Your habits, whether good or bad, are a huge part of how you live your everyday life; in fact, 40% of your actions throughout each day are not based on conscious decisions, but come from the force of habit. These habits can spill over into your working life, too, and affect how you conduct your business; bad habits can lower sales, and end up separating you from successful insurance agents. Becoming more successful means practicing some self-awareness, and learning to adopt the following habits.
1. Stay Organized
Did you know that office workers waste an average of 40% of each workday because of being unorganized? When you’re busy and trying to juggle multiple things at once, it’s easy to slowly slide into being unorganized, but it’s important to stay on top of your schedule. Organize your brain by getting more sleep and taking breaks. Organize your time by prioritizing your day; to do this you should:
- Plan a time for calls, meetings, marketing, and follow-ups.
- Try using an app to help you stay organized, such as Shift, which can help keep you on track and on task.
- Avoid multitasking, which will divide your attention and mean you’ll end up slacking on some tasks.
- Organize your workspace by clearing clutter, filing correctly and immediately, and having everything important within easy reach.
2. Create Lists
Lists can be your best friends when trying to accomplish your day-to-day tasks. If you try to simply remember everything you have to do during the day, you will more than likely end up forgetting something – and that something could be very important! Instead of relying on memory, make a list – or multiple lists – so you can address the urgent tasks first, and then check off the rest of the less urgent tasks once those important issues are taken care of.
3. Focus on an End Goal
What is your end goal? Do you want to get a certain number of prospects a month? Grow your business? Retain more customers? It is easier to establish an end goal when you have your eye on the bigger picture, so focus on that, and put your daily tasks in perspective.
4. Limit Distractions
Around 44% of work distractions come from things that you have control over, like your phone and social media. While it’s ok to take a break so you don’t burn out, you might want to limit your distractions by using a timer when you engage in nonessential tasks. Consider using the Pomodoro Technique, a method that suggests you set a timer to break down work into 25 minutes intervals: you work for 25 minutes, take a short 3-5 minute break, and then reset the timer. After 4 25-minute “pomodoros”, you take a longer break of approximately 15-30 minutes.
5. Know When to Unplug
If you don’t know how to keep a healthy work-life balance, you could end up feeling like you’re drowning in your work. Learn to take breaks by creating a block of time during your day when you shut off your phone and computer, and don’t read emails or take work calls. Never unplugging will eventually lead to burn out!
6. Learn To Say No
No can be a powerful word, and oftentimes people feel awkward or even embarrassed to say it, but as Steve Jobs once said, “It’s only by saying no, that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.” If you have too much on your plate, it’s okay to respectfully decline offers, whether work-related or in your social life; learning to say no can help you increase your productivity levels, and keep your relationships with your customers and new leads at the top of your list of priorities.
7. Be Positive
Failure can happen to anyone, as can both minor and major setbacks; for example, you’re bound to lose more than one customer over the years. But when it comes to the negative parts of your job, you have the option to dwell on them, or accept the bad with the good and take it all as part of the road to success. You have to be willing to stay positive, as well as to learn, adapt, and try again. Put your positive energy into winning your clients back and then some! After all, according to one study that concentrated on the habits of millionaires, over half (54%) of those polled credited optimism as critical to their success in life.
You most likely have daily habits that you are unaware of, but they could be hindering your ability to grow your business and your success. Forming new habits is easier said than done, and it can take at least a month or more for a new way of doing things to start to feel normal; while it can be tempting to give up after a week or so, don’t give up! The habits above will make you more organized, positive, and will help you increase your success in your business. Some of these habits will also end up improving other aspects of your life, as well!
