Blair Branch Huckeba is a Realtor with Dorsey Alston in Atlanta/Buckhead.

Every week, we ask a real estate professional for their Short List, a collection of tips and recommendations on an essential topic in real estate. This week, we talked with Blair Branch Huckeba, a Realtor with Dorsey Alston in Atlanta/Buckhead, for her tips on staying alert and committed to your business.

While a career in real estate can be glamorous, exciting and oftentimes financially rewarding, even top agents sometimes find themselves unmotivated in an industry where being a self-starter is a must.

Some of my tips for staying focused and committed to your business are:

8. Know what drives you. Some agents are motivated by the earning potential this job affords. Some are motivated by the friendly competition that can emerge among agents. Some are motivated by the prestige/recognition you can earn by being a successful agent in your area. Whatever your motivation, identify it and roll with it. Make sure the daily activities you do are in direct correlation with what motivates you.

7. Work smarter, not harder. Embrace technology. Streamline your business practices. Go paperless when you can. Outsource what you can.

6. Follow the 80/20 rule. I tend to struggle with this (I’m more like 60/40.) But try to spend 80% of your time working ON your business and 20% of your time working IN your business. Meaning, don’t let the day-to-day mundane tasks command all of your time and force you to lose focus from the aspects of the job that bring you joy (and make you money!) We’ve all had that difficult transaction that seemed to eat up our entire day, or found ourselves obsessively refreshing our email waiting for a signed document. Sometimes that happens. But it shouldn’t be the norm.

5. Surround yourself with motivating individuals. I have great supporters. Aside from my family and close friends, I have great mentors and fellow agents with whom I can share business ideas, goals and crazy real estate stories!

4. Set obtainable, measureable goals. My first year in real estate, my goal was simple. Twelve transactions. I didn’t care about sales volume, or whether they were buyers or listings, or even lease transactions. I just wanted 12 transactions. My goals nowadays are much loftier, but still obtainable.

3. Write down your goals. I keep a white board in my home office with the following stats: Total sales volume under contract, total sales volume closed year-to-date, and my yearly sales volume goal. Seeing these numbers each day motivates me to do income-producing activities so I can reach my end of year goal. And there’s something gratifying about seeing that YTD number increase with each closing.

2. Do something each day to grow your business. Whether it’s posting engaging content to your blog and sharing on social media, or meeting a new potential referral source for coffee, do SOMETHING. I don’t waste a single day, even if I’m working from home in my pajamas.

1. Remember to take time off. My weekends are easily filled with work, so I take a random Monday off from time to time. My phone is always on me, and I check email throughout the day, but I take a break from prospecting, scheduling, and just the day to day grind. We work in a business where it’s quite easy to always be “on.” But it’s important to remember to take time for you, to recharge and refresh. I work for a brokerage with phenomenal support, so I don’t stress a bit when I go out of town, or might be unavailable for a day. I know my brokers and the agent I have designated to handle my business while I’m away will have me covered. I often get my best ideas while on vacation or during time off, so I’m always excited to return to work to implement those ideas.