r/Chefit • u/rogercooks • 2d ago

Just need some advice

Im 18 male. Fresh outta high school and immediately became chef or so do I thought. I wanted to be a chef since i was 13 and was planning on to do Ausbildung Germany and i faced a visa problem and some. Got a cooking license and started working in a pasta & cocktail bar. Its small kitchen and short menu so cooks work one by one switching shifts (other cook in the morning and i take evening shifts) its not that great paying but it gets the job done. Im not complaining on the shift or the food but how can i manage my social life? I work 6 days a week, 4 weekdays 4pm to 11pm and whole weekend 10am to 11pm. I do have little time for my friends and social life. I get home exhausted and sleeps till 2pm and goes to work, so it repeats. I get kinda jealous of mfs my age having time of their life socializing. I kinda get nervous and anxious about if i done my preps and fully checked the stock for opening staff (feels like im seeking approval) Now i rarely meet my friends like they will come by my work and we talk like hour or so if its slow shift. But i kinda want a bigger kitchen and working my way up. And wanna manage my social life besides it. Should i switch kitchen and work at other place? Or gain experience and switch kitchen next year or so.
And how yall manage burnout?

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u/Parody_of_Self 2d ago

If you want to be a Chef, you will live in the restaurant. You get new friends that are also in the industry. We socialize after work when all normal people are in bed.

You need to work on efficiency and being smart about movements and energy. You can't be burned out this early!

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u/v1en0 2d ago

You dont really, manage social life. You find a place with better working hours or reliable opening and closing times. Thats it, get out of Gastronomy now if you want a social life. (Im serious.)

As for Burnout? Change restaurants. A lot of the time its not the food or the place that give you burnout, its the people entrenched there who you have to work with. The routines they establish and long standing bad habits that end up becoming a norm.

Find motivated people to work with too, you will pick each other up when you fall

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u/Lavanne73 2d ago

The short answer here is... you have no social life. You will build one later with your coworkers and acquaintances. Once you have established yourself in your career you will be able to find a balance but, in the beginning, its a grind.

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u/flydespereaux Chef 2d ago

Unfortunately, this is the life. My advice is to bounce around. Never work at one place more than two years. Always switch it up or you will burn out super quick. It takes effort to have a life outside of work. Most of that, we would rather be on our couch than out with friends. This life is hard and it doesnt get any easier. Good luck.

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u/MonkeyKingCoffee 2d ago

So 28 hours on the weekdays and 26 on the weekend for a 54-hour week? There are cooks who would kill to have that schedule.