Recap: Mindful Tactics to Increase Productivity
To kick off our Month to MOVE Her challenge, we recently held a session focusing on how to increase productivity through mindfulness and becoming your best self. Plus, find some of our favorite health and wellness books, podcasts, apps, and more.
A career in real estate is dynamic, exciting, and rewarding. One thing it’s not, however, is laid back. For those of us who ever wished for more hours in the day (which likely is everyone reading this) What Moves Her® recently held an event focusing on mindfulness strategies to help navigate your demanding days.
Mindful Tactics to Increase Productivity offered tips and ideas for discovering your best self through the practice of mindfulness. The event was the unofficial kickoff of A Month to MOVE Her, our 30-day wellness challenge, from Monday August 22nd through Thursday, September 22nd.
Today, we are going to recap some of the (many) highlights of our session, as well as provide you with a list of mindfulness resources—books, apps, podcasts and more to guide and help you in the practice of mindfulness.
But first, let’s take a look at why the practice of mindfulness can be such a critically important wellness strategy for time-crunched real estate professionals.
Being Present for Everyone, All the Time Can Take a Toll
As everyone who has ever worked in the real estate industry can attest, it is not a 9-5 pursuit. It’s a constant challenge to juggle the needs of multiple stakeholders and clients in a fast-paced, ruthlessly competitive environment. With all the demands we face on a day-to-day basis, finding even a single hour for “me time” can be difficult—and on some days, impossible. There is always another call to make, another client to assist, another video to film, another contract to sift through.
This struggle can be even more pronounced for women—in any industry.
According to a recent study by OnePoll on behalf of Garnier Fructis, “the average woman feels she needs an extra 82 minutes a day to accomplish everything she would like.”
This survey, taken from a sample size of over 2,000 American women, illustrates the tightrope too many of us walk, balancing work and home priorities in an always-on environment. According to the findings:
• If they had extra time, 49% would use it to sleep
• 22% of women would use their extra time to learn a new hobby
• 50% of the respondents reported they had given up a hobby, due to lack of time
• 31% felt they manage less than 30 minutes of “me time” each day
• 38% haven’t taken a single afternoon to themselves in over a month
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, and that you just don’t have time to juggle all the demands of work and home, the practice of mindfulness can go a long way to restore balance, ease stress, and perhaps most importantly, instill a sense of gratitude.
Becoming Your Best Self
At the heart of our Mindful Tactics to Increase Productivity session was a presentation on 10 Tips to Your Best Self. The presentation was led by:
Ida Elizabeth Fields
VP of Agent Marketing & Business Development
The Corcoran Group
Marli Kol
Senior Trainer
Anywhere | Expansion Brands
Ida and Marli walked the group through their presentation, discussing ways to navigate through your most demanding days, and use some of the key concepts of mindfulness in order to become the best version of yourself.
Their ten tips are:
1. Shift Your Mindset. This is also known as “The high five habit.” It’s all about giving yourself high-fives by looking at yourself in the mirror and celebrating your little wins, every day.
2. Learn Your Strengths. This tip is encapsulated by this question posed by Donald O. Clifton, creator of the strengths-based development movement.
“What will happen when we think about what is right with people rather than fixating on what is wrong with them?” Explore your personal strengths through a self-assessment like 24 Signature Strengths, or the Big Five Personality Test to focus on your core inherent strengths.
3. Visualize with Feeling. If you can see it, you can be it.
4. Clarify Your Intention. This can be actualized by building a “Mind Map” of your work/life blend
5. Journal Daily. New to Journaling? Here are some tips on how to get started.
6. Build Your Tribe. This is encapsulated by an African proverb:
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Find ways to network and get involved with the broader community. Think about volunteering your time. Pro tip: Be sure to write out your goals along with the people who can help support them.
7. Activate Triggers. Create a Reset Activation Trigger, aka a physical action to reset your brain when your fight, flight, freeze response is triggered.
8. Get Active: You already know physical activity is good for you. See what the Mayo Clinic has to say about regular exercise.
9. Practice Mindfulness. You’ll find more helpful Mindfulness resources at the end of this post.
10. Show Gratitude. As Deepak Chopra once said, “Gratitude opens the door to the power, the wisdom, the creativity of the universe.”
A Month to MOVE Her—Join our Monthlong Wellness Challenge
Let’s MOVE together. What Move’s Her is asking our members to commit to A Month to MOVE Her, a 30-day wellness challenge that seeks to clear your mind, open your heart, and use the power of mindfulness to center yourself. The challenge begins on Monday, August 22 and concludes on Thursday, September 22.
Here’s how it works. Committing to 4 simple daily actions that will MOVE you towards your best self:
Meditate for 5 to 10 minutes each morning
Open new doors by introducing yourself to a new person or practice
Visualize something you want to see come true in your life for 2 minutes
Exercise by choosing a Mindfulness practice
Stay Accountable! Join our Instagram Live Challenge Check- Ins on August 22nd, September 1st and September 22nd at 2PM ET on @WhatMovesHer!
Simply share your progress on Instagram with a photo using the hashtag #AMonthToMoveHer2022, so we can all view and support each other’s progress in what is sure to be a transformative month for all involved.
Health and Wellness Resources
Interested in learning more about mindfulness techniques, psychology, and overall wellness? You’ve come to the right place. Though mindfulness has become quite popular in recent years, many of the titles here predate the mindfulness boom, and can provide you with the mental tools you need to create a more purposeful and rewarding life.
Books:
The Untethered Soul: Michael A. Singer
What would it be like to free yourself from limitations and soar beyond your boundaries? What can you do each day to discover inner peace and serenity? The Untethered Soul offers simple yet profound answers to these questions.
Atomic Habits: James Clear
Atomic Habits provides you with a roadmap to forming good habits, breaking bad habits, and mastering the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
Impact: Christen Brandt and Tammy Tibbetts
Ever felt unsure of how you can apply your unique skills to serve a bigger purpose? This book can help you unlock your inner potential.
The Great Work of Your Life: Stephen Cope
Finding your dharma, aka your true calling, is a lifelong quest for all of us. This book provides a time-tested guide for discovering your unique calling, step by step.
My Morning Routine: Benjamin Small & Michael Xander
How do successful people start their day? Interviews with a diverse group of thinkers and leaders including General Stanley McChrystal, Marie Kondo, and more walk you through their morning routines, so you can create an inspirational routine of your own.
The Power of Now: Eckhart Tolle
One of the most influential books of the 21st century, Eckhart Tolle shows you how to have a pain-free existence by living fully in the present, accessing your deepest and most true self.
Big Magic: Elizabeth Gilbert
Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you? This book will help you live a more creative life.
Breath: James Nestor
An international best-seller, Breath explores how humans have lost the ability to breathe properly, what went wrong, and how to fix it.
The Energy Bus: Jon Gordon
Ten rules to fuel your life, work, and team with positive energy.
The Go-Giver: Bob Burg
How switching your focus from getting to giving can yield unexpected returns.
Podcasts:
10% Happier hosted by Dan Harris
Mind Love hosted by Mindi Love
Happier hosted by Gretchen Rubin
On Purpose hosted by Jay Shetty
The Wellness Mama Podcast
Super Soul Sunday hosted by Oprah Winfrew
How to Change Your Workplace hosted by Adam Grant
How I Built This hosted by Guy Raz
The School of Greatness hosted by Lewis Howes
The Tony Robbins Podcast hosted by Tony Robins
Apps
Insight Timer—Guided medications
Melissa Wood Health—Low-impact workouts
MyFitnessPal—Diet & exercise tracker
Chopra App—Meditations and wellbeing from Deepak Chopra
Calm—Meditation and sleep
Techniques
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)
The High Five Habit
Tests
Clifton Strengths—Understand your strengths to unlock your potential and enable greater performance
Meditation
REA Earth—Meditations to unlock the infinite potential of your mind, body, and soul
Now it’s your turn
Have you ever struggled with blending work and life? How were you able to alleviate the situation? Have you ever practiced mindfulness or any other type of meditation? How did it help you? Finally, do you have any health/wellness/mindfulness resources you’d like to share? Let us know what worked for you to help others in our community.
Email us at WhatMovesHer@anywhere.re or share with us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. We want to hear your thoughts!
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