"Thanks for your time," the pet owner tells the vet as he leaves the examination room. "The medication will be waiting for you at the counter, have a nice day," responds the vet. The consultation is done, and now the most critical moment of the visit begins; summarising treatment and taking payment.

You love your job, and you put all your energy and passion into it, and yet there are always little things that get in the way you can't control. Time is precious. Your diary may run efficiently, but a lack of time can quickly upset the rest of the day when something unexpected happens. A single late pet owner can cause your consultation hour to overrun and cause a significant time squeeze. Experiencing too little time can give a feeling of pressure and stress. Still, you can do something about it - by spending less time on things that could be done faster, more efficiently, or even automatically.

How do you plan for the unknown without relinquishing control? If your practice were a hall full of dominoes, you mustn't allow a single point of failure, and you should apply the same logic to your practice. Your diary is your lifeline and the backbone of your practice - it must be flexible enough to run in and out of time but allow for unexpected events (and moments of rest and respite). Let's look at ways to achieve this.