May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s important to check in with yourself and your workload throughout the year, and this month, we have three ways you can ensure your work life stays balanced with the rest of your life.

Set your hours–and stick to them!
In this remote work world, it is so easy to reply to texts and emails after hours, even if most of them can wait until the morning. You may want to respond immediately so you can get rid of the notification or maybe you’re afraid you’ll forget, but setting specific work hours and ensuring your clients know them can be important to allowing you to have some time outside of work. Try making a list or a calendar reminder in your phone each time you check an email you need to respond to at a later time. This way, you won’t forget to reply but it can be on YOUR timeline.

One tip: You can always reply with a quick “I’m on it and will touch base with you tomorrow.” if you want to make sure your clients know you’re dedicated and on top of things.

Don’t be afraid to say no.
There can definitely be some hard asks from clients in your business, and customer service is the backbone of this industry. Sometimes when a task is not within your terms or goes against how you like to do your work, it can be okay to say “no”. You say “yes” a lot so you can be the resource your clients need, so give yourself a break when you need to and allow yourself to say “no”. Not ready to say “no” yet? Try offering alternative options to help your client compromise.

Just walk away.
Hopefully this isn’t common, but there are sometimes people that might not want to do business the same way you do. Even in a challenging market, occasionally the best thing for your business (and your mind) can be to cut ties with someone you are trying to work with. It’ll probably work out best for both parties in the long run to go separate ways if you both just aren’t able to agree. We know you want to be successful with everyone you work with, but sometimes success can mean taking a step back, too.

Try these three boundary-setting tricks in your daily business and keep them saved for later this year if you need to refresh your memory and add them back in. We know the work you do as a REALTOR^® is important, but so is your free time! Your wellbeing is the most important thing of all.