How to Stay Healthy as a Restaurant Manager Without Burning Out
You and I both know that being a restaurant manager means constantly burning the candle at both ends. At times, we even feel sick because of lack of sleep and overwork. For too many of us, this usually ends up as a sacrifice of our health, both physical and mental. It doesn’t have to be this way. Let me show you how you can stay devoted to your job and maintain your health and sanity at the same time. As you maintain your physical, mental, and spiritual health, your job will also maintain its health.
1. Mental Health
Your mental health will start to deteriorate if you do not keep it in check. Too many times I’ve seen managers think they are in control when they aren’t and usually end up yelling at customers, employees, or, god-forbid, their family and friends. Staying mentally sharp will make or break your ability as a manager. Therefore, keep your mind healthy.
One thing I like to do to keep my mental health in check is to keep an hour of calm, quiet thought each day to let my mind-noise settle down so that I can sleep better and process my decisions in a clearer mind for work the next day. Your mind needs rest just like your body. Use some time to stay off your phone or anything else related to work.
It’s important to keep boundaries with work. I know you have to keep your phone on at all times and always be available, but you can still try to value the time off that you have while still being on call 24/7. When you focus on doing as best a job you can while you are at work to make the restaurant into a store that runs independently of your help, you can more often rest in knowing you won’t have to be called in. So, when you work harder at work, you are able to rest harder at home.
The idea is to use your valuable time as wisely as possible. Try to avoid any activities that hurt your body, mind, or spirit. When you get off work, don’t mindlessly scroll. Definitely don’t do a bunch of scrolling before bed. It keeps your mind wired up and when you go to work the next day, your mind hasn’t rested fully in sleep and your mind will not be able to make clear conscious thoughts and decisions for the work to be good.
The best way to do this is to keep work at work and home at home.
Another method I do often is to keep all my work, even chores and cleaning, on my workdays. This way, when I have a day off, I can truly use it as a day off. Many people like to save their work for their off days, but when they spend the whole day cleaning or cooking and getting ready for the next day, they feel upset when they return to work without getting to enjoy their time off. It’s a to-each-their-own sort of situation, but I truly feel better working extra hard on six days to have a seventh day that is as restful as possible.
If you take meds, take your meds. They are the only way some of us can get through the day at all.
2. Physical health
Physical health is also important to maintain as a restaurant manager, and at many times, it’s the most difficult aspect of health to maintain. Not all of us managers have the opportunity to work at a restaurant that has plenty of healthy options. When you are offered plenty of free unhealthy food, it’s difficult to say no. But the unhealthy junk food that we sell will catch up to us quicker than we hope for, and it’s not a diet that can sustain a work like ours. Therefore, it’s important to keep your body in check in the same way that you keep your mind and spirit in check. The thought of I could save money and time by just eating at work is a thought I’ve had almost every day. But scarfing down a slice of pizza or fried chicken is not a way to help yourself in the long term.
I’m a big guy and it’s easy for me to put on weight, so I often need to put myself on a diet. Believe me, I know how difficult it is to lose weight when you have free unhealthy food. Dieting is almost impossible when you have free unhealthy food and a variable schedule. I’ve tried intermittent fasting, but it’s very difficult to do when you may be working a schedule where sometimes you can’t guarantee a meal at the same time window each day. How will you count calories when you are eating partial portions and random scraps of food that the crew eats for free?
My go-to diet when I’m in the thick of the management hurricane is the keto diet. It balances my blood sugar so I’m able to work longer and better. I still lose weight, and I have less hunger. It is more difficult to get on the diet, but once I get through the keto flu (which I am normally able to work through) not only am I able to easily lose weight, but I am also able to work more efficiently.
If keto isn’t for you, try doing some meal prep and bring it to work to try to keep from the temptation of eating the food at work. Even sandwiches can often be a better option than the food at work.
When all else fails, gas station salads can be a way to get a healthy meal in for a reasonable price.
In addition, do some sort of exercise. I know you rarely have time or energy for the gym each day, and a long run is the last thing you want to do right before a Friday rush. But doing at least a little bit of some sort of exercise each day keeps your body ready to take on another day. My goal is to always do some sort of cardio or resistance training depending on what my body feels up to. Often my body is not ready for any sort of strenuous exercise, so I at least do some stretching in front of the TV. You’d be surprised how helpful a regular stretching routine can be for your physical and mental health.
3. Spiritual Health
I’m not going to tell you to make time for church or prayer, but this job will wear you down emotionally unless you maintain some sort of spiritual practice to help support you. As I said earlier, I always make a point to have about an hour of quiet, spaced thought each day. I often use that time for meditation and journaling. It’s so important to always come back to a place of peace and remember your “Why” behind your work. It’s not good enough to only remember your “why” when you need it. But if you maintain your personal goals in the forefront of your mind as the reason for why you do the work you do, you will be much more calm and less stressed the work that you actually do.
I often talk about setting yourself up for success. When you feel discouraged in the job, which we often do, we can look back on the progress we’ve made as an encouragement for our performance.
In addition, don’t neglect those things that make you who you are. If you love music, try to play as much as you can. If you love sports, keep up to date with your teams as much as possible. Remember that life is lived in the moment, so even if you feel you are giving 100% of your attention to work, do your best to work just a bit harder, but use that extra work as a gift to you from you.
For example, I love Indian food. I make it part of my budget of both time and money to hit up a new Indian food restaurant with my friends as much as I can. My ultimate goal is to open a restaurant on the beaches of Kerala, India. I may feel guilty about spending the money, but I choose to give myself that experience as a gift for working so hard at my job. I like to think of it as the reason I work – to enjoy life’s fun experiences. Find the reason you work and experience just a little bit of that each day. That little bit of hope and fun can keep you going through the most difficult parts of the job.
A store is only as healthy as its leader. Be sure to take care of yourself in the same way that you take care of your restaurant. Never forget that a manager who goes crazy or gets sick very rarely gets second chances. Your boss will be much more forgiving if you tell them you need a break than if you completely lose it mentally.
You take care of everyone else enough already. Don’t forget about you.