Real estate can be intense. It's full of big, high-energy personalities driven by achievement. Even those independent agents who have the opportunity to set their own pace often end up working 10, 12, or even 16 hours a day to reach the goals they set.

There's nothing wrong with high standards. In recent years, though, it's become clear there is a limit. Real estate agents need to prioritize, delegate, and rest. Good science stands behind the proposition that after about 50 hours of work in a week, productivity takes a nosedive. After 55 hours, more hours simply don't produce more results.

Look beyond conflicted feelings about productivity and you get to a much deeper issue: Mental health. Work-related stress is far from the only aspect of mental health, but it is one we all confront for at least eight hours a day — and one that affects every other waking hour of life. As a top-performing agency or brokerage, it's crucial to make space in your strategy for wellness. The alternative is burnout.

Let's look at some of the best ways to support wellness for all:

1. Encourage your team to take breaks when they need to.

Although it might be the expectation in many industries, working "straight through" from morning until lunch, then from lunch until closing isn't usually the best use of mental resources. Research shows that people vary in their ability to hold attention on a task and tend to require rest after prolonged focus.

The average office worker is productive for just under three hours a day — so, time is already being lost somewhere. Social media, news websites, and more provide ready means of distraction. When do these tend to crop up? When someone's brain needs a break, but they don't feel they can leave their desk.

Alternating periods of focused work with brief breaks is a productivity strategy that often results in a higher completion rate of the day's most important tasks. Best known as "The Pomodoro Technique," the original concept calls for 25 minutes of focused work followed by a five-minute break.

Encourage breaks when necessary so your agents have more opportunities to bring their entire selves to the tasks in front of them. Remember that breaks are most effective when they provide the opportunity to completely let go of work for a few minutes. That may need to take place away from the desk!

2. Provide the flexibility to meet needs for diet and exercise.

Yes, there are ways you can optimize your office to help your team meet their basic needs — rather than being tempted to put them last. But even if you can't afford a catered lunch, there is something that you can offer: Scheduling flexibility and the freedom that comes with it.

Time is the fundamental currency of life, and nobody can meet all of their needs if they're slammed with end-to-end tasks. Sooner or later, rushed meals with packaged food will catch up with everyone — in their digestive upset at the very least, if not more prolonged symptoms.

Yes, some agents spend time away from the office to do open houses or research neighborhoods. Open houses are efficient and should be encouraged. But also take a close look at all the tasks that get done in the office. Be honest about what could be done remotely, and consider introducing a hybrid approach.

Those who simply must be in the office for much of their work time shouldn't be left out. For them, it may be worthwhile to make a few changes around the office. For instance, adjustable standing desks provide an alternative to sitting all day long. And sometimes, that catered lunch may just be worth it.

3. Make the office a supportive, team-oriented environment.

A little bit of competition is nearly inevitable in real estate, and competition can be positive when the competitor isn't someone you work with. But internal competition can cause bad blood and burn bridges, the opposite of what an agent or broker needs at any stage of their career.

A collaborative, collegial environment is best for mental health. Not only does it mean you can trust and open up to your colleagues, but they may have your back when you need it most. For example, it's much easier to use a teammate as a sounding board or learn from a mentor rather than reinvent the wheel.

With that in mind, don't tie compensation or other perks to beating others in the office. Leave out "old school" sales approaches like having a winner board. While this motivates some people, most will find it to be an unnecessary stressor. Even those who succeed are likely to jump ship sooner or later.

To create a more positive environment for newcomers and old hands alike, consider incentivizing team members to share appreciation and call out each other's wins. This sets the stage to focus attention on others' strengths, not weaknesses and lays the foundation for continued talent development.

4. Encourage team members to plan ahead to reduce anxiety.

When making decisions, imperfect information means everyone deals with two kinds of forces: Risk and ambiguity. Risk is when you know enough about a situation to estimate the odds of success; if you flip a coin, your odds are 50/50. Ambiguity is when no amount of new information lets you "know the odds."

Ambiguity is more stressful than risk, and this fact seems universal across studies. But many white-collar workers navigate the workday in ways that drive ambiguity through the roof. They may start the day not knowing which tasks are most important and spend the entire time putting out fires, which is exhausting!

Planning ahead might not seem like fun, but it leads to a profound reduction in free-floating stress. It's wise to set the tone for planning ahead by introducing resources that make it easier. Teach your team about simple, effective tools like the Eisenhower Matrix that can help them key into their top goals.

5. Save time and cut down on worry through automation tools.

Last, but certainly not least, tap into the transformative power of automation.

It seems like every quarter brings another set of responsibilities for any agent who wants to "make it." Real estate automation liberates team members from some of the highly repetitive rote work that's a necessity in today's world, all without sacrificing the quality output they need.

It especially shines in the form of real estate marketing automation. Instead of painstakingly building an email marketing campaign by writing one email at a time, you can set up an entire campaign in just two clicks. That's only one example, but it could save hundreds of hours over the course of a year.

The DeltaNET® real estate CRM has features that accelerate your ability to share listings, maintain your social media presence, hold virtual and face-to-face open houses, and much more. Every one of the complex and time-consuming tasks a modern agent must know is represented — and that busts stress like nothing else.

Stress is unavoidable, but work can be structured to reduce it, not add to it. With these tips, you're on the way to sustainable high output without burnout.