Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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anxiety (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by Shoddy-Trainer-8051
Anyone else sometimes get crippling anxiety over a shift? I open in less than an hour but I haven’t slept all night, I’ve kept my boyfriend up moving around so much I moved to the couch and I’m just so anxious about going in today after a 4 day break that I’ve started crying. I know it’s not the worst job and whatnot but it’s just so exhausting…
coffee-and-chillll 7 points 6m ago
I definitely do! It might not be the worst job, but it definitely gives me anxiety especially if I’ve been off for a few days. I think it’s because at this job, we’re required to be at 100% and constant multitasking during our entire shift. For example, when I used to open, the moment I clocked in I had to hurry up and I’d have such major anxiety the night before that I was gonna miss my alarm or forget to do things when I was opening. It always feels like missing one little task will significantly affect things if I don’t come into work at 100% and remember everything I need to do at the right time.
Idk if I just move slow or what, but at this job it always feels like I can’t move fast enough with tasks and am just constantly falling behind, but I think that also has to do with minimal labor which means fewer partners working who are responsible for all the tasks getting done.
I’m a barista now, but when I was a shift it was severely worse. Knowing I was responsible for such significant tasks such as money and running the shift freaked me out, and it never felt right for me. Just know that it’s not just you, and honestly I blame the company for the anxiety we get. They have ridiculous expectations for us, are always reducing labor while expecting the same tasks to get done, and the whole store setup just isn’t realistic or efficient. This job is mission impossible every shift, and that takes a toll and is incredibly stressful when things feel impossible and it feels like one wrong move will mess up the entire shift.
The only thing I’ve really found to be helpful is not being a perfectionist at work, meaning if all tasks don’t get done I don’t beat myself up about it. That was really hard for me to start doing because I’ve always valued getting everything done and having everything in a good spot at the store to make things easier for my coworkers, but I’ve had to let that go because it’s just not realistic. It’s also helpful to remember this job is a *team effort*, therefore all of the pressure is not on you. It’s not an individual role, it’s a team role, so I remind myself all of the unrealistic expectations aren’t just on my shoulders.
Wishing you all the best ✨
Idk if I just move slow or what, but at this job it always feels like I can’t move fast enough with tasks and am just constantly falling behind, but I think that also has to do with minimal labor which means fewer partners working who are responsible for all the tasks getting done.
I’m a barista now, but when I was a shift it was severely worse. Knowing I was responsible for such significant tasks such as money and running the shift freaked me out, and it never felt right for me. Just know that it’s not just you, and honestly I blame the company for the anxiety we get. They have ridiculous expectations for us, are always reducing labor while expecting the same tasks to get done, and the whole store setup just isn’t realistic or efficient. This job is mission impossible every shift, and that takes a toll and is incredibly stressful when things feel impossible and it feels like one wrong move will mess up the entire shift.
The only thing I’ve really found to be helpful is not being a perfectionist at work, meaning if all tasks don’t get done I don’t beat myself up about it. That was really hard for me to start doing because I’ve always valued getting everything done and having everything in a good spot at the store to make things easier for my coworkers, but I’ve had to let that go because it’s just not realistic. It’s also helpful to remember this job is a *team effort*, therefore all of the pressure is not on you. It’s not an individual role, it’s a team role, so I remind myself all of the unrealistic expectations aren’t just on my shoulders.
Wishing you all the best ✨
TarantulaTeeth13 3 points 6m ago
So much this. I'm an ssv still, and had huge anxiety when I was an opener. I switched to nights and it's made a good difference in helping me "let go" of shouldering so much responsibly, and u give my baristas realistic expectations while highlighting important items " we Def need whips but if you can get vsc done too that'd rock!"
I have a great team tho, I know I'm lucky.
I have a great team tho, I know I'm lucky.
coffee-and-chillll 1 points 6m ago
I did the same when I was an ssv! I started off as an opening ssv and that was a nightmare, and when I switched to nights it helped some. Overall, nights are a total different atmosphere as customers tend to be a bit less cranky. That helped a lot, but overtime handoffs from the morning to evening shifts got really bad and I just couldn’t be an ssv anymore.
It became this whole thing of the morning crew handing off to me with a mountain of dishes, no backups, no restocking, no counts done, etc. yet openers were expecting perfect closes from us. It constantly felt like a losing battle, and stepping down to barista was such a relief to me. I thrive when I’m helping and supporting the ssv, but when I was running the show it was just too much. It also got so much worse when they cut evening labor and I was having to do breaks at 4pm when we were closing at 9pm lol because we lost our third person at 5pm and it was just me and a barista until 9pm.
I’m happy to hear you have a great team though, that’s crucial and such a game changer for this job, and things have gotten better for you since switching to nights :) Wishing you all the best 💫
It became this whole thing of the morning crew handing off to me with a mountain of dishes, no backups, no restocking, no counts done, etc. yet openers were expecting perfect closes from us. It constantly felt like a losing battle, and stepping down to barista was such a relief to me. I thrive when I’m helping and supporting the ssv, but when I was running the show it was just too much. It also got so much worse when they cut evening labor and I was having to do breaks at 4pm when we were closing at 9pm lol because we lost our third person at 5pm and it was just me and a barista until 9pm.
I’m happy to hear you have a great team though, that’s crucial and such a game changer for this job, and things have gotten better for you since switching to nights :) Wishing you all the best 💫
spicyychorizo 2 points 6m ago
I did! It was horrible and I’d always have nightmares about work too. Once I quit my body slowly stopped defaulting to anxiety and I felt like a new person
overturned23 2 points 6m ago
Yeah definitely. especially opening as key holder when i’m a night owl, I get very paranoid i’m gonna over sleep.
[deleted] 0 points 6m ago
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