It's a Trap!

This morning, I received an e-mail from one of my bosses; he sent me a link to an interesting article on avoiding the "Busy Trap". After reading it, I was wondering if he was trying to tell me something.

Either way, it made for good reading, and had some very useful advice.

We're all busy, especially in these recent economic times, and especially real estate agents. Home sales are down now that the tax credit has expired, and everyone needs an extra few hours in the day to get their jobs done.

Unfortunately, the earth's rotation is not going to change anytime soon, and with this week's daylight peak on Monday (the summer solstice), we're back to a downward spiral on daylight until December. So, since we're all still stuck with 24 hours in our day, you'll need to find your productivity elsewhere.

Luckily for real estate agents, there are solutions. With DotLoop, you can save hours of time by creating online, interactive forms and send them to your clients with a click of a button. With all that saved time and energy, you should be able to avoid the "Busy Trap".

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take this phone call.

You Snooze, You Lose

I absolutely hate being late, if only because I hate waiting on others. So, on the rare occasion when I am late, I always feel really guilty.

This morning, much to my chagrin, I was a few minutes late to work. I could blame it on traffic or the deluge of red lights I stopped at on my way here, but the truth is, it really came down to me being a bit over-zealous when it came to hitting the snooze button.

It's amazing how an extra nine minutes of sleep will just completely throw off the rest of your morning.

On Monday, US Olympic alpine ski racer Bode Miller finished just shy of the gold or silver medal to win a bronze. The time difference between gold medal champion Didier Defago of Switzerland and bronze medal winner Bode Miller? 0.09 seconds, making it the smallest difference between bronze and gold in the history of the Olympics.

So--nine minutes or 0.09 seconds: either way, you're messing with fate, it seems. As real estate agents, I'm sure that plenty of you out there can tell story after story about near-misses (or complete misses) no thanks to the tick-tock of the clock. Or the crunching sound of a fax machine chewing up your contract. Or the honking of car horns in the midst of a traffic jam on the way to a client's home. Or the beeping of the printer letting you know that it can't print anything because the cyan cartridge is out ("But I don't need to print in blue, just black", you say. "I don't care", it tells you. "I refuse to print anything because you're out of cyan. I'm stubborn like that.").

Of course, here at DotLoop, we've created a system that allows for agents to completely circumvent any of the above time-delayers and sanity-destroyers. Agents can complete a contract on their computer and send it to their clients instantly. No need for running around town or figuring out which direction a paper should face when faxing. It saves a lot of hassle and a lot of time.

And with all that saved time, you can even afford to hit the snooze button a few more times.

dotloop.com

Typing In A Winter Wonderland

I am writing this blog in my pajamas, eating a bowl of Rice Krispies. It seems cars don't drive very well in thick snow.

When I had snow days as a kid, I remember getting up early and turning on the radio to see if my school was closed or not. I would listen intently to the list of closings, my ear pressed against the speaker, the volume low.

"...Jewish Vocational Services Center: Closed; John Paul Catholic Schools: Closed; Kings Local: Closed..."

This was it! I went to Lakota Local Schools, so if I heard 'LaSalle High School' or 'Little Miami School Districts' next, I knew I'd have to trudge my way through the snow to sit in class all day gazing out the window daydreaming about hot chocolate and sledding. Kings Local...psh! They always got snow days...

The announcer continued...

"...L-"

Yes!

"-ah-"

Yes!

"-koh-"

Yes!

"-tah"

Woo hoo! I did a little jammy dance and headed back to my warm, cozy bed imaging the possibilities of the day that lay before me and deciding how many marshmallows I would have in my hot chocolate. Maybe I'll finish off the bag, I'd tell myself as I drifted off to a few more relished hours of sleep.

Snow Sorry

Of course, as an adult, snow days aren't as fun, if only because, well, we actually have stuff to do. Luckily, technology has made it possible for most of us to complete our job, have that conference, or finish that report even with the white death blanketing our cars. To this degree, the Internet has been a blessing to employers and employees alike. Some of us even get more done on a snow day than on a regular, distracting day in the office.

Others, though, still see snow days as a hinderance--especially real estate agents. Getting negotiations done on a normal day can be tough enough, but a snow day? Driving around town gathering up initials or making adjustments to an offer without chains tied to your tires may render a REALTOR useless. Luckily, with DotLoop, all of your negotiations can take place online, anywhere.

So now, even you, dear agent, can sit back, relax, and finish your work, even on a snow day. And, without having to drive around town, you may find some time to take ole' Rosebud out for a spin...

dotloop.com