How to nail the work/life balance as an agent

Every industry faces challenges, but the biggest of all these days is how to effectively create the best work/life balance for you and your lifestyle.

Whether you want more time with your kids, quality dates with your partner, or just wish you had more time to pursue your passions or see friends, getting the balance right is tough.

So Travel Weekly has gone undercover to find some of the best tricks travel agents can use to make sure they’re living their best lives from one of the best in the biz. Yes, that’s right – we’ve gone straight to the source and asked a frontline agent of our own.

From someone who lives and breathes this job, MTA – Mobile Travel Agents Member, Belinda Paul, shares the hottest tips to keeping your work and life demands on an even keel, and hitting huge goals in the process!

“Have a great workspace with a comfortable seat and perfect desk height.”

Make sure this is separate from the distractions of home life; and is your place of solitude when it comes to your working life. Belinda shares that she’s converted their unused dining room into her home office – genius.

“Go to work just like you normally would, get up, get dressed and start the day as you would if you were going out of home.”

In addition, just like you’d probably say no to staying back hours after the work day is done, learn to say no in your home office life as well.

Sure, it feels odd and you might get guilt-ridden, but after a while, it helps to keep your workload at a comfortable capacity without burning yourself out.

“Have set work hours and limit checking e-mails outside of this, limit reply emails and non-urgent calls to normal business hours.”

We know it’s near impossible to tear yourself away from the endless to-do list begging for attention, but in order to foster a healthy work/life balance you must be prepared to switch off at times.

As an MTA Member, you’ve got a bit more leeway with your hours to shut the laptop at 2.30pm to go pick the kids up from school, enjoy dinner, play dates and netball training, and then resume that last little task with a sneaky glass of wine once the kids are in bed.

In the same vein, work out if you’re a morning or night person so you can adjust your flexible hours accordingly. You might prefer getting up early to get some admin out of the way, schedule meetings while the kids are at school, then sneak in a yoga session before the school bus rolls round in the afternoon.

And if you’re lucky enough to work with MTA, you’re never totally alone. Not only do they provide admin, marketing and IT support services, but they also take care of any boring parts of the job that don’t actually bring you income, helping you to streamline your work flow and get the most out of every day.

“Have a task list; I use Outlook for mine. Prioritise the list with the most important things and tick them off as you action them.”

At the beginning of each day, write a realistic list of everything you hope to achieve in the day, prioritising each task.

You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment with each task you tick off, and having the reminders will inspire you to work efficiently, so you can wrap up your day in time to catch the new episode of The Bachelor, and tuck your little ones into bed.

“Let friends and extended family know that despite you being at home you are still working.”

According to Belinda, your working hours should be treated the same as any other office job. She says, “Short distractions are fine but if they drop by or call regularly you can lose hours and end up stuck at the computer when the kids get home.”

“Facebook and Instagram are great marketing tools but also extremely distracting!”

Belinda insists in order to get your balance right, set a limit of time spent on social media and schedule your posts for a few days to a week ahead so you aren’t on here 24/7 lost in the scrolling!

“Schedule your exercise into your calendar. Exercising at least once a day will give you energy and help clear your mind.”

It’s so important to take care of yourself and not overwork just because you work from home.

While sometimes there’s no other option, in order to establish a healthy work/life balance, you need to schedule in a little ‘me-time’ to keep your sanity.

“Take regular holidays and plan them just the way you plan your clients to achieve the very best result

There’s no better way to be a better agent than to act like a client and experience that ‘holiday of a lifetime’ – every time!

And as a mobile agent with MTA – Mobile Travel Agents, you can thank your lucky stars you can, because if you fancy a little trip away with the family to recharge, you can rest assured the company’s head office Assistance Team (AKA the A-Team) which operates on a 24/7 basis is always there to cover you, taking the fullest care of your clients when you’re away, so you can truly relax and enjoy your time off.