Background Our health service is introducing an electronic medication management system (eMMs). Obtaining baseline data on the work patterns of pharmacists will allow assessment of the impact of the eMMs on pharmacists' work patterns. Aim To quantify the time clinical pharmacists spend on various activities over their working day prior to the implementation of an eMMs. Method During this continuous observational time‐and‐motion study (23 November to 17 December 2009), clinical pharmacists assigned to general medical and surgical wards were shadowed by two independent observers over their entire working days. A customised Access application was used to log times and calculate average times spent on each activity. Other data collected included time from admission to interview and opportunities for medication chart review. Results 9 pharmacists were observed for 265.3 hours over 30 separate pharmacist observation days. Clinical activities (56% of total time) included professional communication (20%), medication chart review (9.6%), medication history interview (9.5%), clinical review (9.1%), providing information to patients/carers (5.5%), ascertaining discharge drugs required (1.6%), and obtaining drug information (0.5%). Non‐clinical activities (44% of total time) included social activities/breaks (13%), meetings (6.9%), ordering/distribution (6.6%), discharge dispensing (6.3%), walking between wards/pharmacy (5.2%), looking for something (3.1%), and other activities (2.8%). On an average day, each pharmacist reviewed 21 of a possible 38 medication charts (55%), spent 20 minutes on clinical interventions and completed 4.5 medication history interviews. Average time from admission to interview was 67 hours. 18% of pharmacists' time was taken up with discharge/transfer of patients. Most patients 130/141 (93%) at discharge did not require further medication history clarification. Conclusion This study provides baseline data for comparison of the impact of the eMMs on pharmacist workflow.