Real estate and 'the little things'
Letters From the Home Front
By Kris Berg, Tuesday, August 19, 2008.
It's the little things. It's always the little things. They chip away at our sanity, they undermine our focus, and if we aren't careful, they cloud our vision and generally make a mess of our lives.
Yesterday, I sat paralyzed at my desk. Those little things were having a big ol' party, and they had accumulated to the point that I could no longer see the fire exit. I was staring down the barrel of one canceled escrow, two new escrows, two others on life support, one new listing, one looming listing appointment, and an inbox that had become its own life form, a Petri dish of spam cells and to-do items multiplying at a logarithmic rate.
I have a business plan, and it is involves a big picture, but at present my big picture appears to me as a big, pixelated mess, with each pixel being one of those nagging, little things. Some days I feel like I am living in a Rube Goldberg machine, my business comprised of too many moving parts and arguably over-engineered.
I know that systems are the answer. I have those, too. Yet, systems tend to break down when it starts raining sledge hammers. And when it rains, it pours.
So, I take a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other. If anything is going to get done, I realize I have to start somewhere. It's time for some priorities. Whose hair is on fire? The transactions at risk get my attention first. What about the listing appointment? That's what we work for, so this comes next. The new escrows need to be opened before sundown. Now serving numbers three and four! The inbox can mostly wait, for a little while at least. Dinner? In what we call at our house "foraging night," everyone will have to fend for themselves -- again.
Priorities are a funny thing. It is easy to prioritize when you have just one task to accomplish, but the relative urgency of each of the little things becomes apparent only when faced with a deluge of competing demands. This week, I have enjoyed a crash course in the importance of not sweating the small stuff.
The reality is that I am currently a little short on RAM. At the very moment my working world has hit a crisis management crescendo, the past 18 years of my life has suddenly come down to 48 hours of little things. My oldest daughter is leaving for college, and we are struggling with the challenge of packing her entire life and a large part of mine in one large suitcase and a carry-on.
We have known for months that this day was coming, but my vision of how the final 48 hours would unfold was much different than the final hours I am living. Blame it on the little things. I don't have the luxury of scheduling my work -- my work schedules me. The fact that I had mentally put in for vacation leave means nothing because in our work as agents, time is of the essence. Contingency removals and offers, and buying and selling needs, wait for no one. Our clients are forgiving to the extent that it doesn't affect them, and this affects us and our ongoing battle to maintain some sense of normalcy in our own lives every day. In my case, my scales have been tipping for awhile. It took this latest added weight to remind me that I may be too far off balance.
Don't misunderstand, I love my job. Perhaps for this reason, I have often been guilty of letting the job play first string. Today, just today, however, I may have to come in out of the rain and ignore all of those little things. I think I will pull up a living room rug with a very beautiful 18-year-old and revisit a photo album or two. Next week, sadly, I will have a lot more time to spend on all of those little things.
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Submitted by Susie Blackmon on August 20, 2008 - 12:15am.
Awww, Kris, I think you SHOULD forget all the little things and enjoy your daughter!! Thinking of you...
Susie Blackmon
http://www.BuckingtheRealEstateTrend.com
Submitted by Chris Adams on August 20, 2008 - 3:44am.
Kris!
The devil is in the details, but family are angels around you!
Steven Stearns
www.obeo.com
http://obeoman.blogspot.com
262-325-8687
Submitted by Phil Hoover on August 20, 2008 - 4:41am.
I still remember taking Jenny, my oldest daughter, off to college.
She's almost 33 now, but it seems like that was yesterday.
Big, strong old Dad lost it in the parking lot.
Cherish this week and spend time with your daughter, Kris.
She's more important than those "little things".
Family is everything, especially in this business where everyone needs a piece of us 24X7X365.
Phil
Submitted by Ms. Rosie Rodriguez on August 20, 2008 - 4:49am.
Life is amazing. We are gifted opportunities every day. It's how we react to those gifts that matter. Open the gift in front of you. Be in the present the rest will and does take care of itself. Life knows your intention and is on your side. When it's time to play... play. When it's time to dig into the little things... dig. Be with whatever is in front of you, do that. In other words don't swim up stream, it's too much work. Allow yourself to cruse down stream, with the flow. It gets all done by your intention not by your worry or overload. Worry is wasted energy. Make sure you take care of yourself first. Without you there is no escrow. I invite you to rest between the little things, play with your daughter, take mini vacations and laugh a lot. Life is suppose to be a joy not a struggle.
Life is Good
Life is Now
Enjoy it &
Celebrate it!
Submitted by Jay Thompson on August 20, 2008 - 5:08am.
My son will be 17 on Sept 11. Lately I've often found myself saying, "Hang in there self, soon he'll be getting the hell out of the house."
But then a memory will pop in my head. It may be a picture, a smell, or the way he laughs and I remember more normal times, before his brain fell out of his head. And I don't want him to ever leave.
Take the time Kris. The world may be spinning off-axis, but it's not going to fly off into the ether. In a few days it will right itself (with your help), you'll have a nice long cry, your daughter will be fine, and real estate will still be real estate.
Hang in there my friend.
Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty
Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com
.
Submitted by Jeff Gordon on August 20, 2008 - 6:05am.
Dear Kris, Thanks for that "kick in the butt." I was literally sitting here feeling badly that I've not had much time for my kids. You know how it is - personal situations require productivity. But thank you. I'm now going to open Outlook, and plan some events with my kids.
Jeff Gordon
Broker/Owner, EXIT Assurance Realty
Groton, MA
Submitted by Mary Bargteil on August 20, 2008 - 12:28pm.
Tuesday, August 26th, I take my 17 year old son to the University of Maryland. He is my last. He is my beamish boy, already absent from home as frequently as he can be, pursuing his dreams and travels. Next step, I pursue my own dreams with more vigor and focus and try to stop staring out the box bay window, wondering when I will see his car coming home again. Real estate is no less forgiving but never lost, just sometimes absent from our sight.
Mary Bargteil
Director of Communications
www.Champion Realty.com
Submitted by Lenore & Alex Wilkas on August 20, 2008 - 12:57pm.
Kris, take the time with your daughter. You can never repeat this time, so take it and relish it. Prioritize only the most urgent work issues to the front, and let the others sit until things she's off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lenore Wilkas
Prudential CA Fine Homes International
www.SanMateoRealEstateNews.com
Submitted by Christine Donovan - Costa Mesa Real Estate on August 22, 2008 - 12:06pm.
Kris,
Take the time with your daughter. She'll be gone soon enough and then you'll no doubt wish you had just one more " little thing" to add to your day.
What we do is important; still I say that she deserves your time right now.
Site: Costa Mesa Real Estate
Blog: Costa Mesa Real Estate Blog
Submitted by Eric Bouler on August 23, 2008 - 12:03pm.
Eric Bouler
Prudential Gardner
New Orleans,La.
www.neworleanscondotrends.com
My 3 have left several years ago and have all come back for shorts stays. Now we rent the 5 grandsons and turn them in when the time is up. I can tell you life speeds up from here on out. At least now they can e-mail you daily, send money Mom or just wire it.
Submitted by Gamil Sawiris on August 24, 2008 - 5:36pm.
Some days we have time and energy off your real estate business and to take in the little things. It’s the little things that make life so special each and every day. Too many days the little things slip into the cracks of our lives… stress, anxiety, fears and the such.
Submitted by Rich Johnson on August 31, 2008 - 12:01pm.
In the final analysis, you will never have a photo in your album of you depositing a commission check at the bank - take time to do the important stuff.
Rich Johnson
360-319-3267
http://www.johnsonteamrealestate.com
http://www.johnsonteamrealestate.com/blog/
Submitted by Glenn Ginsburg on September 3, 2008 - 5:23am.
Kris,
I truly empathize with you - when our youngest went off to college and it was time for Mom and Dad to leave - Dad was the one to breakdown and become tearful.
Cherish the time you have with your family - they will always be there in your time of need.
Naples Florida