“Pharmacist Call on Line One” “New Patient Consultation, Please” “I Would Like to Get My Flu Shot” “District Manager is Here” “We Have 4 Patients In-Store Waiting for Pickup” Does this sound familiar? I am sure I left some things out, but you get the point. The demands are constant. And, I didn’t even list the things constantly on your mind… “What can I do to improve our KPIs?” “We’ve got Inventory coming up, I’ve got so much to do to be ready.” “Why did they cut my support hours, again?” “Is it performance review time, already?” “How can I boost team morale?” Again, I know this list isn’t all inclusive. Clearly the demands of a pharmacist are many and at times it can feel overwhelming. However, I am here to tell you that there is something you can do about all this NOISE. The concept isn’t earth shattering - it is all about your execution. All these things are important and need to be done. I am not disputing that. Everyday, all day, you constantly assign priority to what you will do next. DID YOU KNOW… not all demands are created equal? Sometimes we get in the habit of picking the easy tasks so we can check them off the list. But, just eliminating items from the “to-do” list isn’t going to take the pressure off. I absolutely love the concepts in the book, “The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results”, by Gary Keller. The book is definitely worth a read for anyone wanting to improve their productivity. But, the two big concepts that I believe will without a doubt help you TURN DOWN THE NOISE are: Everyday, choose the ONE thing that if you get done will make everything else easier or seem less important. Adopt the concept of time blocking. Don’t worry about taking your list and putting it in order everyday from most important to least important. Just take that ONE thing that you determined was the most important and focus all of your energy on that until it is finished. Don’t let any other tasks let you get distracted. Time blocking is a wonderful tool to help you do that. Essentially, time blocking is setting aside time to work on your ONE thing. It is uninterrupted time. I am not naive enough to think that a pharmacist can set aside hours per day to laser focus on one thing, but you can train yourself and your staff to allow some uninterrupted time. Just knowing you have time set aside to work on your ONE thing, helps eliminate some of that stress and pressure. Keep Growing. Donnie

Maybe that title is a slight exageration…maybe not. Are you familiar with Goodhart’s Law? Here’s a quick refresher: GOODHART’S LAW When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.