Life as an agent can get pretty busy, and with the way things have been going in the market—bidding wars, high demand and a finite pool of homes for sale—you’re likely burning the candle at both ends to capitalize on this hectic time in the housing market.
While that’s a significant aspect of your business, so is balancing your family and personal life, especially as agent burnout continues to be a growing concern at brokerages nationwide.
From improving time management to setting boundaries, here are a few ways to help you find some balance in your life despite the busy market activity.
Time Management
Having a game plan is essential to finding your balance, and a significant aspect of that plan consists of managing your time wisely. Assess your workload for the week during the weekend and try to schedule your time and tasks with your family time in mind. Whether making it to your kid’s soccer game or meeting your partner for a dinner date, work those events into your game plan just as you would a listing showing or a client consultation.
Boundaries Are Essential
Agents are used to working “around the clock” for your clients, making boundary setting a critical tool. Develop practices in and out of the work that can become habits to promote balance. It can be as simple as setting a no cell phones at the dinner table rule at home or setting “do not disturb” hours. Whatever it is, make sure to hold the line on the boundaries you set up.
Talk it out
Communication is vital to juggling your workload without sacrificing quality time with your loved ones. On one hand, you need to let your colleagues and clients know what your schedule looks like and if there are certain days or times that you aren’t reachable. On the other hand, it’s also important to talk things out with your family. If you’re in the final leg of closing on a transaction or in the middle of the spring market rush, communicate with your loved ones, so they are in the loop.
Family vacation/staycation
Working from home can sometimes blur the lines of work and personal time. Scheduling outings with your loved ones can help mitigate that challenge by taking you out of your work environment. After a long week or month of hard work, take a mini-vacation—or staycation—with your family for a weekend to rest and recharge so you can attack the next big sale. While out with your families, set up automated replies for your work phone and email so you can focus on enjoying your quality time with your loved ones.
Jordan Grice is RISMedia’s associate online editor. Email him your real estate news to jgrice@rismedia.com.
