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11 Ways to Avoid Realtor Burnout

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with HouseHunt.com DRE# 01297932

As a real estate agent, sometimes it feels like you always have to be on the go, always working, always available, always doing something, anything because for all you know there’s someone else out there burning the midnight oil when all you want to do is just take a breath and maybe watch TV or read a book.

What’s the worst that could happen to someone who’s always on the go? Certainly, they make a lot of money, right? They’re outperforming and outselling everyone else in the office, right? So what happens when that candle you’ve been burning at both ends finally runs out? Well, it burns out.

One of the first casualties of burnout is the passion and enjoyment for what you exhausted yourself on, real estate, in our case. Without realizing it, little by little our efforts become less and less effective. As we all know, a miserable and tired agent is one not cashing commission checks.

So how do you go about preventing a real estate burnout? Here’s a list of suggestions and see what works for you.

1. Systematize every aspect of your business. Without systems there would never be enough time to get it all done. Give yourself the ability to work more efficiently! A system that will allow you to improve communication with every segment of your business should be priority #1.

2. Reclaim a sense of balance in your life. Dedicate time to be spent with family, friends, and to enjoy a personal life. That’s what we’re working for n the first place, right? To have the ability and freedom to enjoy our lives!

3. Create a daily work schedule for yourself. For many agents, this provides some needed discipline to get tasks done and to know at what time their work day starts and also at what time it ends. Without a well-defined schedule, you may feel guilty about spending time away from work. This guilt drives many back to the office. Without a schedule, balance would be impossible for many!

4. Share your schedule with your clients. Place it on the back of your business card or on your website. This shared timetable allows your to enjoy your personal/family time without interruption and it would provide you with more energy to provide better customer service to your clients.

5. Schedule a daily workout in your daily plan. Exercise is a great source of energy and mental refreshment. Without health there could be no wealth!

6. Delegate as many of your responsibilities as you can

7. Prioritize your daily tasks. Make sure that the most important and difficult ones are completed first every day.

8. Eliminate time-wasting chores. See how much you can purge from your daily activities. Replace wasteful actions with productive tasks.

9. Make building your individual brand recognition a priority. By being the most recognized product of its type in the area, clients will seek your services and you can spend less time chasing new customers.

10. Develop a system to anticipate problems before they materialize. A problem resolved in its infancy saves hours instead of solving a much bigger crisis later on.

11. Set aside an hour a day per week to analyze and improve your business plan and systems. It might take some time to implement these changes into your business.

When they are in place, I suspect that these changes will not only allow you to enjoy your life, they will also dramatically improve your production!

 

 

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LaNita Cates
REMAX of Joliet - Joliet, IL

For those that work out of their home - get up, dressed and comb your hair! I know some realtors that work out of their home and they don't brush their teeth or get dressed all day. I would think if you "dress the part" you might "get the part".

Aug 18, 2010 09:39 AM
Gretchen Karr
Berkshire Hathaway Homesale Realty - Lancaster, PA
Realtor

Mike, Good post.  You bring up 11 terrific points that are so easily forgotten.  I must admit that I struggle with maintaining a balance between work and life.  It tends to be more work and less life.  I am working on it though!  I will definitely keep your suggestions in mind.

Aug 18, 2010 09:53 AM
House Hunt
HouseHunt.com - Huntington Beach, CA

Excellent comments!

Aug 19, 2010 09:27 AM
Kaera Mims
Liz Moore & Associates - Fort Monroe, VA
Associate Broker, e-PRO, REALTOR; Hampton, Newport News, York Co.

Great post Mike, I have been working on scheduling my week for the last few months and it has worked wonders for my business, life...and sanity :-)! Much success to you...

Aug 20, 2010 04:40 PM
Woody Edwards
First Choice Realty, Inc - Chesterfield, VA
A Realtor® Who Answers His Phone!

Food for thought.  Thanks for making me think about it!

Aug 20, 2010 04:50 PM
Ralph Gorgoglione
Metro Life Homes - Palm Springs, CA
California and Hawaii Real Estate (310) 497-9407

These are some really great tips. And I could really use some of these right now!

Aug 20, 2010 04:53 PM
Dan Edward Phillips
Dan Edward Phillips, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, CA - Eureka, CA
Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, CA

Hi Mike, excellent tips, thanks for posting them, it was an excellent read!

Aug 20, 2010 05:18 PM
House Hunt
HouseHunt.com - Huntington Beach, CA

I'm glad you all like this. Hope you can get some use from the tips!

Aug 23, 2010 06:42 AM