In real estate, it is easy to work seven days a week and it is easy to put in long hours, since the times that clients want to work with us are often the evenings and weekends. As a personal coach, the most common complaint I hear is concerning the issue of balance and effective use of time. Effective use of your time translates to maximized productivity. We know we need to work "smarter" not harder, but what does that really mean?

The Big Lie

"You have to work HARD to succeed." You’ve been told that, haven’t you? It’s the prevailing American work ethic that most of us have bought into. I find, however, most of us are working about as hard and fast as we can. We actually need a new way of operating. You can only get so much speed out of a 486 computer. To do more, you need to upgrade. This carries over to our personal operating systems. There comes a point at which we have used up the available resources and there is nothing left to draw on.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying we don’t have to work at all. Certainly, to be successful, there are actions to take and having a work ethic is important to creating results. However, the struggle and burnout are not a given. Extreme self-care can build a foundation to allow you to be incredibly productive, get more enjoyment when you are working and handle stress much more effectively. It allows you to get off of that hamster wheel going to no place and you will begin to attract business TO you!

Burning the candle at both ends uses up all the wax

It is easy to be at the mercy of the clients and emergencies. You do not work at peak efficiency when you are tired. You make mistakes, get frustrated easily and have little patience or energy. Reclaiming time for yourself is the first step to building a strong personal foundation. Let’s take a look at how you can do this with an average week, by designating each day either a Renewal Day, Work Day, or Ordinary Day.

Renewal

A Renewal Day is one that is rejuvenating, refreshing and fun. At least one day each week should be spent doing what you love and on what brings you enjoyment -like a day on vacation when you don’t do work or chores or errands. You spend it your way: reading, visiting with people you love, relaxing or whatever gives you the feeling of pampering yourself (maybe it’s getting a massage or going to the beach). If you can’t even imagine doing this on a weekly basis - it’s time for a WAKE-UP call! You need a life. Taking care of the most important person in your life should be your FIRST priority.

Work

A Work Day is the one or two days a week that you will focus 80% of your time on dollar productive activities: Attending Listing Presentations, Negotiating, Prospecting or Working with "A" Buyers. A work day can be a 10-12 hour day. It will be where you are FOCUSED, rather than scattered, going from one activity to another. For most people, this is a big shift from how their average days. The advantage of creating the Work Day structure is that you will spend more time in the flow and produce results more quickly and easily because of the focus.

Ordinary

Your Ordinary Days are when you do the errands, the paperwork, the other activities that support your dollar productive activities. Even on your ordinary days, you’ll find a sense of control and power if you do some time blocking of activities, especially the planning and long term activities (the work "on" your business vs. Working "in" it). Make appointments with yourself and put them on the calendar to accomplish the other things that are important to you.

Pulling it all together

Using the concepts above, now take out a blank calendar for a seven day period and design THE PERFECT Week. This will give you a template to do your weekly planning with. While we cannot predict with total accuracy when we will have to meet with clients or negotiate contracts, we can allot the ideal number of hours for the activities that will make us most productive and give us the ideal situation. As you plan each new week, shifting the placement of those activities will allow you to make sure your Renewal Day(s) isn’t eaten up by surprises or fires to fight and keep you focused on you WORK days.

The Second Lie

Being selfish is bad. From the time we were small children, we’ve been told not to be selfish. It’s time to get over it! If you don’t take care of yourself, you don’t have the resources to take care of anyone else. A wonderful woman I knew comes to mind. Sherry was mother of four and the office manager for a real estate magazine. She took care of everyone’s problems and everyone loved her. She never complained. But she began to have a bunch of health problems, beginning with a bad back and sadly, ending with a fatal brain tumor. They say over 80% of illness and disease is related to stress. I wonder if she’d taken more time for herself, if she’d be with us today. It often takes a brush with death or a close call with a health scare to wake us up to the fact today is the day to enjoy, not some distant day in the future. How are your priorities in this area?

Extreme self-care begins with giving yourself enough down time that you truly feel refreshed and rested. You’ll notice there is less stress when the surprises and problems do pop up and you’ll be thinking more clearly about solutions. You have more to give when you have a reserve of energy.

Ten Daily Delicious Habits

Here is a way to pamper yourself daily. What 10 activities if you did them every day, would give you the feeling of joy, energy and knowledge that you were taking VERY good care of yourself? As a coach, this is one of the first assignments I give new clients and I find it interesting how hard it is for some people to think of 10 things they’d enjoy doing each day.

This is no place for shoulds. It is a list of habits you will implement to give yourself a feeling of well-being & energy flow. You’ll modify and change and fine-tune this over time. You’ll want to drop ones that you find yourself not doing and beating yourself up about. Use the " TEN DAILY DELICIOUS HABITS" tracking sheet available at www.joeann.com/10ddh.htm.

Extreme Self Care

The two suggestions above, restructuring your time and implementing habits to give you energy, are just the beginning. I challenge you for the next month to implement these and see how much better you feel.

Even something as simple as daily meditation or a weekly massage, will slow down the chatter in your head and allow you to connect more fully to your spirit. You’ll start listening to that quiet voice that connects you to your heart’s desires. Extremely productive people have a direct line to that inner voice that knows what will really bring them joy and happiness and the actions they take each day are simply an expression of the gift they bring to others. This is when the struggle falls away and the fun begins! Be good to yourself and watch the attraction principle bring you business!

Published: April 26, 1999

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Joeann Fossland ePRO, GRI, MCC, PMN, SRS is a dynamic speaker and business coach. Co-creator of THE REAL ESTATE GAME® and NoBloggerLeftBehind.com, she provides coaching solutions to enhance your effectiveness and life balance. You can subscribe to her free weekly tips, attend free monthly tele-seminars, and find out about classes delivered by email and personal coaching by visiting Joeann.com or email her at .