How To Work Smart–Not Hard

Stress! It’s one of those unavoidable nuisances that’s an inevitable side effect of success… right?

Wrong, actually. “Success isn’t the outcome of pain and hardship,” says Stefani Shock, a Denver-based real estate coach and consultant. “True success involves being able to tackle the ups and downs with grace and smart decisions.”

That isn’t to say that hard work isn’t a necessary step on the path to success. But there are ways to work hard and achieve your goals WITHOUT burning yourself out.

First tip? “Outsource the labor you don’t want to do,” Shock recommends. “If you don’t want to spend time entering your contacts into your database, someone else will.”

It’s not hard to find an assistant, intern or a new agent that needs mentoring, so instead of stressing out about minute details, consider hiring a helping hand.

Another suggestion from Shock: think ahead.

“Having a vision of how the deal is going to proceed allows you to put out fires before they happen,” she says. It’s important to stay alert during all stages of the deal; if not, you risk having to work overtime every time you encounter a problem.

The key, according to Shock, is to anticipate problems you usually encounter and plan accordingly. “After years of working with unorganized applications that would delay closings for a month or more, I realized that if this is the trend, I should cut it off at the pass early,” she says.

Now, when she sees a disorganized board application, she immediately sends it back, and it has helped her tremendously. “This has saved me an enormous amount of time and effort,” Shock says.

For more tips on how to minimize your stress without minimizing your success, read Shock’s full article on Inman.