How to Deal with Information Overwhelm

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Life in the twenty-first century means constant access to information of all types--from the world at large, your community, your health, all the way down to the nitty-gritty details of your business. It’s a good thing, of course, but can easily lead to a person feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data swirling around. There’s always a new strategy to learn, a new metric to evaluate, and a new way to become distracted.

However, it’s important to remember that being busy is not the same thing as generating forward momentum--avoid getting stuck in an overwhelmed cycle of busy-ness and distraction with these key questions.

What do you really need to spend your time on?

Avoid spreading yourself too thin by evaluating exactly what you need to be involved in. Sure, social networks expand your reach and can generate leads, but you don’t necessarily need to join every new platform that pops up just because it’s out there.

You also don’t need to do every last thing yourself--embrace the power of delegating if you can, or speak to experts who can solve your problem for you, or show you how to do it yourself more efficiently.

When it comes to learning new systems or strategies, plan ahead for your business and educate yourself on things that, first of all, you are passionate about, and secondly, that can help you now or in the near future--especially where evolving technology is concerned (in other words, avoid diving headlong into a new social media platform that might not even exist in six months).

Read more: 4 ways to track your business

What information do you really need before you make a decision?

Information overwhelm frequently manifests as an inability to make a choice. We now have so much data about our options that it can feel paralyzing. (Anyone who has ever read pages and pages of product reviews before clicking the buy button knows this is true.)

Whether you’re shopping for new computers for the office or trying to decide between two CRM systems, ask yourself what your choice would be if you had to decide today, and why. If you can explain it to yourself now, chances are, your future self will be happy with the choice too.

What really matters to my clients?

Only you can figure out exactly what your business needs to be successful, but don’t lose sight of why you’re here in the first place--to facilitate your clients’ real estate transactions. Real estate is first and foremost about relationships, not endless pages of data.

If you aren’t sure what matters most to your clients, consider asking them! If your current system of tracking and reporting takes up too much of your time, other aspects of your business can start to suffer. Put the relationships first, and some of the unnecessary drains on your time and energy should fall away.

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