Life as a real estate agent can be many things. Exciting. Emotional. Extremely Demanding. And with the rise of remote working, it can also give agents incredible flexibility.
Having the luxury of choosing your working hours comes with significant benefits. But working from home requires self-discipline and time-management. Especially for those with a family.
We’ve shortlisted some handy tips to stay focused and productive, while working from home.
1. Set regular office hours
It’s not uncommon for agents to work around the clock. Especially when they’re starting out and don’t want to miss a potential lead. But overworking to the point of self-neglect can quickly result in burnout, or ill-health.
Combat this by setting a regular work schedule. Stick to it as rigidly as possible. It’s the best way to set boundaries and protect your mental and physical health.
2. Create clear business goals
Set realistic and achievable goals for your real estate business. It’s an excellent way to stay motivated. You might set specific numbers for the following:
- Open houses to attend each week.
- New leads to find every day.
- Listing appointments to complete each week.
- Closings to achieve each quarter or year.
- Follow-up emails you send to potential clients.
- Marketing results you receive through various advertising channels.
- Social media posts you make.
- Time saving new tech products to trial.
3. Get dressed for work
Even if you aren’t leaving the house, dressing fresh sets your mental mood. Look sharp. Think sharp. It can help you mentally switch to “work mode” and motivate you to power through your to-do list. Plus, you’ll be ready to jump on a video call with a client or quickly meet a prospect as needed.
4. Invest in the best tools
There are dozens of tools, apps, and software to help you stay organised and productive.
Trying out one or more of the following will not only boost your motivation but make boring tasks more fun and less time-consuming.
- Asana is a project management tool for keeping track of tasks and goals.
- Canva is a free resource for creating beautiful visuals for marketing and social media posts.
- overwrite.ai is an AI writing assistant for estate agents which creates unique and engaging property descriptions, instantly.
- RescueTime is for tracking work with reports on your online behavior, project work, and overall productivity.
5. Manage that Diary
Time management can help you avoid distractions and stay on task. Schedule blocks of time in your calendar and only work on a specific task during that period.
For example, try blocking off a couple of hours in the morning to work on new leads. Take an hour at midday for marketing tasks. Then spend the afternoon on viewings.
By setting times to achieve critical tasks, you’ll be more likely to stay focused, as know you have limited time to complete them.
6. Take a “mental commute”
Working from home can make it challenging to “clock out”. Take a few minutes at the end of the day to “commute” home.
Walk around your neighbourhood. Turn off work notifications. Change your clothes. Hit the gym. Make a home-cooked meal. Whatever it is, some after-work activity can help you turn off “work mode” and unwind.
7. Make time for marketing
Marketing yourself and your properties is essential in real estate. Your listing clients rely on you and your firm to market their home for sale or rent.
Creating a personal brand gives you a positive reputation in your community.
Schedule time each week for various marketing tasks, such as posting on social media, improving your listing descriptions, and sending email newsletters. Content should be unique, and engaging. Never copy and paste your marketing content unless you want to sound like every other agent out there.
Turn on “Out of Office”
Staying healthy and motivated when working from home comes down to priorities. You being at the top of the list.
Your viewings might be scheduled to the hour. Open houses might be in the diary. Your marketing can be on point. But if you don’t put enough effort in “out of the office”, your work life will eventually suffer.
Eat healthy meals. Move your body. Get enough sleep. It’s all about balance. You’ll be better positioned to take care of your real estate business when you take care of yourself.
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