24/7. Never stop. Always working! Grind!
There is this strange badge of honour that Realtors often wear, and it revolves around a peculiar pride in never stopping. The hustle mentality is especially prevalent on social media, where an agent will proudly share a photo of their laptop open to a home search, with the beach and awaiting rest and relaxation blurred out in the background.
#clientscomefirst #neverstopworking
Here’s the question. Who is impressed or cares about that?
As a client, do you want to know that your agent is away on their family vacation, giving their kids 65% of their attention while giving the other 35% to you while they answer your emails? Or maybe it would be ok that you're being taken care of by your Realtor's highly-skilled and attentive colleague.
Do we do it to display that badge of work-life imbalance to our colleagues, resulting in that dopamine hit of “crush it!” and fire emoji comments?
Are we doing it for ourselves out of some deranged feeling that if we stop moving the wheel, everything will fall apart?
With time and age comes some quantity of wisdom, and suddenly you look back at the absurdity of not giving you and your family the experience of truly spending time together. Afterall, if you take 30 vacation days a year, there are still 335 days waiting for you to hustle and never stop.
So, what can you do about it?
If you’re a Realtor (or self-employed person), perhaps this is the summer to try something different.
If you don’t have a partner or team, find someone in your office with whom you have some alignment. Introduce them to your clients and fill out any necessary paperwork. Have a transition before you go away, and yes, be prepared to give up some of the commission.
Then, get in your car or on that plane and go away. Rest your brain and engage with those who are closest to you. Be present, have fun, and recharge. Your Instagram followers will still love you even if you take time off.
You only get one summer 2024. Get focused and efficient when you’re working so that when that vacation does come, you can actually enjoy life and get away.
And if that internal voice of guilt starts chatting with you, ignore it. You can take vacations and time off and still be an excellent Realtor. If anything, you might even be better!
The 24/7 Realtor is a fallacy that ends in burnout, sloppy work, and frayed relationships. And here’s the kicker: Your clients would much rather work with the version of you who is rested, recharged and fulfilled.
The hustled-out, exhausted version of you will eventually hit a wall and let people down. No one wants to see that.
Have fun!