If you get a chance today, please Google time management. You will find that the search engine finds over 500 million results in less than one half of one second. With that much out there in cyberspace, it could be daunting to find the right information specific to your situation. As it was said so eloquently in a famous YouTube video recently, "Ain't nobody got time for that." 

In order to determine actual things that can positively impact how we see and spend our time, we must first understand the inherent flaws of traditional time management. There are many flaws to traditional time management but there are a few major ones that, if understood and acknowledged, can help pharmacy owners really make progress in this area. 

The first major flaw is the idea that we can get everything done if we manage our time more effectively.  This idea came up in a webinar that we completed recently. A business owner said  that as soon as he clears his plate of the things that he has to do, the world (and his business) give him another plateful. Sometimes these platefuls are larger than previous ones. The elephant in the room that no one in the traditional time management world ever acknowledges is that time is finite but the platefuls that keep being served to us are infinite. The work we do in and on our business is never complete until we transition into life after business (life after pharmacy for pharmacy owners). 

The second major flaw in traditional time management is the idea that we can actually control 100% of our time. If we could do this, we would be able to do unbelievable things as individuals and as a species. Unfortunately, this is not possible because we have to eat, drink and sleep to survive.  I saw an interview with Arnold Scwarzenegger where he said, and I am paraphrasing, "If I could ask God one thing, I would ask him why we have to sleep. We could be so much more if we didn't have to sleep one third of our lives." The other thing that results in us not being in 100% control of our time is our dependence on other people. As I am writing this blog, I received a call from my dentist asking me if I can reschedule because one of the hygienists is out sick and they don't have enough people to be able to see me today. If you are dependent on other people for your success, then there will be times where things will change unexpectedly. 

Understanding these two things can bring peace to you and all business owners. The reason is that we can all stop worrying about getting everything accomplished or controlling 100% of our time. These simply are not possible in our reality. Understanding these two things can also help us make progress in managing our time more effectively and efficiently. The following are three tips that can help all pharmacy owners in this area. 

1. Let the small stuff go - The more mature I become as a business owner, the more I realize the importance of this. There was even a book written called Don't Sweat the Small Stuff because we tend to get hung up on the things that really don't matter in the grand scheme of things. One of the things that I ask myself constantly is, "What are the consequences of not doing this?" If they are insignificant to me, my business or my family, then I let them go. I challenge you to try this in your life.
2. Control 100% of your time sometimes - We have already acknowledged that controlling 100% of your time all the time is impossible. What is possible, however,  is being able to control your time when everything is working the way it should. For example, if all the employees show up to work and the pharmacy is fully staffed, then you have the ability to control your time and activity (see next tip). This also means that you are going to have to prepare for these situations beforehand. You do not want to be looking around and wondering what to do if you get the opportunity to be in control of your time.
3. Focus on activity and the results will follow - We have a saying in our business that we cannot control the results but we can control the activity. When you get the chance to be in control of how you spend your time, make sure you are focused on the right activity and the results will follow. For example, if the activity that will grow your pharmacy is contacting doctors and veterinarians about getting new compounds, then focus on how many doctors and veterinarians you contact. If you contact enough (and your message is correct), then you should start getting the results you want from that activity.