Burnout: Real Estate’s Dirty Little Secret

I don’t know about you, but real estate burnout typically hits this writer right. about. now.

Maybe it’s because all those “What Spectacular Thing is Going to Happen next month” articles are starting to show up online. They remind me that I’ve been slugging away, pounding the keyboard, six days a week for yet another month. Happens to a lot of us, across all industries, but especially during the slow season.

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Burnout happens. And you’ll know it by the malaise that sets in

Malaise — it describes a feeling of “discomfort, illness, or uneasiness whose exact cause is difficult to identify,” according to an online dictionary.

Women may pass it off as PMS (yup, I tried that one). Pity guys don’t get to use it.

Whatever the excuse we may pin on these feelings, we need to stop making the mistake of trying to justify them and deal with them. Burnout is real and, if you don’t pay attention to it and deal with it, you’ll end up like the 87 percent of agents who don’t last in the business (according to Tom Ferry).

And we really, really want you to last. We are, in fact, your biggest cheerleaders.

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What does real estate burnout feel like?

Running out of gas. Love that one. Simple and to the point.

“Cynicism and detachment … feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment” is how Sherrie Bourg Carter Psy.D. describes burnout at PsychologyToday.com.

She goes on to explain the symptoms of a full-fledged real estate burnout:

• Chronic fatigue
• Insomnia
• Forgetfulness/impaired concentration and attention
• Physical symptoms, like shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations (sounding a little like a cardiac emergency, IMO)
• Increased illness
• Loss of appetite – Oh, I wish
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Anger

But, we need to deal with it before it hits these critical and scary points.

Who is at risk of burnout?

Anyone whose work-life is filled with “maniacally stressful days” is at risk of job burnout, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Ellen Jean Hirst. She goes on to state that those in positions where they frequently feel out of control are also good candidates for the condition.

Not knowing where the next paycheck is coming from, and when, can most certainly make one feel that they have no control over their future

Continually having to justify why you’re the best agent for the job makes days beyond stressful. Chasing after business, day after day after day can, after a while, suck.

To find out who is at risk of real estate burnout is a no-brainer. Google readily lets us know that nurses, psychotherapists, physicians and those involved in cancer care are the most at risk. But real estate agents aren’t far behind.

Stop real estate burnout in its tracks

Many agents feel that the only cure for burnout is to leave the industry for good, but we don’t want that to happen to you. So, let’s look at a way to avoid real estate burnout, or push it away when it starts intruding.

Agent Debbie Reynolds took time away from real estate to curb the burnout that was creeping up on her. A couple of weeks away, doing things non-real estate-related, rejuvenated her spirit and cleared her head. Much better than making excuses to leave the business forever, right?

Upon her return, she figured out how to run her business on her terms. She decided to give herself something cool to look forward to. That “something” was a vow to learn “something new and get really good at it. This gave me a new fresh purpose and pushed the burnout even farther away.

“I began to get excited again and rejuvenated.  After a while I was past the feeling of burnout,” she says in a blog post at ActiveRain.

 Let’s look at ways to avoid real estate burnout

• Start working on next year’s business plan – Build in some lead gen techniques you haven’t tried, some educational opportunities or some time off – anything to get you pumped about the future.
• If you’re a new real estate agent, find a mentor – Choose someone in your office who is somewhat successful and is willing to take you under her or his wing. Shadow your mentor, paying attention to what works and what doesn’t.
• Decide to delegate the more unexciting parts of your daily business. Even if it’s only for a short time, work on only the tasks you enjoy.
• Take short breaks throughout the day. Spend time away from work doing things that make you feel relaxed.
• Take care of your physical self – Because both help us to better deal with stress, get some sleep and exercise.
• Remind yourself of what it was like to have to show up as an employee, because if you let yourself burn out, you may just end up back there.

Remember the 8-or-9-to-5 grind? The having to wear something other than jammies, the having to wear makeup and the commute? Oh, Lord, the commute.

Then, there’s that someone looking over your shoulder all the time, demanding action on stuff that won’t make you money but adds to their bottom line.

That ought to snap you out of the malaise.

According to a study by McKissock, a company that provides continuing education courses for agents, 28 percent of you are more satisfied in your career choice than all other professions.

They also learned that 80 percent of agents are optimistic about their futures in the industry. If you’re feeling a bit of real estate burnout, do whatever is necessary to join the optimistic agents.

If your current website is giving you burnout, consider making the switch to LeadSites.

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If you’re feeling burnt out, you might need to find a specific niche that makes marketing more enjoyable: