When the well runs dry

W​ith the holidays and the new puppies and everything else going on this last week, I decided to do something I don't normally do. I took the weekend off, completely.

N​ow, it's not that uncommon to not have an open house or a full day of showings scheduled. The entire team has been taking some time to recharge and enjoy some time off before February hits and the market revs back up. My amazing clients have also been spending time with their families, leaving my schedule wide open. While I would love to have a new listing every week to promote and sell, I'm not quite there yet.

Americans, in general, do not take time off as often as we should. This is also why we have a high rate of burnout and depression. This is also why it is nearly impossible to get anything done the last two weeks of the year because so many people put all their vacation into this time. Time off is important for a number of reasons: reset, unwind, take a mental break, work on family or relationship strains, and often, it is a good cure for breaking that "stuck in a rut" feeling.

N​ow to be fair, we never really feel like we are "in a rut" when things are going well. It is always used in a negative connotation, which I think is slightly unfair to the phrase. In the interest of balance, a negative should have an equal positive. I suppose "winning streak" or "on fire" are close, but those seem to relay a shorter period of time. I think this highlights how easily humans can fixate on the mundane and depressing rather than the wins.

S​o if we don't really use our time off, how do you break out of a rut?

W​ell, it starts with evaluating why you are in a rut in a positive way. There is a fine line between, give something a chance to work and, stop doing what doesn't work, especially if you are running your own business. If you decide that what you have been trying is just not working, it's very easy to beat yourself up and sink deeper into despair. Keep your chin up, be open-minded, and make a new plan. What was the old saying, "try and try again".

The next step, a​lways write down your plan. I thought for a while that an online calendar was all that I needed to keep track of my schedule and I was horribly wrong. Once I added my weekly content posting scheduling, lead gen, content creation, home tours, blog writing and then my monthly newsletter, video emails and topic of the month ideas, there was no amount of color-coding that could keep up. Add to that the ease at which I could just not open my calendar, and it was a recipe for disaster.

Now I have an online calendar, a generic weekly schedule above my computer, a generic monthly schedule above my computer and a paper calendar to the side of my desk. I must say it is a lot harder to ignore when it is staring me in the face and there is no X to click on to close it. I also wrote out my goals for this year, next year, the next 5 years and the next 10 years to help keep me focused.

S​et small goals for yourself. Reward yourself for sticking to your new schedule or creating new habits. Give yourself little breaks to see if that helps your overall creativity. Switch up your workout time (or start working out). Reach out to successful people in your sphere and see how they stay on track (but don't compare yourself to them). Did you know that, statistically, people who shower in the morning are more successful and have an easier time staying motivated?

T​he last part is probably the hardest part: take care of yourself. Longer hours won't necessarily mean more productivity. Mentally yelling at yourself won't help you be creative. Take that 10-minute nap. Take extra time for lunch with a friend.

I​ often worry that I will run out of ideas for my blog or my videos and use this as an excuse to not really follow my content schedule. My goal is a blog post a week but I know there will be weeks where I don't know what to write or just don't feel like writing, and I'm ok with that.