Finding Work-Life Balance During the Holidays

In a perfect world, we’d all get the entire month of December off work – with pay. Since we don’t live in that world, the holidays tend to pull us in several directions at once. We run ourselves ragged, trying to keep up with a real estate practice and fill the pipeline while staying on top of things on the home front.

Here at Market Leader we’ve given you lots of organizational tools for your business, which, by the way, become even more valuable at this time of year. What about the personal part of your life?

Let’s take a look at some tips to manage stress and create balance, especially during the holidays. While the tips may not rival the all-in-one solution of Market Leader Professional, we promise they’ll keep you from pulling out your hair so you’ll look marvelous at that New Year’s Eve soiree.

Time Management

Managing your time is what keeping your sanity is all about during the holidays. All those appointments – both professional and personal – can fall by the wayside if you lack a method for keeping track of them. To deal effectively with them requires a master plan.

Since you most likely already have your business appointments on your calendar, you can start loading your personal errands around them.

Start with the kids, if you have them, by loading all the holiday activities having to do with them into your mobile calendar. With your listing and showing appointments already loaded into your device, you won’t have to worry about scheduling conflicts between the business and personal aspects of your time-management plan.

Next, set reminders for all those little errands we end up running during the holidays, like picking up gifts, shopping for Hanukkiah candles, gift wrap, stocking stuffers and other holiday extras. Other items to put in your calendar include:

• Family outings (to visit lighted neighborhoods, buy the tree, etc.).
• Fill out and mail your holiday cards to friends, co-workers and clients.
• Decorating.
• Time with friends and family.

Go through the month and ensure that you’ve left time every week for last-minute client meetings, showings and other work-related issues that may pop up. The easiest way to get stressed out is to forget you have a closing scheduled at the same time Junior’s holiday pageant at school gets underway.

Be Kind to Yourself

Try not to put too many demands on yourself, either at work or at home. While cutting corners may not be the best way to work, remind yourself that it’s only for a few weeks.

Some of the shortcuts you can take include not trying to channel Martha Stewart: Use a caterer for your holiday party instead of doing the cooking yourself, or buy cookies at a bakery instead of baking them at home. Hire a housekeeper to help you get the house clean for company, and skip events that you don’t really need or want to attend.

Delegate as many tasks as possible at work and at home. Have your assistant fill out and send the holiday greeting cards to your clients. Hire a courier to deliver client gifts. Kids love to decorate, so pass that one off to them. Sure, the scheme may not make the cover of Better Homes & Gardens, but the time you save and the fun they’ll have makes it worthwhile.

Use technology as much as possible during the holidays – and not just for work. Shop online for gifts and decorations to clear a major block of time that you can better spend with family and friends.

Try to create some Zen moments periodically throughout the day, such as between client phone calls, or in the car between showings. Breathe deep, clear your mind and relax.

Most of all, be kind to yourself. Between the grocery lists, client appointments, closings and showings, and cooking and decorating, some things may have to be rescheduled until after the holidays. Go ahead and give yourself permission to put them off until your plate isn’t quite so full.

Before you know it, the new year will be here and you can plow full steam ahead into another year of real estate sales success!