As our shops get busier through the summer, mainly from tourism trade and unplanned social gatherings, we truly benefit from our short supply chains and suppliers making that little bit more effort.

This has to be balanced against extra stock, staffing, new summer lines and not forgetting we all need time off to spend with family and friends.

The trouble is in the last month I seem to have failed to do either. I’m just not performing or perhaps don’t feel as organised as I should and at the end of every day I don’t seem to have done the task I set out to do. Mrs Jones would like a special order of pumpkin oil, sadly Mrs Watkins’s grandson is in hospital, Booker have delivered 3 hours later than normal, Cadbury rep has called in and two other reps have “just called in”, all distracting away from the day’s work including my utter weakness, checking emails.

So I started off on Monday with my juggling act promise to:

1. Write down my top three priorities at the start of the day
2. Review the days priorities at 2pm, (it may have changed)
3. Only check emails 5 times a day for 10 minutes rather than every 20 minutes and being distracted
4. Decide a time I will leave work every day
5. Ask myself do I need to do this task or can someone else do it

Come Wednesday only seven of my nine priorities have been completed, between you and me I still have a weakness for email.