Multitasking is costing you money. These 4 pillars earn it back

For years, professionals have been told that multitasking is the secret to success. Do more things at once. Chase multiple opportunities. Keep all the plates spinning.

Over the years, I’ve learned that this advice sounds productive, but it rarely produces predictable results. Research and real-world business results tell a very different story.

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A December 2023 article in Forbes pointed to a Psychonomic Bulletin & Review study showing that only 2.5 percent of people can multitask effectively. Everyone else experiences diminished focus, lower-quality execution and weaker results.

In my experience working with high performers across the country, that research shows up very clearly in one place: your income.

Entrepreneurs don’t miss their financial goals because they lack motivation. What I see far more often is that they’re spreading their effort across too many directions without a structure that supports success.

When leaders chase too many things, they don’t do any of them well. They think the next great app, software, AI or coach is going to make the difference. The reality is that they need to spend more time really thinking about what not to do, rather than what else to add to their already full plate. 

The multitasking trap in real estate

Multitasking feels productive. It looks like responsibility. Oftentimes superhuman.

A little sphere work. A few open houses when time allows. Some social media posting – inconsistently. Expireds, FSBOs, new construction, SOI, Top 50, AI … maybe more.

I’ve watched this pattern play out for years. Individually, each activity can work. Collectively, without focus, they rarely do.

What agents often call diversification is really dilution. Nothing gets enough attention to produce predictable results. And predictability, in my experience, is the real goal.

When building your plan for the coming year if your goal is to generate $250,000 in gross closed income we simply reverse engineer how. 

The Four Pillars concept isn’t about doing four things at once. It’s something I’ve taught for years because it works. It’s about designing four complete paths to the same income goal.

Let’s say your target income is $100,000. Most people would divide that goal into quarters: 25 percent from each pillar. That feels logical. It’s also one of the most common mistakes I see.

Each pillar must be capable of producing 100 percent of your income goal on its own.

Why? Because each pillar is worked as if it’s the only one that exists.

Examples of income pillars might include:

• Sphere of influence (SOI)
• Open houses
• New construction
• Expireds or FSBOs

The specific pillars don’t matter nearly as much as the structure behind them. What matters is that each one stands on its own.

Each pillar gets:

• Its own lead-generation plan
• Its own activity standards
• Its own conversion assumptions
• Its own execution focus

You’re not multitasking. You’re building a business that doesn’t rely on hope. You’re building redundancy into success.

Here’s what happens when agents apply this correctly

One pillar might deliver 30 percent of its projected outcome. Another hits 70 percent. A third reaches 90 percent. The fourth lands somewhere in between.

This is something I’ve watched happen again and again. Instead of barely hitting $100,000, they exceed it, often by a wide margin. Not because every pillar worked perfectly. But because the business never relied on just one.

When one pillar slows down, another carries momentum. There’s no scrambling, no mid-year pivots and no emotional rollercoaster tied to a single lead source. That’s what predictable income looks like in the real world.

There are coaches and speakers who advocate building a business entirely on referrals. And for some people, that works – because they execute that one pillar exceptionally well.

The problem is risk. Markets shift. I’ve seen it. Life intervenes. Pipelines dry up.

A business built on a single pillar has no margin for error. A business built on four does.

The goal isn’t to do everything. It never has been. The goal is to never allow your income to depend on just one thing.

Multitasking feels busy. Intentional design feels calm.

High-performing agents don’t chase more activities. In my experience, they chase fewer things – and execute them better. They build multiple, complete ways to reach the same goal, then execute each with discipline and clarity.

That’s how income becomes predictable. That’s how stress drops. And that’s how businesses grow year after year.

Multitasking costs money. The Four Pillars earn it.

March is Marketing and Branding Month at Inman. As the spring selling season kicks in, we’ll examine the proven tactics and new innovations driving results in today’s market — and celebrate the industry’s top marketing and branding leaders with Inman’s Marketing All-Star Awards.

This article was updated March 25, 2026.