Defeat Burnout and Stay Motivated

Jeffrey Tang recently did a guest post over at Zen Habits that I thought offered many of us in this industry some great advice.  I've been noticing more and more people that just feel burned out. Not motivated.  Stuck in a rut.  And guess what's the first thing to go when you head down that path?  Your marketing!

Tang actually has 12 ways to fight burnout, here are my favorite six.  (Read entire article here) 

1.  Work less. Cut down on the amount of energy and time you spend working. Working less doesn’t mean you have to slack off or get less done. It does mean that you:

• Eliminate unnecessary tasks.
• Take strategic breaks.
• Stop multi-tasking.
• Seek help from other people.

2.  Define success realistically. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having big dreams and big ambitions. But if you’re constantly frustrated by a lack of progress, it might be time to take a step back and examine your goals. Are they achievable? Are you holding yourself to a reasonable timeline?

Here’s a good way to do this. Get a piece of paper and write down your big, ambitious goal. Then write down at least 10 specific, concrete steps that will allow you to achieve that goal. Be as detailed as possible. If you can’t come up with a series of down-to-earth steps to get you from here to your dream, that’s a sign that you need to either redefine your goals or rethink the way you’re pursuing those goals.

3.  Take it slow(er). The world tells us to rush things: “Get there faster. Make money quicker. Retire sooner.” And while these things aren’t necessarily bad, they can easily get us in over our heads. If you’re feeling burned out and overwhelmed, it’s time to slow down.  A few ways to take yourself out of 24/7 high gear:

• Spend at least 10 minutes a day in a quiet place, away from distractions. Breathe.
• Put together a playlist of slow, relaxing music. Listen to it whenever you start feeling frazzled.
• Take a butcher knife to your to-do list. Set a limit to the number of tasks you  take on each day and stick to it.
• Extend your deadlines. Do you absolutely, positively have to get this done now? Just remember – this isn’t an excuse to procrastinate.

4.  When you’re working, focus. I’ve found that concentrating on work is actually less exhausting than allowing yourself to be wishy-washy about it. When you decide that it’s time to work, buckle down, eliminate distractions, and do it wholeheartedly. There’s something amazingly refreshing about pure, sharp focus.

5.  Know when to power through it. This is going to sound out of place given what I’ve said above, but it’s powerful – if applied correctly. Sometimes the solution for burnout is just to power through it. Sometimes burnout can be an illusion. In these cases, the best choice is to refuse to use burnout as an excuse, ignore the fact that you feel burned out, and just work through it. It’s like a runner gaining her second wind and coming out stronger on the other side.

However, just as an experienced athlete knows when to push through the pain and when to pull back, you’ll need to be very careful how you take this particular piece of advice. Until you develop a keen awareness of your own tendencies, it’s usually better to err on the side of caution and pull back when you start feeling burned out.

6.  Never accept defeat. Burnout is an obstacle like any other. It can hold you back for a while, but it’s not the end of the world – unless you let it defeat you.

If you have a great goal in mind, don’t give up on it, no matter how apathetic, exhausted, or frustrated you might feel. If everything I’ve said up until this point fails, do this: hold on to your dream – even if it doesn’t feel like much of a dream at the moment. Hold on to it anyway. That way, when the storm clears, your dream will still be intact, ready for another try.

Mortgage originating is a difficult, demanding profession with a good dose of frustration on most days.  But the rewards are fantastic and I wouldn't be involved with any other industry.  If you can work through the burn out and focus on your goals by consistently moving forward and staying focused on your marketing, you will be successful.

Comments

[Corrie]

I'm right up there with the burn out. Ugh. This last year has been the hardest (and I have been doing this for over 15 years) I love the ideas and I really can't imagine myself doing anything else, but I'm sure hoping I can get back to enjoying it again.

[Mitch Gilbertson]

I admit that I've been feeling a bit burned out this year. Too many changes and it's gotten so difficult to get a loan done. Great article, thanks for sharing.

I'm also curious what other blogs you read or recommend??