Take back control of your day with these time management tips.
If you don’t know the name Carla Erskin, you should. Carla is the CEO and founder of Bossingly and helps busy business owners (aka you) reclaim their time and increase their profits. Her methods are so transforming that every pharmacy owner needs to learn from her. This impact is why she is a headline speaker at the upcoming Pharmacy Profit Summit Live. If you are going to build a thriving, profitable pharmacy, you need to be the boss of your time.
Here are eight tips for reclaiming your time and easily getting back up to 10 hours a week. Read Carla’s complete time management ebook and get her resources HERE.
- Organize Around Your Energy Levels
- Make A Plan For The Day
- Start With The Most Important Task
- Prioritize Your Tasks
- Learn To Outsource
- Automate Repetitive Tasks
- Cut Out Distractions
- Get Rid Of Perfection
Let’s dive into these from a pharmacy owner’s perspective.
Organize Around Your Energy Levels
You are an individual. Following the latest guru’s recommendation for waking up at 5 am to slay the morning might not be the best advice for you. Perhaps, you are a night owl. So rather than follow some strict advice, I love Carla’s first tip to organize your day around your energy levels. I may not be a morning person, but I think the clearest (and I swear I am smarter) earlier in the day. For me, this means I tackle tasks that need serious brainpower in the morning. For example, I work on my employee’s controlling calendars, or review financials or look at contracts during the first half of the day. What is your peak time?
Make A Plan For Your Day
Inspiration and memory strike at the oddest times. I often remember critical things at the end of the day when I am winding down. Some pharmacy owners have trouble sleeping because of the never-ending to-do list in their heads. Take Carla’s advice and write it all down as a plan for the next day. For me, I use a little trick I learned many years ago; I text myself. Instead of having scraps of paper (that get lost) or getting up and going to find my notebook, I text myself, and therefore, I always have my list. At the beginning of every day, I make my to-do list on paper, as I get an extreme dopamine hit when I get to cross off a task.
Start Your Day With The Most Important Task
Brian Tracy’s “Eat That Frog!” book has helped many people overcome procrastination. He teaches you should not focus on getting everything done but rather focus on the crucial tasks. Carla echos this and knows that overcoming the most important thing of the day motivates you to do many more to-dos. Once you complete the “big one,” everything else is downhill, and that feels good. This does not mean you have to eat your frog for breakfast. If you are a night owl, as Carla is, your frog might be for dinner. Just be sure you save your peak energy times for your most crucial tasks.
Prioritize Tasks
When I make my first to-do list of the day, it is a brain dump. I jot things down as quickly as I can think of them. Not every item is due at the same time or has the same importance. Once everything is out of my brain and on paper, then I prioritize it. This 2-step process is how I work best. I know other people prefer to write things down in order of importance. This methodology helps them think of the plan of action for the day. Whichever way that works for you, go with Nike on this and just do it.
Learn To Outsource
Many things need to be done, which doesn’t mean they need to be completed by YOU! Learning to let go of control by delegating and outsourcing was one of the first business lessons my business coach Patti Mara (beat into) taught me. If you really enjoy doing your own bookkeeping and you’re good at it, then do it. However, if navigating Quickbooks isn’t your idea of fun, then you should probably outsource that. Instead, focus on your strengths and hire out your weaknesses. This strategy will help you build a stronger pharmacy much quicker.
Automate Repetitive Tasks
Technology. Depending on the day, it can feel like a friend or a foe. When it comes to saving time, it is definitely your friend. Most of us drown in the number of emails we receive. There are systems out there that can help you unsubscribe from lists, move emails into folders, and even auto-respond to emails. Setting these systems up will take some time upfront, and then you are repaid many times over with hours saved every week. You can also set up systems for payroll or employee schedules. Start keeping track of things you repeatedly do, and then look for ways to automate (or delegate) them.
Cut Out Distractions
Do you let your kids watch TV while doing their homework? My guess is no. Why? The TV is distracting. When you are doing essential tasks for the pharmacy, do you have a way of letting people know not to interrupt you? Distractions while filling prescriptions can lead to tragic mistakes. As a profession, we have rallied behind not interrupting the pharmacist when a prescription is being checked. The exact same rules should apply when you are wearing your owner’s hat and doing critical duties. Put a scarf on the doorknob to let your employees know there are no disruptions allowed.
Get Rid Of Perfectionism
When I was eight years old, I had ulcers. This diagnosis was before the time of H. Pylori, and the doctors said it was because I was stressed. Which I sort of was. I am a recovering perfectionist. Done is better than perfect. I have learned the power of this statement. We, as pharmacist owners, often conflate our pharmacist duties with our business owner duties. As pharmacists, perfection is what we strive for every minute of every day. Too commonly that perfectionism is laid on top of the business functions, and it strangles the business. You don’t need to have the perfect marketing plan before starting to market. As a business owner, strive for done, not perfect.
Do you want a more profitable pharmacy?
If the answer is yes, then you need to start taking action towards that goal. Profitable strategies and ideas for optimizing your pharmacy don’t just fall from the sky. You need to seek them actively. DiversifyRx is hosting a live, in-person event in Dallas, July 23-24. Carla will be there leading the room through an amazing workshop to improve your productivity and time management so you can implement the numerous profitable strategies we will be presenting to you.
The Pharmacy Profit Summit Live is an entirely different type of pharmacy education conference. We are giving you complete strategies for increasing revenues, optimizing your pharmacy operations, and maximizing your profits. If you are mildly successful at implementing the strategies you will get as an attendee, it will mean an extra $100,000 in profit for your pharmacy in 2021. To learn more and see the other experts joining Carla at the Pharmacy Profit Summit Live, click HERE.
