I love to cook. More than that, I love the high pressure, fast-paced, and perfectionist world of high-end restaurants. In order to bring order into an otherwise chaotic world, chefs often employ a mindset known as “Mise en Place”. This French phrase means “set in place“ and refers to how a chef continuously organizes their ingredients, their workspace, and their time, harnessing the chaos of a restaurant kitchen I’m turning into high-level productivity.

This mindset can also be applied to help improve productivity in the face of the chaos of daily life. Here are some “Mise en Place” inspired tips to help you improve working efficiency.

Prepare your Ingredients

Always be prepared the day, using your morning routine to organize your materials so that you have the optimal capability to be productive. Having a detailed understanding of which places, tools, and methods work best for you before you start can make a huge impact on your productivity. Personally, I work best away from home, with legal pads and Pilot G-2 pens, using timed to do lists.

Organize your Time

When you have a lot on your plate, understanding how long each task will take, planning ahead, and segmenting your time to focus in on one task at a time will help you manage. If working for long stretches, be sure to make time for quick, but impactful breaks. A famously great tactic that can be used for this is the Pomodoro technique.

Always be Ready for Chaos

Make sure you have trusted methods for dealing with issues and obstacles that pop up while you are working. All of a sudden, something might happen that requires your attention, or the circumstances for your work might change. Often the best practice for these situations is simply to be aware of the situation, and have a predefined framework for dealing with it. This way, you can quickly respond to and dispatch chaos as it arises.