Taking a Day Off--What's YOUR Take on Your Schedule in the RE Business??

Whether you are a real estate agent, mortgage loan officer/lender, appraiser, notary, home inspector, whatever--

Do YOU take a day or two off during the week? I don't mean just SAY you take a couple days off, but REALLY turn off your cell phone (maybe, get someone to cover for you or leave a voicemail saying you'll call back the next day) and take the full day off? Maybe take the day off just to sit and appreciate a nice picture or enjoy the site and smell of some nice flowers... (Isn't this picture a nice one of the Downtown Longwood clock?)

Or, do you wind up working virtually 24/7 throughout the week?

Many jobs, careers, or businesses get by or even do wonderfully well with posted business hours (whatever those hours are) but it seems that the public thinks that in anything having to do with real estate, we are expected to jump when someone else says, "Jump!," answer our phones whenever someone calls, and generally just BE AVAILABLE for EVERYONE ALL THE TIME.

For me, I (try to) take off on Wednesdays and either Saturday or Sunday, depending on how many people I'm working at any one time and what their schedules are. Wednesdays, I usually do pretty well during the day with not conducting business, mostly because I keep my youngest son home that day and sometimes, when I'm feeling ambitious, I even keep my other son home, too.

I found that, when I was a new agent, I myself expected that as a real estate agent, I'd work all the time and not take a day off because I might (horror of horrors!) lose out on a customer. Within about 6 months, I was so run-down physically and so mentally burnt-out that I had to re-evaluate my business hours. So, after a LOT of thought and mentoring, I decided I'd need 2 days out of my week to stay sane, while still being 100% present with customers but being able to re-charge on those 2 off-days. I find that I'm not only happier but I am MORE productive working 4 or 5 days a week than when I worked all the time. Go figure. But, everyone is different and I still talk to people in the industry that have a much different idea than me about what is right for them and their business in terms of their schedule.

How about you and your business? What do you find works best for you?