6 Signs You Need a Personal Chef (Before You're Totally Burned Out)

There probably isn't going to be a moment when you dramatically announce, "That's it. I need a personal chef." It's usually a lot less dramatic than that. Dinner just starts feeling harder than it should. You're ordering takeout more than you want to. The groceries you bought with very good intentions are still sitting in the refrigerator. And somehow the completely reasonable question, "What's for dinner?" makes you want to scream. If any of this sounds familiar, it might not mean you need a better meal-planning system. It might mean you're ready to stop being the person responsible for making dinner happen.

1. You think about dinner way more than you actually cook dinner

What are we having? Do we have everything? Who's going to be home? Will the kids eat it? Do I need to thaw something? When am I going to the grocery store? Dinner has a sneaky way of taking up space in your brain long before anyone sits down to eat it. If you're tired of carrying that running list around in your head, that's a pretty good sign you don't just need help with the cooking. You need help with the whole job.

2. You're ordering takeout more than you actually want to

There is absolutely nothing wrong with takeout. Sometimes it is exactly what the night calls for. But there's a difference between "Let's get pizza tonight!" and the DoorDash driver knowing your children's names. If takeout has become the backup plan to not having a plan, you may be ready for a different kind of help.

3. You keep buying groceries you don't have time to cook

You had a plan when you bought the chicken. You really did. And yet here you are, several days later, looking at it in the refrigerator and trying to remember exactly when you bought it. If you're regularly throwing away food you intended to cook, the problem may not be grocery shopping. The problem may be that the version of you standing in the grocery store has wildly optimistic expectations for the version of you who gets home at 6 p.m.

4. Part of your weekend is devoted to getting ready to feed everyone

Meal planning. Grocery shopping. Washing produce. Prepping. Maybe batch cooking if you're really on top of things. All of those things work. But they also take time. If Sunday has become the day you spend preparing to feed everyone Monday through Friday, maybe you’re ready to reconsider how you're spending your day off.

5. You're perfectly capable of making dinner. You just don't want it to be your job anymore.

This one might be the biggest. A lot of our clients know how to cook. They could plan meals, go to the grocery store, make dinner, and clean the kitchen. They also have careers, kids, appointments, sports, travel, aging parents, volunteer commitments, relationships, and about 4,000 other things competing for their attention. Being capable of doing something doesn't mean it has to keep being your job.

6. "What's for dinner?" has started to feel like a personal attack

Okay, maybe attack is a little strong. But if someone asks you this completely innocent question and your internal response is wildly disproportionate to what was actually asked, we see you. Because sometimes it's not the question itself. It's knowing that you're the one who has to have the answer. Again.

You don't have to wait until you're completely burned out

You don't need to be overwhelmed, exhausted, or ‘one forgotten grocery trip away from a breakdown’ to hire a personal chef.

Maybe you're just ready for someone else to think about dinner.

And honestly, wouldn't that be nice?

6pm changes here.

Ready to see what having dinner handled could look like? Learn more about our Weekly Personal Chef Service or schedule a consultation. We'd love to talk!

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