Chef Self Care Tips

Chef - Here's 8 tips to help you look after yourself

Editor’s note: Chef Self Care Tips was originally published in January 2021 and updated in May 2022.

Working as a chef provides much more than making a living. Your chef job provides structure, purpose, social support and meaning to the day-to-day. So if you don’t have one, that can impact your sense of identity, weekly routine and financial situation. Quickly taking its toll on your mental health and wellbeing.

As the industry rises from its Covid slumber, this year will undoubtedly be better than the last couple. But there’s still a lot of uncertainty hovering over the hospitality sector.

Fluctuating consumer interest towards eating out and travel is not being helped by price and tax rises. A period of sustained recovery is by no means assured. So even chefs currently working cannot guarantee they’ll escape the impact of a downturn in the sector. It’s seems wise for all chefs to be mindful of taking care of themselves in these uncertain times.

Chef self care tips – 1. Be kind to yourself

It’s useful to challenge negative self-talk, such as ‘it’s all my fault I don’t have a job’, ‘nobody is going to want to employ me’, or ‘what’s the point in even trying!’ Psychologists recognise that this sort of self-defeating talk doesn’t help, and an important first step is to start challenging this negative way of thinking.

2. Keep a regular daily routine

When you no longer have a job to report to every day, you can easily lose momentum. Consider your chef job seeking a job in itself with a daily ‘start’ and ‘end’ time. Try to incorporate regular times for exercise and networking. Following a set schedule will help you be more productive and maintain a healthy rhythm to your week.

Chef self care tips – 3. Create a chef job search plan

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the prospect of job hunting. Try breaking big goals into small, manageable tasks. Set some priorities, such as revising your chef CV, seeking out different references and designate times to monitor job websites.

4. Stay healthy

The saying ‘a healthy mind lives in a healthy body’ is especially true if you’re going through a period of unemployment or chef job uncertainty. Keep up the regular exercise, eat well, and if you have a health issue, go along to the GP to sort it out before it becomes more serious.

Chef self care tips – 5. Remind yourself about your positives

Write down a list of all the moments when you succeeded, or been really proud of a project that you’ve been involved in. List your skills and positive personality traits, and the people who you have supported and helped over the years. Look at this list regularly as positive reinforcement of your value at work.

Compass Chef Recruitment

6. Find activities that give your life ‘meaning’

Of course, a big part of work is earning money, but for many of us it also gives us a strong sense of meaning and connection to others. In quieter times create meaningful engagement elsewhere, take up a hobby, learn something new, or support a charitable or local community group.

Chef self care tips – 7. Focus on the things you can control

Try to focus your energy on things you can actually control. You can’t control how quickly or whether an employer decides to hire you as their next star chef. But you can focus on tidying up your CV, upskilling yourself, submitting chef job applications and expanding your networks. Set your own standards of success – for example – I successfully applied for ten chef jobs this week.

8. Know when to get more assistance

If you’re experiencing a persistent low mood or overwhelming feelings of hopelessness, seek professional support. You are not alone and there are many organisations that can be found online that exist to help.

Stay strong chef!

 Get Direct Job Offers  |  Login  | Hiring? Blog Home