Finding Balance as a Dual Career Woman

Recently I heard a term used by another Realtor, (Jojo of Next Step Realty), to describe a “Part Time Agent.” She referred to this as a “Dual Career Agent.” I literally fell in LOVE with this term. Because the truth is that there is no such thing as a part time Real Estate Agent! Everything we do takes time, knowledge, and energy that is very consuming, and definitely not part time. Our clients can be demanding, as is the real estate process overall.

So for me, I am a REALTOR, and also I work for a Property Management company as the Director of Operations for our Maryland and Virginia portfolios. I’m responsible for around 1000 properties in this region. It is a LOT of work and responsibility. So how do I balance this with having a dual career as a REALTOR ?

Luckily I feel like both my job and business are both in real estate, so that kind of closes a gap where some people may be in totally different industries.

How I balance the two careers are:

1) Time Blocking: I’ve really gotten away from just working for the sake of working. I have found that for me, completing projects and tasks within certain blocks of time makes me way more productive. I can spend 2-4 hours at a time completing tasks. I’d say 4 hours when I really just get into it. Then, as long as I’ve cleared out major projects in that time, I take it easy the rest of the time. And just do things as needed, like making calls or following up on emails. I also shoot for 3 or 4 tasks to have completed. Not just small tasks like sending an email back, but substantial tasks that are making actual process or results. To keep track of my tasks, I use Trello. I literally live by it. And have a board for both work and business.

2) Setting Time Boundaries: Though I absolutely love my day job. It is easy for me to just work because there is always something that needs to be done. I had to get VERY serious about my work life balance. My job is very flexible, and I work from home. We don’t have to clock in or anything like that, but our work time parameters are 9-5. So sometimes if I know I took a longer break, or made a Target run or something, I will actually make up the time and work 30 minutes to an hour later. IF necessary. And I only do that because I just take my job super serious lol. But on a regular day, I try to stop exactly at 5pm. This shuts off my brain for work and I can focus on life, my family, and my business. This also goes for weekends. I do NOT work my job on the weekends unless it’s literally an absolute emergency, like an apartment building is without heat and I’m handling it. Other than that, I do NOT do work for my job. This lets me be able to focus on my real estate business without having to worry about the demands of work.

3) I Live By My Calendar: If it’s not on my calendar, I promise you, I will forget. So to keep track of everything I have going on with work and my business, I make SURE to put everything on my calendar to make sure I’m not forgetting anything for either. This helps tremendously. My Google Calendar for work is synced to my personal Apple Calendar. And I add business related events to that main calendar as well.

4) Staying Present: Okay so disclaimer. I am still working on this. I try to give my FULL attention to whatever I’m doing to limit distractions. Especially as a dual career woman. But sometimes if I’m working for my job and I see a real estate email pop up, I’m literally grabbing my phone. But for the most part, I try to stay fully engaged at the task at hand so that I can give my full attention to whatever I’m currently doing for work or business.

5) Prioritize My Business: With a job, you typically have hours you are supposed to be working, so it’s easy to dedicate most of your day to work. I had to get conscious about prioritizing my business. I love my job, but essentially, I still work for someone else. But my real estate license, my clients, and my business, are mine. So that’s a big deal. Sometimes when I feel stuck at work, or anxious, it’s because I’ve neglected my own business. So I’ll stop and switch gears. I will work on something business related like completing a business task, finishing a blog post, following up with leads, checking up on my listings, etc. And instantly I feel a thousand times better. You have to water your own plants, your business won’t grow if you don’t water it. And the whole point of this post is that it’s literally a business and a second career. When you put one on the back burner, it shows and you can feel it.

Having two careers is hard. I take both very seriously. I love my job and my business and that’s a blessing. So I want to be equally enthralled with both. And I can easily get lost in a task because I love to work. I don’t have the luxury of slacking off at either one. If I don’t do my job efficiently, I have 1000 properties, the owners of those properties, and my staff and team who I have to answer for and to. If I slack off in my business, I can’t efficiently help my clients, I won’t make money, and I won’t have a good relationship with other agents, lenders, etc. Balance is extremely important for me, and so far these tips have been how I’m able to do it all.

You guys know, I believe you can do anything you put your mind to. So it’s not a matter of IF you can do it, but HOW. And most of the time, the how is consistency and balance. Let me know your tips and tricks or if any of these things help you juggle your many hats <3