I write this post on what is a "holiday" for many people: President's Day. A three-day weekend, the most joyous of "holidays." Meanwhile, my wife – who is now a REALTOR® in Chicago – is running around prepping for another day because three day holiday weekends only means an extra day to be with clients looking for homes in a market starving for inventory. She has realized what many a real estate pro already has known: There are no such things as holidays for REALTORS®.

This, after a marathon Saturday of showings where half the houses she saw sold by the end of the day, turned into a night of presenting four offers to her seller only for the elation to quickly wear off when said sellers realized they have no home to move into once their condo closes in two months. Let's face it, the market realities today mean that the hours real estate professionals work may not be the hours they'd LIKE to work.

There's lots of "work-life-balance" talk on the interwebs, but unplugging may be hard to do when you're in a multiple-offer situation, or if you NEED to show that listing that just came up on your MLS radar. However, the time you DO have with your clients will prove to be the most valuable, and squeezing every bit out of time with them might mean a make-or-break deal. Some tips...

Audit Your Productivity Processes Now:

No other technology can position the client/agent team better in today's hot market than mobile technology. How mobile are you? How mobile is your broker-tech, MLS, and forms technology? These entities are not created equally, and if you realize you're working in the tech dark-ages, literally make it better, or carry contracts with you. Recognize that "being mobile," actually means "being productive." Know how to use DocuSign, dotloop, zipForm or whatever your broker or MLS's technology is that allows you to write offers on the fly. Dropbox and Evernote collaborations with clients may save your listing sanity. Sometimes having a MiFi hotspot and a laptop is all you need to be productive, whether your next office might be a Starbucks or the passenger seat of your car. The words, "I need to go back to my office to..." should never enter into your lexicon.

Bonus: Brokers, make your next sales meeting a workshop, one in which your agents practice writing mobile contracts. For example, practice writing and sending forms to each other. Broadcast it live with about.me. Record it and throw it on your YouTube page. Your time is valuable, too!