Marcel Riemer's Blog - Posts Tagged "slammingitout"
MULTI-TASKING IS NONSENSE!
Hungry for some Kitchen Wisdom? Let’s dig right into it!
On today’s menu:
If You Don’t Have Time, Then You Don’t Have Priorities!
I like this statement from Tim Ferris. It hits the nail on its head. Some call it time management, other people call it priority setting. Some folks even claim that time management was yesterday.
I think time needs to be appreciated first and foremost. It is the most precious thing we have. Money comes, money goes. You can lose money and you can make money back. Not so with time. Anyway, you need time to make money. If you don’t have time, how can you make money then?
Setting priorities is a skill everybody can learn and needs to learn. We are so distracted these days, as it’s all about eyeballs. Everything needs to be instant, a quick fix. Delay of gratification became an alien concept. Discipline and focus go hand in hand with being able to set priorities.
Prioritizing means budgeting your time, allocating it. Since time can only be spent, ideally invested — not gained — it is important that you improve your priority setting skills. You might think that you are spending your time on something, but be very careful, as you might be just wasting it.
Figure out what activities are moving you forward and growing you. Ask yourself, what activities develop you further in order to achieve your goals. Time allocation is crucial here. It is one of the biggest secrets. For these activities you want to allocate the proper time.
Setting priorities is important in the kitchen environment. Time is valuable. You have a certain amount of time available to prepare all your items, your mise en place. The restaurant opens at lunch time and people want to eat. You have to be ready!
I remember when I worked in a fine dining restaurant in San Diego, California. The shift started at 2 pm. I had exactly two and a half hours to prepare my section. Then I went to take my thirty-minute break. When I came back, additional prep needed to be done until the service started at around 5:30 pm. I can tell you that I had to organize myself very well. Literally every minute counted and sometimes I was struggling. If I fell behind by just five or ten minutes, I could feel the consequences.
Nothing is worse when the service starts and your section is not ready. You can literally find yourself in very hot water, as every task is timed to the minute. You have no other choice. Either you learn that, or you are simply not made for this kind of job. Not everyone is suitable.
I give you an example: When you have a stock to prepare and some carrots to peel, what task would you start first? What should be your priority? You start with the preparation of the stock, because the stock will later simmer and reduce by itself. And while the stock is reducing you can dedicate your time to peeling the carrots. You will learn all this. It comes with practice. There are many things which need to be done in the kitchen kind of simultaneously.
That does not mean that I am a worshipper of multi-tasking. Multi-tasking is nonsense.
Learn how to set priorities!
Hungry for more kitchen wisdom? Check out my new book “Slamming It Out! How I got shit done in 5* kitchens” at: https://amzn.to/2MB8NZc
Now available as eBook and paperback version!
Thanks for reading!
Marcel
On today’s menu:
If You Don’t Have Time, Then You Don’t Have Priorities!
I like this statement from Tim Ferris. It hits the nail on its head. Some call it time management, other people call it priority setting. Some folks even claim that time management was yesterday.
I think time needs to be appreciated first and foremost. It is the most precious thing we have. Money comes, money goes. You can lose money and you can make money back. Not so with time. Anyway, you need time to make money. If you don’t have time, how can you make money then?
Setting priorities is a skill everybody can learn and needs to learn. We are so distracted these days, as it’s all about eyeballs. Everything needs to be instant, a quick fix. Delay of gratification became an alien concept. Discipline and focus go hand in hand with being able to set priorities.
Prioritizing means budgeting your time, allocating it. Since time can only be spent, ideally invested — not gained — it is important that you improve your priority setting skills. You might think that you are spending your time on something, but be very careful, as you might be just wasting it.
Figure out what activities are moving you forward and growing you. Ask yourself, what activities develop you further in order to achieve your goals. Time allocation is crucial here. It is one of the biggest secrets. For these activities you want to allocate the proper time.
Setting priorities is important in the kitchen environment. Time is valuable. You have a certain amount of time available to prepare all your items, your mise en place. The restaurant opens at lunch time and people want to eat. You have to be ready!
I remember when I worked in a fine dining restaurant in San Diego, California. The shift started at 2 pm. I had exactly two and a half hours to prepare my section. Then I went to take my thirty-minute break. When I came back, additional prep needed to be done until the service started at around 5:30 pm. I can tell you that I had to organize myself very well. Literally every minute counted and sometimes I was struggling. If I fell behind by just five or ten minutes, I could feel the consequences.
Nothing is worse when the service starts and your section is not ready. You can literally find yourself in very hot water, as every task is timed to the minute. You have no other choice. Either you learn that, or you are simply not made for this kind of job. Not everyone is suitable.
I give you an example: When you have a stock to prepare and some carrots to peel, what task would you start first? What should be your priority? You start with the preparation of the stock, because the stock will later simmer and reduce by itself. And while the stock is reducing you can dedicate your time to peeling the carrots. You will learn all this. It comes with practice. There are many things which need to be done in the kitchen kind of simultaneously.
That does not mean that I am a worshipper of multi-tasking. Multi-tasking is nonsense.
Learn how to set priorities!
Hungry for more kitchen wisdom? Check out my new book “Slamming It Out! How I got shit done in 5* kitchens” at: https://amzn.to/2MB8NZc
Now available as eBook and paperback version!
Thanks for reading!
Marcel
