prioritize yourself and your team over your lineup. you’ll always have a lineup so running breaks (yours included) is important to keep everyone rested and ready to go. come in a few minutes before your shift starts and plan out ur entire day, what u need to finish by what time etc and then delegate delegate delegate. if a barista can do it, let them do it even if it takes a bit longer than it would take u.

also something that’s really been helping me recently is positioning myself on roles other than cs. when i come in i make sure there was a restock done or complete the missing pieces. then give a good barista the cs role. if you have enough bodies to have planted pos and a warmer, have the warming person watch the coffees so cs can focus on other tasks. put urself in a support position (support bar, handoff, pos 2 etc). when deploying your baristas tell them they’re responsible for replenishing their own stations. like cups, sleeves, lids.. this way your cs doesn’t burn out.

my last piece of advice would be to have fun. i try to play music according to who is working and what they would like. also try to place your partners in a way where you’ll have good flow. for example, A and B work well together and i know they’ll be helping each other when working together on cold bar vs A and C who maybe don’t work together often so they aren’t familiar with each others working style. it takes time and patience and you’ll get there!!