Are Agents Working Harder Than Ever — or Just More Distracted Than Ever?

✅ Join Our Mastermind → https://linktr.ee/realestateuntucked

Brad and Wayne go head-to-head on a question agents keep avoiding: are agents truly working harder than ever… or are they just more distracted than ever?

Brad’s take: agents aren’t burned out — they’re scattered and unfocused.  
Wayne’s take: most agents are working 40–60 hours, but it’s going to the wrong place.  

They break down busy vs productive, calendar chaos, multitasking myths, and the simple fix: time-block real conversations, build your call lists BEFORE “game time,” and lower the barrier to entry so lead gen becomes automatic.


🔍 What You’ll Learn
• why agents feel “burned out” when the real issue is scattered focus  
• how low-return activity + multitasking fakes progress
• the $300k weekly schedule exercise to reveal what actually matters  
• how 40 conversations/day actually works (and where to find the people)
• “lower the barrier to entry” so prospecting happens without motivation



00:00 – Intro
00:47 – Wayne: “40–60 hours… going to the wrong place”  
01:06 – distractions: TikTok/Instagram + “stupid stuff” agents do  
01:44 – dumb distractions + why open houses “can” work (in the right market)
02:23 – write the weekly schedule of a $300k agent  
02:59 – multitasking vs real lead gen (preparing, scrolling, hiding)
03:18 – low-return activities vs high-return activities  
03:38 – busy ≠ progress (rocking horse analogy)  
04:01 – sample schedule: time-block + dollar-producing activities  
05:09 – the 2-hour call block: “talked to 40 people by 10am”  
06:26 – the math: 40 convos/day → 9,000 convos/year  
07:28 – where to find 40 people/day: database + farm + vendors + lists
08:40 – “dirty secret”: success = more desk work too  
09:33 – do homework BEFORE game time (lists, research, prep)
10:19 – emails don’t count… conversations do  
10:56 – stop “playing with half a deck” (set up your environment)  
12:06 – lower the barrier to entry (F45 analogy + make it automatic)
13:26 – mastermind/intensive invite  

✅ Join Our Mastermind → https://linktr.ee/realestateuntucked

📲 Follow Us:
Instagram → @realestateuntucked
Facebook → /realestateuntucked
Brad → @bradallensc
Wayne → @waynesalmans

📦 Brad’s Tech Stack
• Sony Alpha ZV-E10 Camera – https://amzn.to/4bRMw8A
• DJI Mic Wireless Microphone – https://amzn.to/3VxF85z
• Elgato Stream Deck – https://amzn.to/3XegvCj
• SHURE SM7B Mic – https://amzn.to/3vE1klO
• Zoom H6 Audio Recorder – https://amzn.to/3Vv5UgM

🛠️ Wayne’s Tech Stack
• Sony ZV-1 – https://amzn.to/35e9ZdV
• RØDE Wireless Go II – https://amzn.to/3FeksqW
• Rode VideoMicro – https://amzn.to/2JvgZjH
• Logitech C920 Webcam – https://amzn.to/2mnjUqj

🎧 Listen to Podcast:
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#RealEstateDebate #RealEstatePodcast #RealEstateProductivity #BusyVsProductive #AgentBurnout #AgentsScattered #RealEstateDistractions #TimeBlockingForRealtors #RealEstateLeadGeneration #RealEstateProspecting #MultitaskingMyth #RealEstateSchedule #CallsVsEmails #DatabaseMarketing #BradAllen #WayneSalmans #RealEstateUnTucked #REUPodcast #40ConversationsADay #LowerTheBarrierToEntry

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Agents aren't burnt out, they're scattered, and most aren't overworked. They're actually just unfocused.

SPEAKER_02 0:05

They're multitasking, like we talked about lead generation, they're not actually generating, right? They're they're preparing, preparing, preparing five minutes lead generation calling three hours. And this is a big one. Instead of like doing the highest and best, they're hiding, right? They're doing low return activities instead of high return activities. I think that is a big thing.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

And agents aren't burnt out, they're scattered, and most aren't overworked. They're actually just unfocused. And that is going to be my answer to that DM we got the other day, Wayne. It was they're asking, like, do you think agents are working harder than ever to get less deals? Or do you think they're just distracted? And I was like, that is a really good question. I think it's distraction.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

I I think that they are working hard. Most agents I know are working, are putting in 40 to 60 hours a week. It's just most of that is going to the wrong place.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

You know, I I mean, obviously I agree with it going to the wrong place because I think it is being distracted. I think it's they're TikToking, they're Instagramming, they're doing funny little memes where somebody's holding a marker and they're acting like they kick it with their foot, then right, like buy a house with Brad. Like they're doing all this stupid shit.

unknown 1:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

It would be a fun thing. I don't know how we could figure this out. Maybe NAR could ask this one time. I wonder, I would love to see the top producing agents versus number of followers they have on social media. And I guarantee they're not even close to having the most followers based on average deals.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Here's the reality. I would love to know what are the top dumbest things agents are doing right now, the top dumbest distractions right now. Like what are those? What would you say? Ha, man, I have some agents that are crushing it just with open houses. Like it is their whole thing. They're they're killing it.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Yes. Let me read let me clarify. If they are doing it to get business from set supposed buyers in a market that is concentrated enough to bring foot traffic, I think that could be a good thing. Not where we live, not in the South, not most of America. But that being said, uh yeah, I think they are not meeting enough people. I don't think they're shaking enough hands. I don't think they are maximizing their database.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. So I think that you have to look at, you got to go through and go, what is, and think about this. This is a great way to think about this. I would love for you to go, hey, agent, I want to make$500,000 a year. If I was going to hire someone and pay them, you know,$300,000 a year, what would I want their weekly schedule to look like? Like I would love for you to sit down and write out a weekly schedule for an agent you were going to hire. Hey, I'm going to pay this. What would make it worth it for you to pay them$300,000 a year? Like what would their weekly schedule look like? And then what things line up with that? What things would you would you take off of that? Because here's the reality too many are they're multitasking. Like we talk about lead generation. They're not actually generating, right? They're they're preparing, preparing, preparing five minutes lead generation and calling it three hours. They're scrolling on TikTok for an hour and a half to find motivation for the one video that they think they're gonna make. They never even end up making a video instead of going to Chat GPT and making 10 videos in that time. Instead of, and this is a big one, instead of like doing the highest and best, they're hiding. So they're gonna sit on an email that took them, you know, you know, three days to create instead of calling 200 people, right? They're doing low return activities instead of high return activities. I think that is a big thing. And and just because they're busy, that they're mistaking you know, busyness for progress. And the reality is it's like that whole old rocking horse, right? The rocking horse moves all day long, but it doesn't go anywhere. And a lot of agents are like that. They're busy, they're running around, they're doing very low producing activities.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

So just because I'm just always curious, like so. I went to our unofficial sponsor, Proplexity AI, and uh I put in there said, if I want to make$300,000 a year in real estate, 40-hour work week, what should I do? What should my schedule look like? Umnofficially, it said uh not unofficially, it said, let's see, I quote, uh, time block everything, prioritize dollar production activities, minimize admin with automation or leverage, work when clients are available, and they have to do stuff that is relentlessly driving income. So they recommend, and I know we're just shooting shit here, 7 to 8 30 workout prep mindset, 8:30 to 9, review your goals. How many people actually look at their goals on a daily basis? Just to remind them what's going on. That's also including prep, 9 to 11 lead gen, 11 to 12 lead conversation conversion setting, confirming appointments for the next day. Then you got lunch, one to four appointments, four to five contract management, five to five thirty, wrap it up, go home. Which I know this is AI and everybody's rolling their eyes. Like, that's not how it works because people call you and you got issues. But imagine if it did. Imagine if it did.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

Well, imagine if you knew who you were gonna call. You got to the office, and before checking email, before doing all this other stuff, you actually just made calls for two hours. And by 10 o'clock, you've talked to 40 good people. And out of there came three people that had questions, right? And maybe you set up one or two appointments. Imagine if you did that every day. Could you pay someone to go get the lockbox and bring it back to your office that takes you an hour and a half? Do you have meals prepped in your office so you don't have to leave for lunch? Preach. Do you have your phone on? Do not disturb while you're doing your most important activities so you're not getting buzzed and dinged. Did you put wallpaper on your door so nobody can pop in and bug you right every 18 minutes? Do you close Facebook and everything else? Why are you doing like there's these things? Are you doing it at the highest and best level? I'm not asking you to work 16 hours a day. I'm asking you to relentlessly usually crush the six or eight hours you're gonna put in.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Hey, really quick, you know how YouTube works. Like and subscribe so we know this is working and it keeps pushing the content out.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

Yeah, this is what we do as a passion project. Wayne's got his own coaching, I got my real estate, but we've come together because we want y'all to learn from all our scars and mistakes. So that like and subscribe means the world to us because it means you care and it means we can keep giving, and also it makes us look cool with my mom. Absolutely. So, for some fun math, because I love math when it comes to prospecting everything else. So you said 40 conversations a day, five days a week, 45 weeks a year. 9,000 conversations. 9,000. So I take the 9,000 and say you have a 3% capture rate, which is an incredibly low. That's 270. Let's say 270 potential conversations, potential listings buyers. And let's just say I'm a quarter, right? That's 67 transactions. So the question then becomes, Wayne, where do I find 40 people a day to call? And I think that's where people need to, they need to do the back math. And I think you're brilliant at this. And I've I mean I've sat through so many of your coaches' trainings and been coached by you and all that, but like you got to start with the goal because you said 300,000. But you need somebody like you to bring you to what do I have to do today?

SPEAKER_02 7:19

All the way back. Yeah. And to answer. And the the cool thing is like, hey, here's how many calls I need to make this year. And then you break that out. Like you said, how are we gonna get it? Okay, well, I'm gonna get 500 people in my database. I'm gonna call them four times a year. All right, cool. So I've got you know a couple thousand right right there. All right, then maybe I'm gonna call farm neighborhoods, right? And I'm I'm hey, here's the neighborhoods that each have two or three housing thousand homes in them. I'm gonna call through those. I'm gonna get a list from there's a ton of places to go get a list.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Red X call realtor source and do all that.

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Absolutely. Right? I'm gonna talk to my vendors multiple times. I'm gonna uh right, like there's ways. I I think the thing is there are a lot of ways to do it, but like you just said, right, it starts with the commitment. Hey, I've got to have X amount of conversations, which means I gotta have 20 or 40 conversations a day, which means it's gonna take two or three hours of lead generation. Like it starts with the commitment and then you'll figure it out. Some of y'all are gonna go to the gas station and talk to 10 people that are filling their car up with gas every morning. You go, I got 10 contacts out of the way before I even got to the office. Right? Like, like you said, right, you talk to enough people, a handful of people are gonna say yes, even if you're terrible. Now, that may not be the prettiest way to do it, but if you don't have money to buy you a ton of time, then you're gonna have to use time to make to make money.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Well, here's the little dirty secret nobody's telling anybody when it comes to lead gen. They're like, I don't want to call two to three hours a day. But here's the funny part when you get the business, you're still calling two to three hours a day because now you're following with past clients. You're still you're still prospecting, it's just from a different pool. Like you're gonna be doing more desk work the more deals you do. So if you don't like desk work now, then you're not gonna like desk work when you're successful.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

So I think that I would be spending, and let's say it's November, I would be spending the next month and a half trying to figure out through either purchasing, vetting, title companies, getting lists of people if you don't have them.

SPEAKER_02 9:15

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

It kind of reminds me when I'm uh I'm in a growth phase, so I am trying to introduce myself to a bunch of agents. But when I sit down and look in my calendar and I've got an hour to make my calls to try and make connections for appointments, I already have my list. It's already in there.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

But it took me hours to put it together in their social media and look at the make sure I even want to talk to them. Like, it's okay to have the homework.

unknown 9:37

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

But do the work when you do the work.

SPEAKER_02 9:39

Don't just don't do the homework during game time. Like, do do the practice and the stretching before the game, right? The game is every morning between eight and ten. That's the game, right? But you you you can't prepare for the game when you're supposed to be playing for the game, right? Prepare in the afternoon, prepare in the evening, prepare other times, and then when it's game time, you go go go play the game. And there's other ways to do it. It doesn't all have to be phone calls, right? Maybe it's you message everybody that's ever followed you or liked something on your Instagram and you go, hey, it looks like we live in the same part of town. What's your favorite restaurant? Cool. Hey, by the way, I'm in what do you do? I'm in real estate. Do you have any questions? Like, but it's got I think that what we're getting is it's gotta be relational. It can't just be this one-way street of like I sent an email to 6,000 people, I didn't get any business, the market sucks. Emails don't count. They just they just don't, right? Emails don't count, right? You've gotta have you gotta have the conversations right now. And and you've got to audit your counter. And there's things you may not be able to do right now, right? Hey, you you do lunch with your buddies every Friday, that's not on the calendar anymore until you get your stuff up, right? You you you you like to take three hours to the gym, you better figure out how to do it in 35 minutes, right? Like you you may need to tighten some things up and and and change your schedule around a little bit to get the actual amount of lead generation in that you've got to get in.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

And I think that's the last thing I'll bring up about the distractions is we're not being efficient and we're we're playing with half a deck of cards. So even like right now, like we do a lot of content. I've got three lights strung up already. It cost me money, but they're here. I literally push my desk up, I turn a button, all the lights come on. If I had to set up these lights and these mics every single time, it'd take me 20 or 30 minutes per time, and I'm wasting hours a week, right? So people aren't playing with the full deck of cards. And what I mean by that is your database isn't fully filled out. Do you have one? Maybe. Do you have one that's filled out fully? Hell no. So take the time to set yourself up for success. Do your stuff at a certain time. Do your stuff, start at eight o'clock. Don't walk in at eight o'clock. Stand up, have a headphone on, like use your hands. Give yourself every possible, possible winning scenario so you can when you do put that effort out, it is it is compounded exponentially. And we're just not doing that. Nobody's doing that well.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Yeah, I think it's a beautiful way to look at it. Like, am I being the the the ninja? Am I being the best at this? You know what I mean? Am I walking in prepared? Am I walking in ready to go? Like, and I think a good way to think about it is like, what's the barrier to entry? Right. So for us to get on and record a podcast now, the barrier to entry is very low because we have our stuff set up, right? Kelsey's doing his part, right? But we've got our stuff in front of us. Like, it's like three minutes and we're ready to go. Same thing with lead generation, right? If I want to go to lead generation, it's like, boom, I open up my list, boom, I'm in lead generation in three minutes. But if your barrier to entry is really high, it's gonna slow you down. If the barrier entry is like, who do I call? What do I say? Right. But like if it if you have all these barriers to entry, it's it's very, very hard to get over over that wall. You know what I mean? One of the reasons why I go to F-45 every morning is because I walk in and we start. I don't have to think about it, right? We just walk in, it's 45 minutes of hard hit training, and then I get a leave. The bear to entry is very, very low. Instead of me going to the gym and be like, what should I do today? And getting the same, it would take me an hour and a half, two hours to get the same result. I get in 45 minutes because I don't have to think, I don't have to plan, and guess what? There ain't no rest time, right? Like, and I'd love that for me. So same thing in real estate, right? Same thing with your seller calls. Are your seller calls the same thing? Do you have a rhythm and a pattern to them? Right with your buyers, do you have a rhythm and a pattern to when you follow up them and that cadence, right? Do you have a weekly review time? Your meetings, like get in systematic and rhythm on those things. So lower your buried entry. Same thing with lunch, right? Is your buried entry like, what should I have for lunch today? And are you doing that every day for 25 minutes? Or is it cool? I have seven lunches in my fridge. Boom, I'm having lunch too. You know what I mean? Like lower the buried entry, make it easy on you.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

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SPEAKER_01 13:35

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