# Can A Chef Have A Good Work Life Balance?

Realizing work life balance is becoming complicated for many people. Work for more than 40 hours is now a norm in many industries. However, the hospitality and hotel industry workers are the highest culprits of work life balance issues. With competition scaling per day, some chefs work for even up to 80 hours per week.

Traditionally, working for many hours appeared as a badge of honor. Everyone would accord high respect to chefs and hoteliers breaking the working hour records. However, that is no longer sustainable. Having a work-life balance is now a necessity.

But can a chef have a good work life balance? Well. It is possible to achieve this objective despite the demanding aspects of the chef jobs. Here is how:

Learn how to delegate some tasks

For chefs, delegation is not one of their considerations. Many chefs think that they are the only one that can prepare a meal the best. They take charges of anything and everything getting into and out of the kitchen. This act of being in control of the kitchen results in burnout.

As a chef, learning how to delegate is crucial. You need to understand that other people can help you accomplish some tasks. Freeing yourself from such tasks can allow you to have adequate time for other activities such as workouts, reading, and spending time with your family. Hence, embrace delegation as a way to realizing the work-life balance.

Consider split-shift jobs

No doubt, the chef work is demanding. Chef has to be in the kitchen as long as visitors are streaming into your restaurant. This aspect makes it hard for them to have some pause along with the working schedules. However, you can change this notion in your hotel.

This would be possible through having split shifts. Have shifts with some off-hours in between. During these hours, you can encourage the chefs to take some breather and spend the time in leisure activities. Also, they can go and have some moments with the family before getting back to their duty.

Ensure someday offs during holiday and festive seasons

Holidays and festive seasons are busy moments for any chef. Families and colleagues are always heading to the restaurant for unique dishes. For a chef, you work for extra hours as you must meet the demand of each customer. The complicated schedule easily denies the chefs a work-life balance.

Fortunately, you can shift this aspect by giving them some off-days. For instance, you can offer them one or two days off per week. Talk with them to know which days are best for them. Also, during the festive seasons or significant holidays, consider a pre-season or post-season off.

You can allow the chef and workers to break for a week after the festive season. Or else, the hotel can remain closed during the low season. This way, your chefs will have adequate time to relax and refresh.

Work with teams

Do you fear losing your chef job? The reason why many chefs do not work with teams is due to insecurity. They think that other people will do better than them and take up their job. For this reason, they like doing everything without involving their colleagues. This practice results in burnout due to overworking.

Do not follow suit. Working with teams is essential in the hotel industry. Through working with others, you save time for yourself and accomplish a lot within a short duration. Hence, prioritize collaboration in the kitchen to help you reach your work life balance objectives.

In a word, despite the commitments and tight schedules, every chef can have a good work life balance. All you need is to employ the above tactics.

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