After working at an independent community pharmacy for an extended period of time, it’s easy to become too complacent with your standard routine. Your days may run on a regular schedule of filling prescriptions, speaking with patients and completing paperwork.
Long days at work, repetitive schedules and becoming too comfortable at your job can often lead to bad work habits. And whether you’re a manager, pharmacist or pharmacy tech, negative tendencies can diminish work productivity and future business growth.
Don’t let bad habits keep you—or your pharmacy employees—from thriving. Here are 10 common bad work habits and ways to correct them.
1. Bad work habit: Being late to work
Habitually being late to work can put a damper on your daily schedule. Pre-scheduled appointments with patients need to be altered, and making patients wait longer because you’re behind can leave patients annoyed.
If you’re a manager or owner, showing up late to work on multiple occasions also sets an unprofessional example to your pharmacy employees.
How to correct it
If excessive tardiness is a common pitfall of yours, assess your morning routine. What do you need to do to show up to work on time, or even earlier than normal? Start by waking up earlier, and also plan your work schedule the night before, so you’re prepared.
2. Bad work habit: Exhaustion
Are you finding yourself yawning or wanting to take a nap during the workday? Busy life and work schedules, and not getting enough sleep can lead to exhaustion. Being too tired can cause your productive to diminish. Your patients want to communicate with a pharmacist who isn’t sleepy, and who is energized and eager to counsel them.
How to correct it
If fatigue and tiredness at work is a common symptom you notice on-the-job, be sure that you’re getting enough sleep. Assess your sleep habits, so that you’re getting the daily-recommended amount of sleep. Or, if you happen to have a late night, find ways to energize yourself, such as drinking caffeine, exercising more, or taking a break during the day to rest.
3. Bad work habit: Excessive talking
A socially cohesive workplace is a great place to work. Communicating with patients and your coworkers is part of your job, but too much socializing can lead to an unproductive work environment.
How to correct it
If you’re a talkative person, learn when you can cut back on your conversations. For example, if you notice coworkers start to stop paying attention to the conversation, it’s probably time to end it. Or, if you’ve noticed yourself holding longer meetings than usual, consider sending your employees email updates instead, so their workflow isn’t interrupted.
4. Bad work habit: Not participating
Failure to participate in meetings, or social work gatherings can prevent you from learning more about your coworkers and being able to contribute to your pharmacy’s team.
How to correct it
If you’re a natural introvert, and if you get nervous when speaking to a group or sharing your opinions, consider attending networking events. Not only will you be able to practice participating and speaking up, but you’ll also get to socialize with like-minded professionals.
5. Bad work habit: Bringing your personal life to work
Life at work and outside of work can be extremely busy. If you’ve noticed yourself checking your phone more often than usual to check up on things at home, or if you’ve missed a team meeting or an appointment with a patient due to a personal appointment, it may be time to evaluate your work-life balance.
How to correct it
If you have lots to get done outside of work, coordinate a schedule. Plan ahead and let your employees or coworkers know when you need to be out for an afternoon. Don’t spring it on them last minute. Planning ahead and letting people know your schedule will boost work productivity and keep your employees in the loop.
6. Bad work habit: Not delegating work
Are you feeling overworked? Going above and beyond for your job makes for a great employee, but feeling overworked can lead to stress and job burnout. Not delegating work to employees may cause schedules to fall behind, work projects to not be as successful, and it may be a bad work habit you need to change.
How to correct it
If you’re responsible for too many tasks at work, start sharing your workload with coworkers. For example, delegate your pharmacy’s social media work to an employee or intern who’s media-savvy. Not only will you benefit from a lighter workload, but your employees will also appreciate being empowered with additional responsibilities.
7. Bad work habit: Poor planning
Do you find yourself showing up to work without having anything planned for the day? A lack of planning skills can lead to disastrous results when implementing a marketing plan for your pharmacy or making decisions about what to stock in your front end.
How to correct it
If one of your bad work habits is a lack of planning skills, write a to-do list at the end of each workday for the next day. Preparing a list of tasks to complete the day before will allow for greater work productivity the next day.
8. Bad work habit: Relying on technology
Are you glued to your phone? Technology is seemingly in constant use in today’s world, but paying too much attention to your technology and not enough to your work can present an unprofessional vibe.
How to correct it
Designate specific times during the day when you’ll look at your personal phone, such as at lunch or during your break. The rest of the time should be phone-free. Putting technology away and focusing on your work set a good example for your employees or coworkers.
9. Bad work habit: Neglecting work or procrastinating
In pharmacy school you may have procrastinated studying for a final or writing a term paper. But, as a pharmacist, pharmacy manager or pharmacy owner, procrastinating or neglecting work until a later date can cause unneeded havoc for you and your patients.
How to correct it
Combat procrastination by actively planning and working ahead. Commit to it for at least a month. Look at your calendar and start to work ahead. For example, if your pharmacy is participating in a health fair next month, start planning now. Delegate some tasks to other employees in your pharmacy to help get the work done.
10. Bad work habit: Multitasking
Working on too many projects at once, and flipping between tasks, can diminish your productivity and increase the likelihood of making a mistake. For example, you may find yourself answering the phone and filling a patient’s prescription. It’s easy to try to do it all, but this can lead to errors.
How to correct it
Focus on one task at a time. That way, you can avoid unnecessary errors and unneeded stress.
Learn four signs it may be time to make a change at your pharmacy business.
