Dozens of advice listicles focus on the best way to spend your commute to and from the office. REALTORS®, though, have a unique commute; this is a job where you have to be on the go, from open houses to offices and back again, so you may not have a strict commute in the morning, then another in the evening.
Here are some tips to decouple driving from the stress of the hustle, from proper scheduling to how you spend your time in the car.
Prepare for once you’re in the office
You obviously can’t do a paper-and-pencil to-do list while you’re driving, but a mental checklist is still available. Think hard on the things you need to accomplish once you’re at work and how they should be prioritized. Once you know, start thinking about exactly how you’ll tend to the task. Then once you’re there, you can dive right in instead of working up the energy you need just to start working.
Map out your errands/destinations for the day
If you can, map your daily schedule out based on location. It’d be a waste if you had one open house in the morning, then had to drive back to your office for a client meeting, then go out for another open house only five minutes away from the first listing.
Prioritize the most important task as where you have to go first, so you have a concrete starting point. If, say, you have an open house on the same day as meetings (whether team or client), put the open house at the beginning of the day so you aren’t driving back and forth.
Listen to audiobooks and/or podcasts
Easily the most commonly recommended pastime for commuting is listening to audiobooks. Naturally, since it’s a hands-free activity and fills a void if you have not the time to sit and enjoy a paperbound book. As a REALTOR®, you probably spend even more time in a car than most professionals, so it’d be an especially good choice for you.
It can also be leisure or strategy, and no two days have to be the same. There’s plenty of business or real estate-focused books out there with audiobook editions. If you’re more of a podcast person, then find a series you like (preferably an ongoing one) and pin down its release schedule. On days when you know that a new episode is dropping, you have something to look forward to—a tiny touch to make your day more enjoyable.
