As summer approaches, I can’t help but think of one thing: Vacation!
As a Realtor®, vacations are important. You’re constantly required to be “on” 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Communication is an absolute requirement, and not answering your phone or email can cost you valuable business. So we need to be available, and that means answering an email from a seller at 6am and then following up with a buyer at 7pm, and a ton of to-do items in between. It’s also normal practice to work weekends, since that’s when most buyers and sellers are available.
But when we’re on vacation, we get to RELAX… right? Sadly, this isn’t the case for most agents. I’ve actually had agents answer my calls when on the beach, at a theme park, or even on the ski slopes!
Plus, everyone is now addicted to email. We not only check it on our computers, but on our smartphones and tablets. It doesn’t matter where we are, we’re constantly connected, and that may include vacation time.
In truth, everyone’s hooked on technology, not just Realtors. I’m guilty of ITSO (inability to switch off) too. My smartphone charges on my nightstand, so I usually check my email before I ever get out of bed in the morning and use it to jot down ideas if I wake up during the night.
But I’m not the only one. At a recent conference, I learned that 91% of adults have their mobile device with them at all times. In fact, the average person spends at least 8.5 hours daily in front of a screen of some sort. Think about it…how often do you glance down at your phone at lunch or dinner, in meetings or while watching TV?
We’re nearing technological overload, and it doesn’t help when we don’t disconnect on our vacations.
I recommend that you put down your smartphones and laptops, and promise yourself to chill out! In addition, rather than taking calls on your cell during vacation, find someone to cover for you. It’s easy to do, and you’ll truly appreciate the break!
After a good vacation lacking technology, you’ll find that you’ll be more attentive, your cognition will increase and you’ll be calmer and sharper. For your next vacation, give your brain a recharge and make sure to enjoy yourself.
Tags: atlanta real estate, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers, georgia, laptop, Metro Brokers, Real Estate, real estate agent, real estate career, Realtor, relax, smartphone, success, Tips, Tisha Gay, vacation
April 23, 2012 at 1:19 pm
I hear you, though it is hard to step away from our devices. My agent husband and I are doing just that though, when we travel to China in May – we are lining up a great agent to cover for us, and we will hop on a computer once a day just to troubleshoot emails. The key is definitely getting a REALLY buttoned up agent to cover for you, so you feel like you can relax completely – in our case, it’s not like we can hop in the car while on vacation and come back home to address a problem!
April 23, 2012 at 3:48 pm
My favorite blog post yet Tisha! Now if I can just heed your advice.
April 23, 2012 at 4:51 pm
This is so true!! When my sister and I took the kids to the waterpark during Spring break we made sure to leave our phones in the room. We didn’t use the excuse of being on vacation as much as we didn’t want water to get on them. We truly enjoyed ourselves and so did the kids because they had 100% of our attention. Once we came back we were ready to work!!! We all need vacation time…true vacation time.
May 8, 2012 at 9:31 am
we all need time off-real estate needs Space too-and others
should be considerate of t, orhat too–all agents should be covered
also–too many agents are getting discouraged or leave
the field they worked soooooooooooooooo hard and so
excited to be a AGENT!!! anyone listen? ALL___ALL
should take space for thenselves and Family!!!!!
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