Page 13 - foodservice magazine September 2018

HUCK’S RANT
13
Afew years ago my work/life balance had me feeling a little broken. The scales tipped heavily in favour of the drudgery of the daily grind. It almost ground me to a halt.
I was under the illusion that the harder you push, the further you’ll go. But the process can have you screaming on the dip of a roller coaster or worse, simply get you in a rut if you’re not finding your equilibrium. It meant whenever
I wasn’t pushing the pen I was bending my arm faster than a
A good life, and success anywhere requires balance, and I’m under no illusion in appreciating that working in hospitality makes that quite hard. An intense physical and mental workload combine with absurd hours that can really take its toll on you.
Not only did my life change but my writing benefited too.
But life is about as predictable as a bee that’s taken a swig of tequila. Although I worked out a fulfilling life/work balance, everything is a little different
at Castle Huck lately and I’ve had to re-consider how the hell to balance it all again.
Yep, children. Not only is
my dad bod finally getting the recognition it deserves, but we scored two Hucks for the price of one. Yep, Holy Huck folks, it’s double-trouble town right here.
Life as we knew it seems like a romantic dream that happened to another couple.
Our lives now revolve around multiple burps, vomits and farts. The twins do them sometimes too.
Anyway, the very thought of work/life balance has the scales tipping heavily towards nappy changes and I’m left weighing up work verse sleep instead. But, I love it.
A good life, and success anywhere requires balance, and I’m under no illusion in appreciating that working in hospitality makes that quite hard. An intense physical and mental workload combine with
absurd hours that can really take its toll on you. The thing that’s completely absurd though is that scribes, critics and consumers alike never really think of the life of hospitality workers away from their venue. That they’re actually people too. They have families, mortgages, and well, responsibilities beyond catering for their guests every whim during service. They even eat in restaurants too and just because they howl at the moon en route home after each shift, it doesn’t mean they don’t have their own wolf pack to feed. But restaurants make such a slim margin, making them so very hands on it’s hard to find balance.
But mastering life/work balance could mean the difference between making a profit and watching administrators padlock your front door. Spending too many hours at work can not only be detrimental to your home life, it can affect your health and decrease productivity with the very things you think you’re mastering. You’ll be far more efficient by working less, but smarter. The happier you are, the more efficient you are too. So carpe diem, baby. And make time for the things that make you smile.
GOT THE LIFE
WITH SOME WELCOME ADDITIONS SHIFTING HIS OWN PRIORITIES, ANTHONY HUCKSTEP CONTEMPLATES HOW BEST TO ACHIEVE A WORK/LIFE BALANCE AND HOW IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE FOR HOSPITALITY PROFESSIONALS.
Anthony Huckstep is the national restaurant critic for delicious. and a food writer for The Australian, GQ Australia and QANTAS.
one-legged man in a butt-kicking competition. You can’t chase ghosts with alcohol for too long or soon enough you’ll become one yourself. I re-evaluated everything in my life and decided to use that spongy thing between my ears rather than worry about what others expected. I took myself out of almost
all environments, considered what I wanted to achieve and what gave me fulfilment away from the typewriter.