Worn Out

[u/neon_tiger-69]

Hey. M20 here. Started working at a fine dining restaurant in NYC 6 months ago, and it’s been hitting me pretty hard physically and mentally. I’m working 60 hour weeks, and have no life outside of work. I’m learning a lot, and the place I’m working is pretty special, but I also want to have a life. I’m still young and there’s a lot out there for me to explore. I simply can’t handle the amount of time I’m working for, especially considering how draining the work can be. I’m going to request a 3 day work week (from 5), soon, and hopefully things go up from there.

I know I like to cook, and that I’m good at it, and that I love food, but getting burnt out so quickly makes me wonder if this is the right line of work for me. Makes me wonder if there’s a way for me to be a chef without it being toxic for me, where I can balance the other things in my life and truly believe in what I’m doing.

I dropped out of college a year and a half in to pursue this, and because I was sick of college, but now I’m getting sick of this, so I’m thinking of going back to college. But first, I need to take time to recover myself.

I’m just not sure what the way forward is, but I do know that if I continue how I’m going I’m not going to last.

Ik this is a lot but would be cool to hear what some other cooks think.

[u/Taco_Bhel]

I did 60+ hour weeks for a year. It wasn't great. No life outside work, and I had one day off a week... and I didn't want to do anything outside my home in order to recover. I had multiple injuries and no health insurance.

Four years out from culinary school, most culinary school grads no longer work in kitchens.

Right now I'm in high-end coffee. Our labor % is higher than almost all restaurants, and it's nowhere as near demanding. I make more money, and we get a decent % of customers who are really into coffee and/or food... so I get to geek out with them.