While the fast-paced kitchen environment is one factor that draws people to the culinary world, that same environment can often lead to stress. Whether you're a culinary school student working in a professional kitchen for the first time or a seasoned chef leading a team, sooner or later you're bound to experience a foggy mind or tense muscles.
While not all stress is bad -good stress called eustressCan Help Us Grow – Starting too much negative stress can potentially lead to physical ailments and poor work performance. With that in mind, it's important to tackle stress head-on.
Instead of pushing this stress aside, taking steps to manage it in a healthy way can both increase your productivity in the kitchen and improve your health. So keep these six tips in mind the next time you notice your heart racing, your focus slipping, or panic setting in.
1. Know your stressors
The first step in managing stress in a professional kitchen is identifying your own unique stressors.
While some people find the constant flow of tickets at dinnertime stressful, others may thrive on this seemingly endless list of tasks. At the same time, one person can be overwhelmed by the heat and noise of a kitchen, while the person next to them doesn't even notice the rattling pans and jumping burner flames.
While it's easy to say that your job as a whole (or the dinner rush) is stressful, try pinpointing the exact topic or circ*mstance you're having trouble with. Once you've identified what specifically is causing the stress, you can work on solving that problem. While you may not be able to eliminate the stressor completely, you can probably develop ways to reduce or cope with that stress if you find yourself in that situation.
2. Organize your station and your tasks
When you work in a kitchen, you often have a long list of tasks to complete every day. Even if you're only responsible for one dish, preparing that recipe can require more than ten ingredients and an even greater number of steps!
To keep track of these tasks and make them manageable,organize your to-do listas well as your physical workplace. Breaking down a big task (like making chicken tagine) into smaller tasks (like making a spice mix, cooking chicken, and chopping vegetables) can make your day feel more manageable. Additionally, crossing items off a list can give you a sense of satisfaction and empowerment.
When it comes to your physical workplace, practiceSet upensures you have everything you need to complete a specific task, so you can fully concentrate on the task at hand. Of course, sharpening your organizational skills can take both some training and practice. At Escoffier, students can discover how to properly read a recipe and prepare their ingredients and tools early on, then practice these skills throughout the rest of their program.
3. Strive for efficiency
Once you've organized what you need to do each day, figure out how to complete those tasks as efficiently as possible. This may involve learning to use specialized tools, such as mandolins and zesters, with greater skillsharpen your knivesso they cut easily. If you notice that your knowledge is not yet quite as you would like, you can benefit from your registrationonline kookschool.
In addition to thinking about your skills, think about how you can limit the number of unproductive actions or movements you make. For example, try introducing 'full hands', so that you never go anywhere in the kitchen without taking something with you. If you need to replenish an ingredient at your station, what dirty dishes can you take to the wash station along the way? If you have a pile of pots to wash, grab an extra dish towel or a few clean pans on the way back to the line.
"I would definitely say one of the most important lessons is attention to detail. It's how you place your knife next to your cutting board. It's how you fold your towel. It's the movements you make in the kitchen. There's no wasted movement, it's all choreographed."*
Bob Scherner, executive chef at Escoffier's Boulder Campus
"I would definitely say one of the most important lessons is attention to detail. It's how you place your knife next to your cutting board. It's how you fold your towel. It's the movements you make in the kitchen. There's no wasted movement, it's all choreographed."*Next, try to reduce travel between kitchen stations. Let's say there's an ingredient you regularly use as a garnish, but it's kept a few feet away at another station. Instead of taking the extra steps, keep a little more of the ingredient at your station to avoid having to go back and forth.
By working efficiently, you are less likely to become overwhelmed by delaying your work and slowing down other members of your team.
4. Take a deep breath
Even if you've done your best to limit the negative stressors you face, there will still be times when you feel a little overwhelmed. When this happens, you will notice that your breathing becomes rapid and shallow, a process that can further increase stress.
To stop this cycle of stress building, pause for a moment and take slow, deep breaths. This can serve as a reminder that you are in control of your actions, including how you respond to the environment around you. It's much better to take a moment to collect yourself than to curse at team members, make a mistake in a recipe, or forget safety protocols due to high stress levels.
Take the Culinary Career Survey
We've collected a checklist of all the essential questions in one handy tool: career options, culinary interest surveys, training opportunities and more.
5. Take care of your body
In addition to causing mental symptoms such as anxiety and lack of focus, stress can also lead to physical symptoms such as tense muscles, headaches, fatigue and digestive problems. When you think about dealing with these physical symptoms while working in the kitchen, you may find yourself even more stressed.
To counteract both the physical and mental effects of stress, make an effort to take care of your body both in and out of the kitchen.
Although kitchen chores are often physically demanding, you should try to exercise outside of work. ThatAmerican Physiological Associationreports that regular exercise can provide both a short-term mood boost and help with chronic stress. If people exercise regularly, they can better cope with potentially panic-inducing moments and long-term depression.
In addition to exercise, try to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Even though this seems like a big task,research showsthat adults who sleep at least eight hours every night are less likely to feel irritable, overwhelmed and tired.
When you are in the kitchen, make sure you wear supportive footwear and pay attention to your posture. You should also take time to drink water during busy shifts and eat healthy snacks that will keep you fueled throughout the day.
6. Ask for help
The best chefs know they can't do their job alone and aren't afraid to ask for help.
When you work in the kitchen, learning how to delegate tasks effectively can not only relieve some of your stress but also keep the kitchen running smoothly. To delegate you need to be able to see when you are in over your headInlearn to communicate with other members ofkitchen brigade.
While asking for help in the kitchen can reduce your stress somewhat, it's also important to know when you need outside help. If you feel overwhelmed by stress, consider talking to a professional counselor. These people may be able to give you specific ways to reduce and manage stress.
Christopher Diehl, chief instructor
"[I love] seeing the lights come on when a student really understands something he or she might have been afraid of. They get scared when they don't have the confidence. They have no idea... how you would do it at home When I see them accomplish something like this... they begin to see that what they thought was impossible is possible.'*Prepare for the kitchen at culinary school
Can being a chef be stressful? Sometimes. But by proactively dealing with stress in the kitchen, you can continue to fuel your passion for your craft and keep yourself at your best physically and mentally.
In addition to learning to manage stress, walking into the kitchen feeling prepared can help you get through your days with confidence and ease. One way to discover the techniques and skills that will help you excel in the kitchen is to participateculinary school.
Escoffier Culinary School students can explore concepts including knife skills, flavor development, food safety and more, and complete at least oneexternality of the industry. If you would like to learn more about whether culinary school can help you prepare for a career,Contact usToday.
For more on life in the kitchen, check out these:
- Is Culinary Art a Good Career Choice for You?
- The difference between a cook and a cook
- What it takes to be a chef
*The information may not reflect the experience of every student. Results and achievements may be based on various factors such as geographic region or past experience.
This article was originally published on December 12, 2015 and has since been updated.
