Q:  I am supposed to be getting away for the long weekend, but I just have too much to do. I have two listings that have just come on and I know I am going to have a lot of inquiries and offers coming in. My husband is pressuring me to just leave it and enjoy a few days off, but the thought of leaving is causing me more stress than if I just stay behind. How do I tell him to take the pressure off and let me stay here and take care of business?

A:  You aren’t going to like my answer… but I think you should pack your bags, get in the car, and go! You are talking about leaving for four days (July 4^th– 7^th for the long weekend). Yes, you have listings that have just come on. Yes, you may have questions from other agents. Yes, something might come up that you can’t deal with from afar.    

But what if this weren’t an issue about vacation, but instead you came down with some horrible flu and you were in the hospital? What if you had questions from other agents and you were too ill to answer them? What if you couldn’t physically go to the house and put a new key in the key box? What if you got an offer on the evening of July 4^th but your doctor insisted that you needed rest and could not even look at that offer until July 8^th let alone meet with your sellers?

A plan would work itself out if you were physically unable to attend to your business. And you need to apply that same principle here to determine what your Plan B is. What if another agent could cover for you? What if your broker has ideas of how you can get away without it being disruptive? What if you simply put in the listing details that you would be available to review offers on Monday when you return? What if you allowed yourself to check your email twice a day on this mini-vacation so you still felt connected?

You can always find time to get away if you ask yourself “what if?”