As restaurant managers, the triumph and the tragedy of our business is that we must able to constantly re-prioritize. Every day is different, yet that's "the juice" for many of us in the industry. That's what makes this industry exciting and why we are in it. Even though our days can be wildly unpredictable, that does not mean we can't try to plan our days. Like any manager in any industry, planning your day is a crucial part to being successful. Over the years I have developed my own way of planning my work day. I call it "Four Corners". Please note this is not a revolutionary new tactic to management and I won't be writing a motivational book or offering seminars at a hotel conference room.

"Four Corners" is a simple way to plan your work day. All you need is a pen and piece of paper. Get to work ten minutes early and pour yourself a cup of coffee. On a sheet of paper, write the following: PREP (left hand corner), CLEAN (right hand corner, R&M (bottom left hand corner) and TO DO (bottom right hand corner). Fill in each category and you have begun the framework of your day.

PREP

Make a list of items that needs to be prepared for your menu. Regardless of the concept, there is always a prep list. Determine what needs to be made and most importantly when it needs to be made. Do you have enough to get through the lunch shift (or day, weekend, etc)? Of all the "Four Corners" categories, this is the most important. It dictates your day and determines when you will be able to tackle the other three corners.

CLEAN

Keeping a restaurant clean is one of the "holy three" of a successful restaurant and it must be done every day. List items that are in obvious need of a good cleaning and then add some details items. Make sure you hit all areas of the restaurant and be sure your "curb appeal" items (scrub entrance, polish entrance doors, etc) are always listed first. This daily cleaning list will prevent build up, "cleaning parties" (wasted labor) and help keep equipment in good working order (save on repairs).

R&M

Repairs and maintenance. Make a list of equipment that needs to be repaired or replaced. It can be anything from a fryer to changing air filters. Due to time or budget constraints, it may take days (or weeks, months) before you can have some equipment repaired. Therefore it's important to have these items carried over onto the next day so that they are not eventually overlooked.

TO DO

This is all the miscellaneous items that need to get done. Everything from writing a schedule, placing a food order or training an employee on a new position. Like R&M, some of theses items may linger and it's important to carry them over until they get done.

"Four Corners" does not offer a chronological order of things to get done, but it puts everything in front of you and forces you to think about your day (thus plan). So if you have a light PREP day, maybe you can knock out some of your TO DO items before lunch, and save some labor during the afternoon. Inversely, if you have a heavy PREP day and a cumbersome TO DO item such as a employee schedule, you know it may be necessary to keep an extra employee during a slow period in order to complete these tasks. While "Four Corners" can provide a good plan, it takes an individual to work the plan for it be successful. Plan your work, work your plan, and enjoy "the juice".