Pulse readers weigh in on what drains them

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No matter how much you love your job, there are just some things that sap your energy and keep you from performing at your best. Maybe it happens when there’s too much drama going on in the office. Maybe it happens with certain client personality types. Maybe it’s when your routine is disrupted or you don’t get your full eight hours of sleep at night.

There are so many factors beyond your control in the world of real estate; all you can control is your own response. This week, we asked: How do you handle it when confronted with your own personal kryptonite? What drains you?

Here’s what you had to say:

• Lack of communication between the other agent, the loan officer, the closing attorney, etc. So tired of full voicemails and people who never answer their phones…
• Disrespect is draining. Selling, buying and moving are stressful; but not a reason to be disrespectful. My solution is to set boundaries. Most people are wonderful. Every so often “Toxic Tony” appears with his tough talk and profanities. I stop the conversation and mention that it feels disrespectful. If it happens again I’ll refer Tony to a team member or another agent. People will treat you the way you train them to treat you.
• Distractions at home
• When I was younger, and even a parent to a grade schooler and then high schooler, while owning three businesses at a time, I had limitless mojo on very little sleep. As time has progressed, and my child is now an independent adult, being a Broker of Record in NYC is the only business for me to focus on. What would drain me today, if not tended to most of all, is not the role, not the issues, questions or businesses of over 600 agents to oversee; it would be not adhering to my routine of shutting everything down and going to bed at 9 pm to get an adequate amount of “recharge sleep.” Unlike folks who have been trained to believe ours is a 24/7 job, taking and making calls till the wee hours, operating on little sleep which drains one of sharp mental acuity, I’ve learned throughout these years to set boundaries on myself and others, paying attention to avoiding drain in this business and life. Getting sound and restful recharge sleep!
• Clients and agents who play the victim every time something needs to be resolved. I prefer working with people with a problem-solving mindset.
• My broker being AWOL
• Activity without results
• What drains me are high-maintenance clients. Although I have a team, our seller clients constantly telephone me. For the big stuff, this is as it should be. For the daily minutiae, the calls disrupt my flow unnecessarily. It is costly for my team and myself for me to allow myself to get dragged into drama and the everyday speedbumps. I need to have a clear head to be bringing in new business. My solution now, when I receive a client telephone call while in the midst of doing something else, is to hit the automatic message button “Can I call you later?” Then I get one of my teammates to respond to the call. This way, I can save my energy. If the call is important, I will find out what it is about beforehand, so that I can be prepared to deal with the problem. If it is not important, which is 95 percent of the time, my teammates can resolve the issue. To make sure that our seller clients do feel heard, I telephone them once a week, on my schedule, usually while I am driving. Most of the time they just need somebody to listen, and usually, it is not even about real estate. Selling a house is one of the most stressful events of a lifetime. A big part of my job is to be the trusted counselor to get our sellers through the challenge.

What drains you? Join the conversation in the comments below.