#652: Chefs' Secrets for Organizing Your Life

17 snips

Oct 14, 2020

Dan Charnas, author of "Everything in Its Place," shares insights from his interviews with over 100 chefs about the organizational philosophy of mise-en-place. He explains how this kitchen principle can revolutionize everyday life, emphasizing preparation, process, and presence. Listeners learn about effective checklists, the transformative 30-minute "meeze," and the importance of a clean work environment. Charnas also critiques traditional time management techniques, advocating for a structured approach that balances creativity with organization.

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INSIGHT

Mise en Place for Everyone

Chefs use mise en place, a system for efficiency and readiness, to manage the chaos of a busy kitchen.
Dan Charnas realized its potential application outside the kitchen, leading to his book.

INSIGHT

Principles of Mise en Place

Mise en place isn't just a set of rules; it's a philosophy with three principles: planning, process, and presence.
It involves preparing, following established procedures, and maintaining situational awareness.

ADVICE

Squaring Lists with Calendars

Square your checklists with your calendar by allocating specific times for tasks.
Treat these scheduled tasks with the same importance as a job interview.

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The kitchen of a busy restaurant can be a chaotic, frenetic environment. But the best chefs create a kind of personal eye in this storm, from which they can efficiently craft meal after meal without ever moving their feet. The system they use to do this is called mise-en-place -- a French word that means "to put in place," and signifies an entire lifestyle of readiness and engagement.

My guest today spent years interviewing over a hundred chefs and other culinary professionals about the mise-en-place philosophy and then translated it into a system that can be used outside the kitchen in a book called Everything in Its Place: The Power of Mise-En-Place to Organize Your Life, Work, and Mind. His name is Dan Charnas and we begin our conversation with how Dan, a writer, realized that mise-en-place was something that could be used by everyone, and the system's three general principles and ten tools. We then unpack some of those tools, both in how they're used by cooks in the kitchen, and how they can be applied by regular folks at home and the office. We begin with the importance of squaring your checklists with your calendar and the one organizing process Dan most recommends: something called the 30-minute "meeze." We then discuss how to arrange your physical working space for greater efficiency and the importance of working clean. From there, Dan explains what he thinks Stephen Covey's famous idea of putting first things first doesn't take into consideration, and why it's important to understand the difference between what Dan calls "process time" and "immersive time." At the end of our conversation, we discuss the tension between perfection and delivery, the way the "call and call back" communication system used in kitchens creates teamwork and respect, and the fact that the success of any organizational system rests on daily commitment.

Get the show notes at aom.is/workclean.

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