015 Troy approached his now business partner Jeffrey Wilson and they started Team Haliburton Highlands & opened their own branch office in the Village of Haliburton, recently Troy & Jeff have purchased a second office location in Fort Irwin that will be opening for the 2018 season. They have expanded the marketing of cottage country real estate into the digital world, added aerial footage and started their own newspaper publication. Top Agent Magazine
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With an impressive following and highly tuned audiences their digital footprint has an extensive reach and has amplified their client base. Along with learning from each other’s 35 years of combined experience, our team members also participate in weekly coaching to ensure professional development and ongoing education, providing the very best service for their clients.
From residential homes & land, to private lakes, vast acreages, island cottages and massive waterfront developments. The team is now Haliburton County’s largest real estate team & has reached RE/Max’s diamond status in just their 3rd year and continues to grow, tackle new initiatives and surpass goals for volume, price and efficiency.
For more information about
TROY AUSTEN, please call 705 - 455 -7653 or email troy@teamhaliburtonhighlands.com Copyright Top Agent Magazine 12
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Are Your Presentation Skills Costing You Money?
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ometimes we’re so focused on technology and education that we forget this is a “people business”. And, a great deal of the money you make comes from your ‘point of contact’ skills. What do I mean by that? Lead generating dialogues and presentation dialogues. Yet, how much do we work on those verbal skills? Unfortunately, communication sales skills have gotten short shrift in the last decade. Why? I think it’s because many of us are so challenged by technological changes. But, slow down. Think about how you actually make money. It’s at point of contact. Getting better at point of contact skills translates into more money in less time.
We’re All Presenters Everyone in the real estate business presents: Agents present, when they are doing listing or buyer presentations. Managers present when they are recruiting, or doing their office meetings. Mortgage and title Top Agent Magazine
By Carla Cross
When you’re doing a listing presentation, what do you want to happen? You want them to sign the listing agreement when you’re done. reps present when they are in front of a group of agents in an office, talking about their services. So, doesn’t it make sense to become ‘killer’ at those presentations? You’ll double your money and halve your time.
Bug Off: I Do Okay Just Like I Am Yeah. I know. As a musician, I’ve worked with literally hundreds of people who thought they ‘played good enough.’ Some people just get to a certain performance level and leave it there. Have you ever thought that, often, our presentation strategies (or lack of) work in spite of us, not because of us? As a musician, I know the thrill of performing at high levels. So, open your mind and consider
stepping up to a higher presentation level. Not only will you have personal satisfaction, you’ll make more money! Now, let’s tackle one set of presentation skills: Organizing that presentation effectively. Having heard listing presentations that wander all around the world, I know the importance of effective presentation organization.
Three Steps to Organize Your Presentation to Knock Their Socks Off Most of the time, we just get in front of people and say whatever we think of first. That leads to some big presentation mistakes, and costs us ‘sales.’ Instead of stumbling through a presentation, why not organize it to Copyright Top Agent Magazine 13
grab their attention, persuade them to your way of thinking, and motivate them to action? You can. In my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make Your Best Presentation Ever, I show a simple three-step format to create your persuasive presentation. No matter why you’re in front of people, we need to be persuasive Think about it. When you’re doing a listing presentation, what do you want to happen? You want them to sign the listing agreement when you’re done. So, it’s extremely important that you organize your listing presentation using a persuasive format, not just an information-heavy dialogue flow.
Grab Their Attention in the Opening Have you thought about your opening? Or, are you nervously standing at the sellers’ door, worried about what you’re going to say? Are you hiding in your office because you dread doing that sales meeting? When we haven’t organized our presentation, we come up with some really boring, off-putting openings, like: I won’t take much of your time, but... 14 Copyright Top Agent Magazine
We have a lot to cover today We won’t get through the outline I know you don’t want to listen, but... I’m not really prepared
You just open your presentation book, point to the pretty pages, and say, “here’s a keybox” (I’m not kidding. I’ve seen it….) Great openings, yes? Yet, we’ve heard them dozens of times. You don’t have to settle for whatever Top Agent Magazine
If you’re doing a presentation to sellers, one of the major objectives of your presentation is to persuade them to your listing price point of view. comes ‘naturally.’ Instead, make your openings: Provocative Interesting Different Engaging I just attended a ‘Train the Trainer’ session (yes, I still learn great stuff every day!), where the trainer said it was important to engage the audience in a meaningful way in the first two minutes of your presentation. I think that’s a great rule to follow today, because people’s attention spans are the length of a gnat’s eyebrow. So, the next time you attend a presentation, see how much time elapses before the speaker/presenter/trainer gets the audience into meaningful action. I don’t mean to ask a rhetorical question, either!
A Middle That Educates Your ‘Audience’ to Your Point of View In the middle of your presTop Agent Magazine
entation, add those stories, statistics, and visuals that support your point of view. By the way, as you create that presentation, jot down your point of view. If you’re doing a presentation to sellers, one of the major objectives of your presentation is to persuade them to your listing price point of view.
Retention is Key
Why Use Visuals?
Three days later:
There are two reasons to use visuals in your presentation:
We retain 10% of the information when we hear it
We believe what we see
We retain 65% of the information when we hear and see it
We retain the information much longer As you organize your presentation, ask yourself:
Have you ever met with sellers or buyers, given them lots of information—and then had them question you about it a few days later—as if they never heard you—or heard you backwards? That’s because people don’t hear and retain very well. Look at the statistics:
So, use visuals to prove your points, not to merely show pretty pictures of houses.
The Ending: What are the main, and fre- Back to the Beginning quently, unspoken objections my ‘audience’ will have? How do I educate them to show them the reasoning behind my point of view?
Have you thought about your wrap-up? Or, like many presenters, does your ending sound like this? Copyright Top Agent Magazine 15
Well, that’s all. What do you think?
pop tunes are constructed with this format:
We’re out of time. Thank you. I hope you’ll list with me
theme—variation—theme
I don’t have time to close. I couldn’t get to much of the material, but you can read it In fact, even the most professional presenters frequently have trouble with their endings. One of the main reasons is that they run out of time. Another is that they haven’t thought the ending through.
How to Do a Stunning Ending Crafting an effecting ending is the second most important part of your presentation. (The first is the opening). To craft a great ending, Go back to your beginning opening theme Summarize the benefits of going ahead with you/take action Motivate your ‘audience’ to take action
A Great Presentation is Crafted Like a Pop Song As a musician, I know that all Copyright Top Agent Magazine 16
This is known in the music business as the ABA format. Think of your favorite pop tune: Hum the beginning. Think of the end. They’re alike, right? It’s the middle— known as the ‘bridge’—that is the humdinger. It wanders all around. Your persuasive presentation should be crafted like that pop tune: A. A compelling start (think Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, etc.) B. An interesting, developed middle, with stories, statistics A. Back to that theme, with a motivating ending Now, you’re all set to craft a great listing or buyer presentation, great recruiting meeting or sales meeting, or awesome product/service presentation to any audience.
Carla Cross, CRB, MA, President of Carla Cross & Co., is an international speaker, coach, and resource provider specializing in real estate management. A former master level CRB instructor, and National REALTOR® Educator winner, Carla was recently named one of the 50 most influential women in real estate. For a free document on standards to establish, email Carla at Carla@carlacross. com and ask for standards document. Carla has written six internationally published books, and provides coaching programs for management, including her affordable inoffice coaching programs Up and Running in 30 Days and On Track to Success in 30 Days for Experienced Agents, which provide standards, focus, and accountability. Reach Carla at 425-392-6914 or www.carla cross.com.
P. S. Practice! Many more tips on presentations and presentation skills are in my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make your Best Presentation Ever.
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KIM HEIZMANN
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KIM HEIZMANN The same woman who was “talked into” entering real estate 10 years ago now says, “Real estate has become a passion!” In fact, Kim Heizmann, a Century 21 agent in British Columbia has such great passion for real estate that this year she received the Sales Associate of the Year award for Century 21 in all of Canada. “I was extremely humbled because this award is peer nominated and not just about production,” she explains. “I was honoured that some agents across the country nominated me. It was an exciting moment in my career.” The award recognizes the person as a whole, factoring in community involvement, local real estate board involvement, volunteerism and how they represent the brand, in addition to production. Ironically, 11 years ago, Kim couldn’t have imagined winning a national award for a career she didn’t even want to enter. “My husband pushed me into real estate! He kept telling me I’d be great at it.” Finally, to get him to stop bugging her, Kim earned her license. One thing led to the next and Kim built a loyal clientele in Vernon & Kelowna, BC, and surrounding communities, where she has lived since 1992. Since 2007, her dedication to clients’ needs and wanting to make the process fun and low-stress has fueled her success. She now receives 85% of her business through a variety of referral sources. In the spring of 2017, Kim hired a creative, dedicated, fulltime assistant to manage some logistics while she keeps focusing on her clients’ needs. “We’re a team of two which is perfect,” says Kim. She wouldn’t want a large team; the value of what she does is not in getting bigger but in nurturing client relationships and doing whatever possible to make transactions move smoothly. “I stay on top of every detail of every deal,” she says. “I’m prequalifying, pre-framing and making sure everybody involved has everything they need. I’m teaching them the process, which helps keep everything on track.” She’s experienced enough to know not to promise “no surprises” and to prepare her clients and others to minimize the impact of the unexpected. Doing so, she says, keeps people calm during a time that may seem stressful.
“I manage the process from start to finish.” She constantly communicates, informing everyone about what is coming next. For example, if the mortgage broker is waiting for a document, she will call and remind her client. “They usually just forgot and they’re happy for the reminder.” Kim also puts her negotiating skills to work. “My clients’ interests always come before my own,” she says. “People feel that, which strengthens our rapport.” For sellers, Kim tailors a comprehensive marketing plan to each property. “First steps are to make sure the home looks the best it possibly can with staging before professional photography and videography, drone and walk-through video.” She uses all outlets – from professional brochures to online advertising and targeted social media marketing – to find ideal buyers. “I love the challenge that every deal puts in front of me.” Because real estate is always changing, Kim enjoys the ongoing education and teaching people how their smart real estate purchases can help their personal lives and financial gain. In fact, she recently began the ASA (Accredited Seniors Agent) course to become an expert for that age demographic. Additionally, she also knows how important it is to stay ahead of the technology curve; being paperless and venturing into new listings marketing techniques is a priority. Kim also enjoys how being so involved in her community means that whenever she is out – whether helping at a community fundraiser, attending events or out to dinner with her husband – she runs into past clients. She may work long hours, but Kim enjoys it so much that she happily weaves in time to contribute to organizations like Easter Seals, through which she helps raise funds to send kids with disabilities to the local camp in Winfield. “I work to travel!” Kim admits. By remaining an independent agent, she successfully balances work and life, enjoying SCUBA diving on her vacations and spending quality time with family and friends. “The minute I don’t like this anymore, I’ll stop,” says Kim. For now, however, that possibility seems extremely unlikely.
To learn more about Kim Heizmann,
visit kimheizmann.ca or Facebook: Kim Heizmann - Okanagan Real Estate, email kimheizmann@gmail.com or call 250.938.0995 www.
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3 Mental Tricks That Will Take Your Business to the Next Level It’s no secret that running a successful business requires careful planning and a tireless work ethic. Beyond those obvious ideals, it also takes the right mindset in order to capitalize on professional opportunity. In the world of real estate and mortgage lending, mental fortitude is a major component to reaching the next Top Agent Magazine
level and achieving longevity in a sector that requires so much self-discipline. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a few key mental tricks you can employ to reinvigorate your working philosophy. Incorporate these techniques into your daily mindfulness routine and your business will surely benefit.
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Visualization helps you work efficiently and keep your cool.
This may sound like one of the oldest tricks in the book, but there’s a reason why Olympic athletes and those serving in first-responder positions use visualization as a time-honored mental technique. Not only does visualizing your daily tasks help you organize your mind, but it amps up your ability to focus on what’s important. Visualization also helps reduce stress in the moment, since you’ve already created a mental expectation of the task ahead. Whether you’re preparing for a negotiation or a pitch to new a client—visualization primes your brain and affords you an extra sense of control as you tackle your day.
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Distill concepts into their simplest terms for ultimate understanding. As an agent or loan officer, you’re likely juggling numerous clients and commitments on any given day. That’s why it helps to distill your responsibilities in clear, definitive terms. Let’s say you have a meeting set with a client to outline a marketing approach for their property. You may understand the broad strokes, but beforehand, try verbalizing the exact takeaways you’d like to impart to your client. This may seem obvious, but one of the best ways to clarify your communication and ensure your com-
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plete understanding of a subject is to explain it aloud in its simplest terms. This crystallizes your main point and can come in handy if you drift off-topic or need to double-down on your message.
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Accept that mistakes will be made.
While it’s natural to fear failure, sometimes the dread of making an error can overwhelm your ability to perform. As the saying goes: don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. If you accept in advance that set-backs will occur, challenges will come, and things won’t always go accordingly to plan—you’ll be less confounded when hurdles do arise. What matters is keeping an even keel as you sort through unexpected delays or mishaps. Accepting that mistakes will happen allows you to shift your focus towards a solution or contingency plan. In other words, don’t spend your energy trying to achieve perfection. Aim high and work hard, but be in touch with reality: upsets are bound to occur. Accept this and you’ll be ready when they do. The path to lasting success is ongoing, and there are bound to be challenges along the way. It takes mental fortitude to make it to the top, so keep these tricks in mind as you continue to grow as a person and a professional. Seeing situations in a new light can make all the difference as you adapt, evolve, and take your business to the next level.
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4 Reasons Why Multitasking Can Actually Derail Your Day Common wisdom dictates that a master multitasker is likely to garner the most success. After all, doesn’t juggling multiple projects at once mean you’ll work faster than if you took each one as it came? While multitasking is often cited as a desirable skill—and surely serves its purpose now and again—studies show that a mere 2% of individuals can actually multitask effectively. Meanwhile, the remaining 98% might be doing more harm than good by trying 22
to tackle too much at once. Take a look below at some little-known facts about the risky side of waging a routine built on multitasking.
1. Multitasking decreases productivity While multitasking gives us the illusion of completing two tasks at once, it actually means
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our focus and productivity is split. In other words, switching back and forth between two activities doesn’t mean they’ll each be completed sooner; it means that you’re getting half-as-much complete as you would if you focused on a singular task. Multitasking fatigues your brain, elicits stress, and make you less efficient in retaining new information.
2. Multitasking is actually addictive While watching TV or taking a walk, have you ever noticed the impulse to check your smartphone or scroll through your social media feed? Even though we think about multitasking as a workplace skill, it’s also an addictive form of mental stimulation. By satiating our need for distraction with constant check-ins online, we become accustomed to frequent breaks in our focus, training us to crave updates, messages, and push notifications—we even hit refresh when we’ve checked in five minutes prior! This negative habit-building makes it difficult to complete sustained bouts of concentration.
3. Multitasking has negative physical side effects Studies show that those who juggle multiple focus-intensive activities actually show spikes in cortisol, a stress hormone. Likewise, frequent multitaskers display symptoms of sleep deprivation: fatigue, disorientation, and lack of focus. Studies in Europe have recently Top Agent Magazine
discovered that those who consistently multitask may actually show decreases in empathy and emotional control. What’s more, a constant sense of anticipation—readying to switch from one task to another, or persistently checking for e-mail updates—can potentially cause a decrease in overall IQ.
4. Multitasking breeds mistakes When our attention is split between tasks, it’s difficult to perceive and retain detail-oriented information. Because of this, mistakes—typos, clerical errors, mislabeled documents, and the like—occur with greater frequency. We’re in such a hurry to complete a portion of a task and switch to the next project that we lose sight of prompts, deadlines, and tying up loose ends. This means multitaskers are far more likely to overlook a glaring error than an individual who is devoting 100% of their attention to the task at hand. Now that we understand some of the dangers of multitasking, what can we do about it? While our tech-driven day-to-day might make focusing on a singular task a difficult endeavor, it’s the surest way to produce efficient, error-free work—while cutting down on stress, fatigue, and miscommunication. Try approaching your tasks for the day with a clear-cut schedule, moving one task at a time down your to-do list. This approach can eliminate some of the inefficiency inherent in multitasking and make for your most productive work routine yet.
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