Have you ever felt that there was no time left in the day to complete all the tasks necessary to conduct your business tasks?

If you have ever wondered if there is a way to help offset this time poor scenario, I believe that I have the answer!

Early in my hospitality career (all of 25 years of age), my ex Father in Law Fred Mills would tell me;

“….when I was getting tired  I must have been working more than 4 hours in a stint!”

What? No-one worked those hours in a shift, let alone in a day in the 60’s/early 70’s, and if you did you’d most likely be forgiven for thinking that you would eventually end up selling the Hotel. 

Fred continued:

“In order to get through two days in one day, you must, categorically must, have a sleep in the afternoon and this should occur somewhere around 1PM to 1.30pm until 3.30pm each day…

“Other than serious incidents, no one; not employees, supply reps, family members or customers are to interrupt this break…and it does not mean you should go upstairs & watch TV or read a book; you must darken the room and have a sleep….,” he finished.

Timing of the venue’s service was another issue I recall saying at the time; that there is the lunch time trade to consider and the general expectations of employees and customers to see the licensee in the Bar, amongst other reasons.

Fred would wisely advise:

“I’m not saying this will be easy to plan and you may have to vary the timing on certain days in order for it to work effectively; but you must persevere at establishing this routine, to preserve your sanity and importantly…to get through the two days in one day…” 

Well…bullet proof & a hundred foot tall, I blundered my way through my first weeks in the trade working 8/10 hours per day…sacrilege I hear you say, but it’s true, until at about 6 weeks after start, I couldn’t work the hours any longer & importantly, I didn’t want to speak to anyone and that means anyone (especially all of the people mentioned in the above paragraph).

Talk about lesson learnt.

So, reluctantly I tried out Fred’s recipe for success….and it worked!

After a couple of weeks of adjustment, I managed to build a schedule that seemed to fit the routine required.

Of course this marvellous invention was too hard to hide & suggesting to Fred that I had re-invented the wheel was subtlety accepted with a knowing & supportive grin…a great mentor.

I followed that concept for the rest on my working days in Hotels and it never let me down…

Give it a try and let me know how you go! You will find your own workable schedule, just as I found mine.

Catch up soon.
Bruce Strickland
Membership Executive

For further in depth information on this article! and AHAWA support services, please contact Bruce Strickland on 9444 0402 or 0409 062 582 for an obligation free discussion.