Essential Productivity Tools for Real Estate Agents with (or without) ADHD

Make sure you do the things.

Call the client back.

Email the findings.

Get back to them with the answer to the question

Clarify that zoning rule

There is an elephant graveyard of tasks I promised to do for people who called when I was driving and on another call when the call waiting beeped. After I parked my car and was neck deep in family of office matters 90 seconds later, it is a daunting challenge to keep track of everything.

Checklists are only as good as your ability to add tasks.

So here we go with some hacks to make you better at follow up, especially when you are an ADHD human like me.

• Anytime anyone calls you while you're driving with an instruction or request, ask them to email or text the directive because you can't write while you're driving.

• When you promise to call someone back, add that if they don't hear from you by 3 to call or message you because some days are chaotic in this business.

• Become a power user of your smart phone.

  • Calendar

  • Reminders*

  • Alarms

*iPhone reminders aren’t effective for me because they are too quiet. Sometimes I need confetti to pour out of the ceiling to get my attention. So I set alarms - nothing like Led Zeppelin to get my attention to call back the person when promised. Your mileage may vary!

• Create shared documents with clients and collaborators where agreements, tasks, and conversations can be memorialized and followed up on.

  • Any phone conversation where actions are discussed or planned should have a follow up emails that sums up the conversation to ensure accuracy and minimize misunderstandings. It is like having "minutes" of your meetings on the phone.

• Save screenshots of sensitive discussions if you feel like you might have to cover your hind quarter down the road.

• Invest in a smart watch that tethers to your phone. It is another layer of awareness to alert you to communications.

• Set notifications to maximum noise for things like reminders, texts and emails from business contacts and clientele.

• Lastly: Begin and end your day with a review of what you got done/still need to do. Pat yourself on the back for your progress.

By far, my best friend from the above list is the alarm function because they get my attention and minimize the risk of anything slipping through my day's fingers.