How to Maintain a Work-life Balance This Summer

It’s hard for any agent to maintain a work-life balance — especially in a hot market like today’s. The calls are constant, the bidding wars are ever-present, and if you want your clients happy, a high-touch, responsive approach is key.

In the summer, though, keeping a work-life balance is even more challenging. The weather’s great, and the kids are off for summer. If you’re like most of us, you just want to kick back and spend time with family or head off to the beach for some fun in the sun.

You’re not alone.

Fortunately, there are ways to enjoy your summer and stay productive too. Do you want to strike the much-needed work-life balance this season?

Here are four ways to maintain a work-life balance.

1.Establish clear office hours.

You don’t have to be available 24-7 to be a great agent. In fact, having boundaries will actually allow you to be more dedicated and on-task when you do work. 

From the start of any new client relationship, clearly communicate your “schedule.” Now, these don’t have to be your standard 9-to-5 hours — nor should they be. They could be 10 a.m to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, or even 8 to noon and then 3 to 8 p.m. — whatever combination of days and hours you’d like. The point is to establish them early on and set the expectations from the start. This will ensure your clients are never upset when you can’t pick up the phone and, most importantly, you get some much-needed personal time.

2. Use time-blocking to maximize productivity.

Block out chunks of time for your must-do tasks each week. Maybe Mondays, you spend two hours on lead generation, and Wednesday afternoons, you take an hour for marketing. 

Time-blocking not only allows you to stay on top of your business priorities, but it ensures you’re making the best use of those office hours you established, too. Then, when your clients need you, you’re all ears and are ready to get to work.

3. Enlist a virtual assistant.

A virtual assistant can do wonders for your work-life balance. They can help set appointments, field questions on your website and social profiles, manage your listings, help with marketing, and a million other things. You can even stagger their hours, so they fill in the gaps during your off time. 

4. Lean on technology.

Technology can be a big help in lightening your load, too. Online scheduling tools, marketing automation, and social media schedulers (like Hootsuite) can all help you streamline operations and make the most of your time. You can also consider a chatbot on your website to field questions and capture leads.

Improve your work-life balance

Having a good professional network can improve your work-life balance too. Need a good mortgage lender you know will take care of your clients? Get in touch with an Embrace Home Loans office in your area today.