by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting
For most real estate hiring managers, there is an unfortunate correlation between recruiting and procrastination.
When it’s time to focus on the proactive tasks that produce long term recruiting success, there is always something better or more interesting to do.
How do you overcome procrastination?
The Quartz business blog recently summarized some of the most successful procrastination hacks.
Tiny steps: Take a micro-step toward the thing you’re supposed to accomplish, like writing one sentence of an email you’re avoiding. The rest may flow.
Lean on a friend: Often called bookending, share your goals and a timeline with a friend. Short timeframes work better than long ones. “I’ll check back in an hour to hear about your progress.”
Guided visualization: Spend several minutes vividly imagining the consequences of procrastinating.
Pomodoro technique: Work in manageable 25-minute chunks of time using a pomodoro or “tomato timer” countdown app. If necessary, take five-minute reward breaks.
Structured procrastination: If you have something important to do, re-evaluate stuff lower on your list as more important. You’ll end up doing the first thing soon enough by procrastinating on the stuff you reprioritized. (Yes, it’s a mind game; it was invented by a philosopher.)
Try one of these techniques the next time you feel like putting off your recruiting tasks.
Recruiting success comes to those who consistently do the important-but-not-urgent tasks that frequently get put off until tomorrow.