According to Merriam Webster: a culinary process in which ingredients are prepared and organized (as in a restaurant kitchen) before cooking.
As many of you know I was a professional chef for about a decade before I became a coach and an organizer. I learned many of the foundational principles of organizing while I was a chef. Actually, that learning process began while I was at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA.) They are serious about being organized and prepared. Mise en place is actually the school motto. For me it was a survival strategy. I need to be organized to be successful. But that doesn’t just apply to the kitchen, but to my whole life. Here are some organizational principles that I used in the kitchen that in one way or another translate.
- Keep the things you use most closest.
- If you can achieve the same end goal with fewer steps, do that!
- Get rid of stuff you don’t use/need.
- Clean up after yourself constantly so there isn’t big project clean up at the end.
- Be 100% prepared with everything you need before starting a larger project. It will save you time and completion will be more likely.
That’s off the top of my head. I’ll post more if I think of them. Next week I’m going to discuss “mental mise en place.”