If the first step is admitting I have a problem then I have a problem. Now what?
I’m on vacation this week; you know what vacation is, right? It’s that cultural ritual that says thou shall not work, giving your mind that required time off so it can relax into a zen like state and give you the necessary recharge so we can again work like the obsessed maniacs we have all become.
The problem is I have yet to stop returning e-mails let alone turn off my iPhone, and as you can see now, this blog is being written on my MacBook.
I have issues!
It would seem I am incapable of getting unplugged. So, I ask you, my YPN family, no I plead: Help ME! I need an intervention and I need it now.
I await your response.
Darrin Friedman is the branch vice president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Chevy Chase, Md. and a member of the 2009 YPN-national Advisory Board.
Comments 9
It’s hard to relax from a habit:) Turn of your computer and iPhone. Leave it in your room and get out to meet people, enjoy weather and recharge. You’ll have more energy. You are not going to miss anything. Hopefully people are going to miss your spirit when you are not around:) Think about it. Andrea Kramer
This is one of the downsides of being a Realtor. In some professions you can really unplug by leaving an out of office Email and voice mail and not worrying about anything until you get back.
As a Realtor you have people going through one of the most important purchases or sales in their life and it is not easy to just say “bye”.
I guess a good replacement person while your gone is the key but that is easy said than done.
Take it one day at a time – or even hour by hour. I know I have to. Give yourself the opportunity to check voice mails and emails, but only once or twice a day (morning and night?) but only allow, say, 30 minutes to follow up. That way the really important items can be addressed but the others can be left for when you return to work.
One thing I learned while at my corporate job: our careers aren’t THAT important. We’re not preforming brain surgery – no one is going to die because we didn’t return their phone call for 36 hours. Remember to put things in perspective.
Darrin,
I have been a workaholic my whole life either as a realtor or the previous 19 years owning a fleet of sailboats, sailing school, charter business, etc.. The hardest challenge for any owner/executive IMHO is to ‘delegate’ or turn on the ‘out of the office or out of touch’ on your email and voice mail. Decisions can wait. Only accept URGENT matters that require immediate attention.
We are addicted to instant communication today and it has become a habit which is difficult to break. Try leaving the Iphone in the hotel room and committing to only checking personal (not business) email twice a day. Have all URGENT only messages forwarded to your personal email.
I suggest ‘do as I say not as I do’. My holidays were always sailboat charters in the Caribbean, etc., and after 24 hours out of touch, I was able to begin to unwind. Best of luck. Randy Schweitzer, Coldwell Banker, Sarasota, Florida.
Make your social world hold you accountable. Update your Facebook and Twitter status to say that you are “disconnecting to connect” with your family. That way when you do log on to update, people will so bust you in their comments and responses. Pick an upcoming date and write about it in your blog. Andrea’s comment is right and it will all be there when you get back. Enjoy your time off! 🙂
Have your e-mail auto responder set to say something like “I will be out of the office for X days, but will retrieve my messages in the evening. Your message will be replied to within 24 hours. If you have an urgent matter, please leave a voicemail at xxx-xxxx.”
Then check your voicemail twice a day and your email in the evening/morning. You should keep your promise to reply within 24 hours. The rest of the time, leave your computer off and your phone on silent.
That goes for Facebooking and Twittering too – give yourself a break!
While all of this is easy to say… I don’t follow my own advice often enough!
Darrin,
Forward your calls to your most trusted real Estate Associate or directly to your office line. Send out the auto-responder replying that you will only be checking messages at the end of every day, and return calls at that time once a day. Then put your feet up and learn to RELAX……. otherwise you will turn into a Real Estate Junkie.
Javin Hope
RE/MAX Distinctive Properties
JavinHope@yahoo.com
This job is very addictive! However, we a realtors need to prioratize. Find time for everything. Take 30 to return calls and check emails. Then you have the rest of the day to relax. If it is very important ask someone who is in the office to help you out. But as someone said earlier, no one’s life depends on us returning their calls asap. So take a few days to relax, your sanity is more important than anything else
I find it equally challenging trying to put down work even for a few hours. Alas! Play golf. This game game does have a downfall though. I have closed more business deals on the golf course than I have in the conference room. Best of luck.