Take a moment to remember the last time you cooked in an unfamiliar kitchen. Maybe it was at a friend’s house; maybe it was an Airbnb. Remember the feeling of not being sure where things are, the slightly frustrating inefficiency of working in that kitchen?
Compare that to how it feels to cook in your own kitchen, where everything is exactly where you expect it to be. At home, you can move quickly and smoothly from task to task without ever stopping to wonder, Where the Hell are the spatulas?
Professional chefs take this to a higher level, practicing mise en place, which is chef-speak (also French) for “everything in its place.” Chefs prepare for a night of cooking by carefully setting up their workspace to maximize efficiency. Every ingredient and every tool that they might need is placed nearby, within arm’s reach if possible. And everything is placed in the same location every day, so that they can grab, say, a pinch of paprika, without even looking.
Now, chefs do this because they have to. Restaurant kitchens are so busy that, if you didn’t practice mise en place, you would fail to keep up with the pace of orders. But you don’t have to need mise en place to use it. All of us can benefit from this principle, and it extends far beyond the kitchen.
Home Office
If you’re an office worker, I bet you’ve taken the time to set up your desk much like a chef’s work station. But now, if you’re lucky enough to still be working, you’re probably working from home. Is your home office equally well organized? Are the resources and tools you need at arm’s reach? Have you cleared away or at least minimized distractions?
I’ve created a wrap-around desk for myself by placing a bookshelf to the right of my desk and a table to the left. Many items that I want to access occasionally are on the bookshelf, so they’re always at arm’s reach. And the table allows me to spread out various papers and materials I want to see or use during my workday: books, notes, my to-do lists, my calendar chain, etc. I recognize that not everyone has the space for this type of setup, but if you do, I highly recommend it over the standard desk-as-an-island model.
Beyond Work
And what about the rest of your home? Are the spaces in it optimized for their purpose? Or are they cluttered with things out of place? How you can get your home environment more dialed in? One minor example is my cell phone charger. Some people move theirs around from day-to-day. Mine is in a fixed location, taped to the dresser in my bedroom. I can find it blind and in the dark, first try, every time.
And mise en place isn’t just about efficiency; it’s also a willpower strategy. Apply The 20-Second Rule and make healthy choices more accessible while simultaneously making unhealthy choices less convenient. One example is my home gym. There are no obstacles between me and my exercise equipment; there’s no setup required. If I want to work out, I can start immediately.
Another benefit of using mise en place is enhanced creativity. When the basics are all taken care of, your mind has more time and energy to devote to deep thinking and innovative problem-solving. This is the paradox of routines and consistency: They seem like they would inhibit creativity because they’re so rigid, but the opposite is true. Chaos is mentally exhausting, so a well-organized life leads to more creativity, not less.
Mise en place is really about reducing friction. It allows you to perform the tasks you want to perform quickly and smoothly. But this doesn’t just increase your productivity; it improves your whole relationship with your environment. Mise en place can make everything from working from home to working out feel more natural. It improves your state of mind and makes it easier to choose what’s best for you.
P.S. If you wish your kids were better about maintaining an organized home study space, this is a great way to lead by example. And remember, right now, modeling the behaviors you want to see is more important than ever.
Note: This post was inspired by this episode of Hidden Brain, in which Shankar Vedantam interviews Wendy Wood, author of Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick
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