You can only make one drink at a time!

One of my greatest learning experiences happened when I was 22. I got a job as a bartender at an event center. While I was very familiar how bars worked, my experience was from the customer side of things. When I walked into my first night on the job, the only drink I knew how to make was a rum and Coke, because the name kind of tells you all you need to know. To make matters worse, upon arrival I was told they were shorthanded that night and I’d have to learn on the job “under fire.” The good news: I was paired with a very experienced partner who would show me the ropes as the night went on.

As I took my station and met my co-bartender for the night he explained, at this party the only thing I would need to do is pour beer, wine and the two different kinds of drinks that were already premixed in pitchers. It all seemed efficient and simple enough for a total newbie like myself.

At first it was pretty easy; a few people strolled into the room and asked for a beer or wine or a drink. I gave them their order, took their money and gave them change. I felt confident and ready for the night to proceed.

My confident feeling did not last long. Soon the room filled with what seemed like hundreds of people. Suddenly the bar was crowded four and five people deep demanding their beverages. I started to panic. I was trying to pour a drink for one person while taking an order from another and making change for a third. It only took a minute before I starting mixing up who was getting what and then they began to yell at me louder. As the pressure grew my confidence shrunk; I was doing a very bad job.

Suddenly, with dozens of people clamoring around the bar a hand was on my shoulder, it was my co-worker. He asked me to take a couple of steps back away from the bar and he gave me some of the best advice of my life: “You can only make one drink at a time.” He continued, “When we turn back around, take the order from the first person you see and don’t talk to or look at any other until they get that drink and they pay for it. Then do the same with the next person. Others will yell at you and try to interrupt you but don’t pay attention to them till it’s their turn. They will wait.”

I turned around and took the order from a woman standing directly across the bar from me. Just as he said, others tried to get in between me and my customer but they waited as he predicted. In a matter of a few minutes all had been served. Most importantly, my confidence had begun to build again.

From time to time we all find ourselves feeling overwhelmed. We have too many people demanding our attention simultaneously and it can begin to strip our confidence and become too much. Often that is when mistakes are made and people burn out. It’s those times that I always remember the wise words of my co-bartender from so many years ago, “You can only make one drink at a time” and I grab one task, finished it, move on to the next and the next and soon, my desk clears making room for the next overwhelming wave of projects I need to get done.

 By Phil Berbig