You know you are a WorkAholic WHEN???????

Good post -- think we are all guilty of some of this if we are working in this business full time.

I love it does commenting at 2am on AR count? Or posting on AR at that time?

Real estate is a tough one for balance, if you find it let me know. I do know one thing that helps, I tell everyone that Sunday is my family day. It's on my voicemail as well. Setting expectations help. 

I know I could not have been a realtor when my kids were small. My hat is off to young realtor-parents. Grat reminders.

My daughter says she wants to sell houses so she can see me:( Cat in the Cradle?

My wife send me e-mails about dinner and other plans from downstairs.  Does that qualify?

That is no business I want to be in..  I work my a$$ off . .on my own time. But my family will always come first.

Work? It's not work it a lifestyle.  lol.....   I do constantly have to remind myself about balancing my life. 

Hi Susan;

I am a very hard worker, but I make time for my family. I used to be that guy.

Guilty as charged....and if you choose the profession you find a way to live with it or without it...delegate or do less, serve less, earn less...there is always a choice.

I've ofter thought about adding a cot to the office, would really help catch up on some sleep.

I will say that is the one thing I love about this business, I can pretty much do it anywhere..I don't miss my kids events, but I do carry my phone everywhere I go...I figure the trade off is worth it. :)

I confess I am a workaholic. I would go into withdrawl without my blackberry

Bob& Carol - yes, those of us who are working ARE definately WORKING right now.

Michael - well the computer is a given. My family is very used to my lap top being on my lap all evening long -- Hey at least I'm in the same room.

Endra -- yep, 2:00 a.m. responses count as a workaholic unless of course you sleep until noon.

Pam - I agree - those expectations are key -- I was taking one day off, for right now I just can't/won't.

Janice-- you and me both.  I'm living my dream- I had to wait until my kids were older, really don't know how mom's of young ones do it.  My hats off to them.

Josh -- Cat in the Cradle -- great song - applies to all of us....

Gabe- I love it -- I do get text messages from my kids.

Fernando - Family First - still hard to do

Mark - thanks for the comment - IT IS A LIFESTYLE and I love it!  Keep up the hard work, keep the balance.

Anthony good for you -- keep that family first!

Sally & David - yes it's always a choice isn't it.  At times things do spin out of control, I guess the key is to rein it back in.

KT - Don't do it -- run - do not buy the cot -- you will never leave......

Konnie - the only time I've had to miss is when I can't get out of showing a property.  It's hard to answer the phone at kid events, I do email and text.... I've noticed they watch to see if I'm paying attention to them.  Trying to break that habit.

Erika - Blackberry died-- I had near death experience myself -- running to 2 Best Buys before they closed to get it fixed.... yikes -- so I hear ya on that one.

Real Estate is hard to balance, when do you say enough and the phones get turned off....my husband and I are both in RE, we make it a point upfront to let our clients know that we are a family business, kids included.  There are times we cannot not make an open house due to "family" activities, and when clients want to look at houses, we schedule around school and  and actiivities on the weekend.  We have never had a client complain or lost a client, in fact we had a lot of "we commend you for making your family first" comments.

But I agree, balance it RE is TOUGH! :)

All the best!

Cheron Lange

Susan - There will always be times when we are working 24/7 and can not jump of the treadmill no matter how hard we try . Then there are times when the quality of our life with family & friends is very abundant.

I believe that is just the cycle of sales in any belly 2 belly business.We are technically the last of the mom and pop shops and we need to keep it that way

Oh my Susan, i was laughing so hard.  I have had my times of irritating my family, almost got divorced over it, took some serious healing time with my kids & husband.  I have been there many times which is why i give you so much guff.  There will always be a balancing act & you just need to keep true to your priorities.  Thanks for sharing.  I identified so much with all of it.

Your obsessive compulsive friend,

Susan, I am right with you -- except my husband is a workaholic too. The worst part is my 3 yo now wants his own "phone" so he can be tweeting, or texting, or FB'ing too. (Or play penguins or bowling -- he really thinks that is what WE are doing as well!)

Thank you for helping to remind us about *real life* -- I'll tweet ya later @susangoulding!

:-) @realtormarney

Wow 2:00l.....that is over the top.  Unless of course you just can't sleep.  I can kind of relate some days.

Loved your post......funny and so so  real!

Cheron - I've got some very demading non - understanding clients which for the first time made it difficult to stick to my decisions.

Laura - you are so right - sometimes we have to give more to our clients, and other times more to our families.

Christina - you and your "staycations" are always an inspiration and that shiney mirror of someone who's able to do business and do family.

Marney - my husband is a BASEBALL coach so when he is in SEASON he works more than me.  I've always been home..... I'm having issues with being the one who has to miss occastionally.

Anna - 2:00 -- I pretend I'm in Hawaii, then it's only 11:00. Thanks for the comment.

Susan,

You need to set aside time for yourself and stick to it. You'll get to the other end and ask yourself,

holy crap, the kids are 21 now? Most clients understand the need for balance.

2:00 in the morning? Now that's just crazy! No wait, it's 2:00 right now!

Susan - Now that you've identified the problem ...  If a client doesn't respect you and your family they will ultimately abuse you during the course of your business dealings.  You probably don't want to work with them.  We work hard and make concessions to clients - especially in these times.  About 15 years ago I was at the office presenting an offer ... Christmas day with the kids and wife in the car with presents waiting so we could go to Grandma's house.  The business will own you if you don't take control yourself.

Susan - interesting list. I know that I have tried not to be on the phone so much with my kids. I do not use the phone when I drive my youngest so we can talk.

Guilty as charged. What is the cure?

Scott

Been there, done that - but not for long.  I got burned by a buyer many moons ago.  I ate drank and slept with thouhts of these "customers!" (long before buyers agency)I was determined to find them a farm that they so wanted.  I worked for a year dropping my entire life for them.  Then, one day, I went into the office late as I wasn't feeling so hot in the morning.  Gave them a call as I always did - albeit later in the day - to tell them about a listing that had come down in price to their price range that I knew they wanted to see, but hadn't because it was out of range.  I was so excited!  As soon as I started to tell them about the property they said "oh, we saw the sign this morning and called the listing agent and made an offer!"  I was crushed but learned a really hard lesson.  How many of my daughters soccer games etc., had I missed - more than I want to count and I think she STILL to this day resents me for it.  NOT WORTH IT!

Sounds a bit cold and mechanical but if one really DOES schedule an appointment for family activities it will satisfy ALL.  If someone has an appointment to show a property to a client and another client wanted to view properties at the same time you'd have tell them you already had an appointment a such and such o'clock but would be avilable later.  They would accept that without question.  Why wouldn't anyone do that for their own family?  Maybe then when we say we really do HAVE to work, our families will also be more accomodating.  When you do have your family scheduled, your clients don't have to know (it's none of their business anyway) what you have scheduled.  Is it possible that our workaholic personalities are completely self-centered and not about the client so much as it is about ourselves needing to prove that we are "worthy".  Think about it.  Will the real estate world go on without us if we take a day to go swimming with our kids?  Are we really so caught up in ourselves that we believe that if we are not in CONSTANT contact with clients that they will go away?  If they do, did you REALLY want them as clients anyway???  Why are we not afraid that our families will do the same if we are not in constant contact with them? Learned the hard way and for me it wasn't at all about the money I never made.  All that I could think about was how much time I had wasted with these people when I could have been with my family and friends LIVING!

Oh..Oh..... well it is never to late to make changes....

Bettina

I know I am a work-aholic when my kids (little) then would say I don't eant to look at any more homes. I had no choice (single mom). Now they appreciate it (thank goodness) and they tell me know just keep working... As college tuition sets it.

I know I am guilty of some of this. I have gotten better about taken a day each week to do something I like.

I get a good laugh about #2 that one attacks everyone sooner or later here on AR.

Words to live by:

I burnt myself out focusing totally on work.  I don't do that anymore.  Chasing money 24/7 and being available every waking minute for everyone else is not worth it.

It's life. You do what you want to do and keep going. For some of us working a few extra hours a day, working weekends, missing a ballgame because of a contract, showing the homes and running over which forces you to spend only 12 minutes putting together the listing presentation you thought you would have 2 hours to prepare for. Wonder how that presentation went. Setting up the Open House only to have 0, that's ZERO, people show up and now you have to tell the seller THAT. This is not going to be fun...But it is, all of it.

Hey Susan, Your post about being a workaholic was very funny and so many people do get caught up in doing those things. As for me, my family is very important to me--I love my job and try to make myself as available as possible to my clients, but you got to have balance in your life! My family is my priority and then my business. I work hard and efficiently as possible so that I can spend as much time as I can with my family.

Hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend,

Anne Rains

I got so far behind commenting to everyone who comments.  I'd like to say thank you.  I know I'm not alone....

Today - Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, I worked with 4 buyers, showed 22 homes, and ate dinner with my family at 8:30.

I hate to disappoint my clients-- I need to be more concerned about disappointing my family.

Thank you for the post. It made me laugh and I needed it since I am feeling a little bit like "rubber band man" today. I knew I was becoming a work aholic (its easy when you love your work!) when my 12 year old son asked if he could work for me so we could spend more time together. Yes, he works for me now part time.

However, I suppose my husband will say he remembers that I am becoming a work aholic when he gets the call of "Honey, will you make dinner? I have a showing...again". Thank God he is supportive!

I hear ya. My 3 year old is climbing around on furniture in my office right now trying to put coins in the paper slot on my printer! I guess it's time to call it a night!

Susan!  Liked your post and can so relate!  There are times when I'm on the phone (blue tooth in my ear), typing on my laptop, stopping to stir something for dinner, and trying to use "sign language" with my eight year old daughter.  It can be crazy!

Thanks for the reminder that I am NOT alone in this....and the following comments posted reminding that working real estate is a balancing act really helps put it into perspective... Thank you for a good laugh:)

~Tami

I can be terrible sometimes.  The first thing I do when I wake in the morning, after bathroom time, is jump on the computer.

My husband comes home from work and finds me on the computer.  I visit my mom and jump on her laptop after I have walked in.

I just want to check my emails and then I give them my full attention. (maybe)

Nice site - pity you have to go to such lengths to moderate it.
I am from Sri and know bad English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Ashcraft so that I can wake him from his slumber and beg him to go buy me one."

THX :P, Nemo.

Badly need your help. The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.
I am from France and know bad English, give true I wrote the following sentence: "Com, the internet best source for everything rustic."

With love :-), Ruthann.

Could you help me. When you want to believe in something, you also have to believe in everything that's necessary for believing in it.
I am from Republic and now teach English, give true I wrote the following sentence: "Before pics on provillus: near the hair of some low times, sort person has even parted, scratching them due to heat."

With respect :(, Aimie.