Well that didn’t take long.
We here at Tristan Assist have started our full marketing push, and as part of that push, we’re engaging agents in some of the most popular Facebook groups by weighing in on the conversations that speak to the need for our product. Recently, the “How many hours do you work in real estate?” conversation came up in one of the busiest real estate agent groups. Now I’ve been in and around real estate and these real estate forums for long enough to know that this is a conversation that comes up probably about once a month. What I had forgotten was how firmly many of the agents believe in the necessity of working “all of the hours”.
Agent after agent posted about how they work 60, 70, 90, 120 hours a week.
Many posted something to the effect that if they were awake, they were working in real estate. Like it is some kind of badge of honor to aspire to, to do nothing but work.
Good grief. Don’t get me wrong, I love the passion and the commitment of the real estate community and the agents in it. I love the agents who believe and live that they “never work a day in their life” because they’re doing something that they love. I love the agents who approach real estate as a career that requires sacrifice and a daily/weekly/monthly/yearly grind. I love the agents who know that to be their best, they have to “play to win”, but listen, I’ve been in and around this profession for long enough to know that the guy or girl posting about their 120 hour work week on Facebook is not a particularly productive agent. Sorry “all the hours” guy (or girl).
Professional athletes, Olympians, top flight CEOs, the President of the United States of America… don’t work 120 hours a week. And neither do the best and brightest in our industry. Those that reach the pinnacle of their performance and their careers don’t work “all the hours”. They have a system and purposeful schedule that they adhere to daily to maximize their time, their talents, and their productivity.
I was the “all the hours” guy once. And I was productive, or so I thought.
I understand feeling the need to work and work and work and work. To never shut off. To put forth a veneer of always available and always on and always willing to work harder than the next guy (or girl). I was the “all the hours” guy once. And I was productive, or so I thought. The truth is, when I was working “all the hours”, I was scattered and I was fragmented. My real estate business was a catch-as-catch-can mess of chasing under qualified leads, sitting at a desk scouring the MLS®, coming up with email campaigns, or re-doing my feature sheet for the 68th time, but I convinced myself and others (I think), that I was working the hardest and the most.
Real estate is not some wildly different industry that requires more of its employees than every other pursuit…
It was when I changed my approach and set myself a schedule that I held myself accountable to that my production doubled. I worked substantially less hours, but I was wildly more purposeful, and therefore productive, with the hours that I did work. And my production doubled, almost immediately, and then continued to grow. See, to be your best and to be able to sustain that ability to be your best, you’ve got to treat real estate like any other career. Real estate is not some wildly different industry that requires more of its employees than every other pursuit, it just has the very cool feature of being a fully self-regulated profession. So self regulate. If you’re working “all the hours”, or feel like you have to work “all the hours”, it’s time to take a step back and set a daily schedule for yourself that drives productivity through purposefulness. And then go home. Like seriously. Your family and your own mental well-being will thank you.
…it’s time to take a step back and set a daily schedule for yourself that drives productivity through purposefulness.
Tristan Assist can help you make sure that nothing slips through the cracks when you’re being purposeful and when it’s time to end your workday, but to get to the point of really accelerating your production, it will take some of the sacrifice that I mentioned above. You’re going to have to sacrifice your own belief that you are working “all the hours” or that you even need to.
If you would like a thirty minute consult with our Founder and CEO, Dave Fletcher, former top 1% producing agent for Keller Williams, follow this link and write “Scheduling” in the message box.
