You can’t take care of business if you don’t take care of yourself.
For an independent community pharmacy owner or manager, stress is an everyday part of life. However, it’s important not to let stress take over.
Between dispensing medication, providing patient care services, keeping your marketing strategy afloat and so much more, it’s natural to get overwhelmed. After all, you’re only human.
When you wear so many hats, it can be difficult to take a step back and deal with overwhelming feelings. But toughing it out will only make things worse.
Try these four ways to de-stress in order to keep yourself—and your pharmacy—on the path to success.
1. Meditate
If you’ve never tried meditation, now may be a good time to start.
Meditation has a lot of great benefits, as it presents the opportunity to view life—and work—in a more organized and objective way. It also improves focus and mental clarity, which will help you to prioritize and delegate.
By meditating consistently, you may start to experience less worry and anxiety, better decision making and problem solving and improved physical health and energy levels, among other benefits.
RELATED: How to Conquer Stress in Your Independent Pharmacy
2. Learn to say “no”
Often, independent community pharmacy owners and managers are guilty of trying to do too many things themselves.
If you keep trying to do everything yourself, it can take a mental and physical toll, which may cause your pharmacy to suffer.
Don’t fill up your plate up with too much to do. Delegate assignments to your staff. It’s especially effective to delegate the tasks you’re not as good at to those who can do them better.
For example, if managing your pharmacy’s social media is not your strong suit, delegate the task to an employee who better understands social media marketing.
3. Exercise
You’ve heard it before. You probably tell your patients the same thing. Exercise reduces stress, and—bonus—increases your physical health.
Exercise produces endorphins, leaving your body feeling energized and healthy. In addition, it helps decrease tension, elevate your mood and improve your sleep.
Make exercise a part of your daily routine, whether it’s a full-blown workout or just going for a light jog.
And, when you feel the need to blow off steam, consider going for a walk to de-stress.
4. Get out of the pharmacy
Sometimes the best way to reduce stress is to just take a break.
When you make time for yourself and get away from work for a bit, it can help you to relax and get your mind back on track.
Treat yourself to something that you enjoy, but may not always have the time to do. For example, take the day off and do something fun with your family.
If you’re feeling too swamped to take time off, simply taking your work outside of the pharmacy can help to ease stress. For example, get a change of scenery by working at your favorite park or coffee shop.
Your employees get stressed out, too. Check out these 10 tips for promoting employee health and wellness at your pharmacy.
