Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is all over the news. Kids in schools are treated for it regularly, and there are all sorts of jokes about it…
Still, it’s hard not to get distracted in the internet age. Every time you hop on the internet, you are bombarded by various distractions, such as:
-
Ads all over the page
-
Email notifications popping up on your screen
-
Social media notifications
-
Little news blurbs that tempt you to click on them
I’m sure you can think of a bunch of other things as well.
Consider when you research potential leads on Craigslist or Zillow. Besides searching for ‘motivated’ or ‘must sell,’ you might start thinking of how you might want a new iPad at a great price, so you search there as well.
Or you wonder what other houses are selling for. Good research to do, but it is easy to get caught up looking through all the pictures on Zillow and struggling with questions like, “Are those houses staged better than my flip?”
Suddenly another hour has gone by, and you still don’t have much more useful information than you had before.
You Must Focus, Grasshopper
The really effective real estate investors (or effective in any type of endeavor) are the ones who can focus on the task at hand, and do a great job of completing it. They tune out the distractions. Then they find they can actually get more done if they DON’T multitask.
So, we want to offer some technological (and maybe some non-tech) ways to help you tune out the distractions.
Tuning Out Your Email – Just because you are answering emails doesn’t mean you are being productive. Imagine if you answered all those spam emails as well. Would you feel like you are advancing toward your real estate goals more quickly?
Email can be tamed. Here are some tips for helping you to do so:
Sanebox – We reviewed this great website in another REM tech lesson. Might be useful to go back to read it.
Mailinator – This for when you want to access the content of a site but don’t want to give out your email. You can make up an email address and end it with ‘@mailinator.com.’ Mailinator then creates an inbox automatically when it receives an email at that address and makes it public. You can then read the emails at Mailinator, or never look again. Up to you. Either way, those emails stay away from your personal inbox.
Consolidate Your Email – Most people have more than one email address. If you use Gmail, they have a nice feature where you can consolidate all your addresses into one account. So do email programs like Outlook and Apple’s Mail Program. It sure beats visiting lots of different sites to check multiple accounts.
Some other tips for controlling your email instead of your email controlling you include:
-
Turn off the pop-up notifications in Outlook or Apple Mail when you receive a new email
-
Learn how to create email rules to automatically file emails from certain senders or with certain text in them
-
Try turning off the internet while you dedicate some time to answer emails. Pick a certain time of the day for the emails and reduce your inbox to practically nothing. Turning off the internet will mean you don’t get distracted by new emails coming in.
Speaking of the Internet…
Although email can be distracting, at least most of the emails you receive (other than spam) have something to do with you.
Not so much with the internet.
The internet is full of temptations designed to lure you off the task at hand. While you are crafting your latest probate letter, your mind can easily wander to wondering what the Kardashians are up to.
Pretty soon an hour has gone by. You are completely up to date on the latest football trade rumors, but that blank page is still staring you in the face.
Here are some good tools to help you control your internet addiction (besides just going cold turkey) while you work:
-
Self-Control – A free app that you download. Once downloaded, you create a list of ‘blacklisted’ sites that regularly distract you. Then you set a timer for how long you want them blocked and they are donzo. Even if you reboot or delete the app, the sites will be blocked. Be careful what you ask for.
-
Anti-Social - Will block any site from 15 minutes to 8 hours.
-
StayFocusd – An app for Google Chrome that will limit the time you can spend on certain distracting sites. Once the time is up, it will prevent you from having access.
-
Freedom – With Freedom, you can schedule when you want the internet to be disabled. Then, Freedom does what it is told at the appropriate time. It will still allow you to access local servers if you need them to accomplish work. The only way to bring the internet back is to shut down and reboot. You can schedule internet down time for up to 8 hours.
-
Outlet Timer – This isn’t a website. It’s a simple device you plug into an outlet and then you plug something electronic into the timer. You can set the timer to turn power off during the day. People use them to turn lamps on and off when they are not home to deter burglars. Why not hook one up to your home or office router? Then, for certain times of the day, your internet is turned off and you can concentrate on important tasks.
While it is important to stay connected as a real estate investor, it is also important to get the work done. The internet is the ultimate procrastination tool. Don’t let it get the better of you.
Share, Would Ya?
If you have some other tips for staying focused on your real estate business, please share them in the comments below.
Avoid Multitasking – Multitasking does not make you more productive. Concentrate on the task at hand and get it done!
Find Shortcuts – Create templates for your emails, bookmark favorites or find other ways to save time while you work.
Allow Time to Surf – Everyone surfs the internet to some extent. Consider picking a block of time each day where you can surf. Then avoid surfing the rest of the day.
JP Moses
is a real estate investor in Memphis, TN, with experience ranging from land lording to note buying, rehabbing, and wholesaling. However, wholesaling is the area that he enjoys most and where he bring the most experience and expertise to his students.