As community pharmacists, December often feels less like a festive wind down and more like a frantic sprint to the finish line. Most of us are just trying to get through the next few weeks with some energy left in the tank. Between the Christmas rush, cold and flu season, stock issues, and staffing challenges, not to mention the not so small matter of organising our own personal festive celebrations, it’s easy to arrive at the end of the year feeling completely drained and depleted.    

Surviving the festive season

The common narrative around this time of year is one of survival. How can we just get through it and hang on until the break. There are lots of timely reminders of dos and don’ts, coupled with plenty of advice and articles, influencers and experts, with tips on how to survive the Christmas and New Year. But what if there’s another way to approach the end of the year, one that doesn’t require you to bring yourself to the brink of burnout? What if we could end the year well? Not perfectly, not pressure filled, but with intention, by incorporating small habits that help us feel good and function effectively. Because for me, that is what wellbeing is all about. I am of the very definite opinion that our wellbeing isn’t a luxury, it’s our very foundation. Everything you do, from counselling patients, to managing stock, to supporting your team, is built on how you yourself are doing. If you’re running on empty, eventually the cracks begin to show. That’s not a sign of weakness, just an indication of imbalance.    

The myth of ‘next year I will . . .’

As someone who has worked in community pharmacy for over three decades, I know all too well the habit of pushing our own needs down the priority list, telling ourselves we’ll catch up on rest and recovery, get back into our exercise routine, or reconnect with family and friends come January. When life becomes too busy and something has to give, in most cases it will be those habits and routines that boost and maintain our wellbeing. However, this can often be a slippery slope. If we drop all our wellbeing routines, as we edge closer to the New Year, there’s a familiar temptation that starts to creep in, the urge to overhaul everything. To set fresh goals, to make new plans, to ‘start strong’ in January. But from experience, in reality those January goals rarely last. We tell ourselves this will be the year we’ll eat better, sleep more, move regularly, manage stress better. Yet, studies consistently show that most New Year’s resolutions don’t last. And it’s not because we’re lazy or lack willpower. It’s because we’re asking the wrong question.  

From ‘to-do’ lists to ‘to-be’ lists

Pharmacists exist in a world of checklists, SOPs, and KPIs. We’re wired for doing, for action. But if we want to genuinely maintain or improve our wellbeing, both personally and professionally, we need to shift from a ‘do more’ mindset to an intentional ‘be more’ mindset. Most of us don’t need more tasks or targets, we need more clarity, presence, and self-awareness. There is growing recognition that long-term wellbeing is driven less by goals, and more by habits. Goals often sound good on paper, but they’re dependent on motivation, circumstance, and the ability to follow through. They rely on big effort and tend to be all or nothing in nature. Habits, on the other hand, are about what you repeat, small actions applied consistently so that they become part of how you live your life. They’re less exciting, but far more effective. Take two pharmacists: One sets a goal to meditate for 30 minutes every morning before work in January. The other commits to a habit of pausing for three deep breaths every time they enter the consultation room to see a patient. Which is more likely to stick? The pharmacist who takes the three breath pause, and not because they’re more disciplined, but because they’ve matched the habit to their environment and made it frictionless. And once a habit is embedded, it doesn’t rely on motivation, but runs on momentum.  

Start with how you want to feel

My suggestion would be as follows; Instead of asking ‘What will I do next year?’, a better question might be ‘How do I want to be next year?’

A practical starting point that doesn’t involve any lists, trackers, or 30-day challenges would be to ask yourself:

• How do I want to show up in my work and life?
• What kind of colleague, leader, or parent do I want to be?
• How do I want to feel as I go through my day?
• What habits help me feel that way, even in small ways?
• What gets in the way, and how can I work around it?

  Let’s say your answers are as follows: ‘I want to feel calm. I want to feel a sense of purpose. I want to feel like I’m making a difference without running on empty.’ Now build habits that support those states, not giant plans, but realistic actions that easily integrate into your working life. For example:

• A calming habit; Take three deep breaths while waiting for the till to open or a receipt to print;
• A purposeful habit: Start the day by committing to help one patient or colleague today; and
• A sustainability habit: Step outside the pharmacy for at least five minutes each day to mentally reset.

  These are tiny, achievable, and most importantly, repeatable.  

The power of small

In pharmacy, time is tight, interruptions are constant, and the mental load is heavy. That’s the reality. But sometimes, what stops us from creating meaningful change isn’t time, it’s a mindset. We think:

• ‘Wellbeing means adding more to an already full day’;
• ‘That’s such a small step, it couldn’t make a difference’;
• ‘If I can’t do it properly, I won’t do it at all’; and
• ‘Now it’s just too busy, I’ll focus on that some other time.’

  But this thinking keeps us stuck in cycles of burnout and false starts. The truth is that even a one-minute wellbeing habit is worth doing. In fact, these microhabits are often the only kind that survive in a busy pharmacy environment.  

Final thoughts

The transition into a New Year can bring hope, but also pressure. You don’t need a master plan or a long list of goals to start 2026 well. Instead, focus on how you want to be, and build small, repeatable habits that support that intention. Goals are optional, but habits are essential.