[Ep 13] Habits for Success

Owning a short-term rental may not seem like owning your own business, but it totally is a business. Like all business owners, it is important to take care of yourself. Let's talk about some routines and practices that we do each day to keep ourselves feeling motivated.

Morning & Nightly Routines

It may seem trivial but one of the most important parts of Peter's daily routine is prepping the coffee maker the night before so that he doesn't have to worry about it in the morning. It's little tasks like these that can make such an impact on your day and it only takes a few minutes.

In addition to coffee, both Hannah and Peter prioritize taking time to exercise, learn something every day and read. Did you know that 27% of adults say that they have not read a book in the past year?

Routines don't have to be strict. Hannah enjoys listening to her body and doing what feels right in the moment. Her morning routine typically includes making morning tea, journaling, and meditating.

One important part of both of their days is reflection. Reflecting on the day, how their business is going, and what can be changed.

Boundaries & Self-Care

One aspect of owning a business that many people don't talk about is setting boundaries. Businesses can end up running you instead of the other way around, setting boundaries is vital to staying sane.

One way you can set boundaries in your short-term rental business is by setting boundaries with guests. You can do this by outlining solutions to common problems so that guests can solve them on their own first. Another way is to create canned responses so that you can quickly reply to commonly asked questions. Lastly, it's important to make it clear what is an emergency and what guests should call you for.

If you have clients like us, setting boundaries with them is important as well. Set clear standards on how clients should interact with you. Make sure you don't take non-emergency calls during your set time off. Setting office hours for your clients to contact you during or sending out newsletters prevents the need to call you altogether.

CEO Time

As mentioned above, it is important to set a time to work on your business. We like to call this CEO time. During this time you should, analyze numbers and data as well as do some creative thinking for growth.

Technology

There are a few programs that we use daily to keep our businesses organized.

We could not live without our Property Management System. Our PMS manages all of our bookings, communication, cleanings, and listings.

We also use Asana and Google Calendar to stay on top of tasks. Asana is a project manager that we use to keep track of our clients, plan our podcast, and track our ideas.

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We hope that this episode will help you avoid burnout in your business. If you burnout, your guests will notice and most likely be negatively impacted. It is important to take care of yourself.