Dealing with time pressure

Our current society often provokes busy schedules on a personal and professional level. It’s even not that exceptional to have a busy schedule. However, when time pressure becomes a chronic problem, we must fix it.

Coping with time pressure is not the same for everybody, as it is a subjective experience. Every person will experience time pressure as a different mental or physical pressure. Thankfully solving the problem is similar for everyone because we need to find the cause.

Me, myself and I

We and we alone are usually the primary cause. Not everyone is able to prioritise tasks and loses time with useless or avoidable jobs. But how do you prioritise? Here is when The Covey matrix comes in handy:

Fully planning your day as a pharmacist is not easy (or simply not possible) but organising/prioritising tasks per urgency or importance is certainly doable.

Do what energises you!

As we mentioned above, time pressure is not the same for everybody. Time management is also energy management. What tasks energise you, and what makes you demoted? People often don’t feel any pressure when doing things they love or give them energy. Maybe you love doing the social media of your pharmacy? No problem, schedule it every day on moments when you know you will need some extra energy.

To save you time, we searched for extra tips you can use in your pharmacy so you close the door every night with peace of mind.

• Delegate (if possible).

Identify tasks you can delegate to your staff at the beginning of the day. Giving appropriate responsibilities to the correct person will free up time for you to focus on core tasks.

• Keep your workspace clean.

A clean space is a clean mind. You can make a habit of cleaning your workspace every night before leaving. It will give you a fresh start the next day.

• Work with time blocks.

As a pharmacist, you cannot determine when or who will come to your pharmacy, but you can anticipate specific tasks. For example, book the weekly follow-ups with patients on fixed time blocks or block time for prescription making.

• Stay updated.

Maybe a weird tip for dealing with time pressure but let us explain. When you stay updated with the latest advancements in pharmacy practice, you can implement new technologies or techniques to save time.

• Use technology.

Use technology to save time and make your workflow more optimised. The best example of pharmacy technology is a pharmacy robot. A Meditech robot can automatically stock up to 60.000 boxes. Imagine you need to register & stock this manually in your drawers!? Besides saving you time, you can also refocus on your patients.

• Finally, take a break.

Taking a break is not counterproductive, on the contrary, it enhances your productivity. Short (coffee, matcha latte, …) breaks can refresh your mind and improve your focus when you return to work.