• For a day, keep a tally of all the errors you make, big or small. 
• For each of the errors, write the consequence. 
• At the end of the day, write down one thing for each that you could have done to avoid the problem.
• Commit to coaching yourself, to being coached, and to...

The first moments cost more than the later ones. When a task in the present unlocks a cascade of work that other people do on our behalf, the worth of process time increases and becomes harder to measure.

There are two kinds of work:

• The first is hands-on, immersive, and creative...

• You don’t need much space if you’re smart about how you use it.
• Cultivate the use of both sides of your body, both sides of the space, both sides of a motion.
• Create checklists so you have recurring recipes for your processes.

• When you hear yourself overtalking or interrupting someone, simply talk slower. It’ll have a calming effect on you and force the other person to pay attention.
• Instead of stopping when you feel distracted, just move very slowly.
• In times of stress or panic, clean your worksta...

• Do similar jobs at the same time to minimize the switching costs between actions.
• Avoid orphaned tasks: tasks that haven’t been tied up in the neatest way possible to enable easy continuation later.
• If you can’t finish a task, tie it up for later.
• Col...

1. Select a task that you do often.
2. Break it down into 10 steps or fewer.
3. Determine if you need a Read-Do (read then do it) or a Do-Confirm (do the items then use the checklist after to confirm).
4. Test your checklist by using it 3 times.
5. Update the checklist each ...

• Part of developing good MEP(mise-en-place) is having a plan of how everything will happen, and a map of where everything should be.
• You should know where all of your tools are blindfolded.
• Chef simply means “boss” in French.

You cook the way you look: the cleaner your station, the faster you work.

• Practice “coming to zero”: every hour, take a minute to straighten your physical and digital workspace, no matter what you’re currently doing.
• Scan your environment for anything not in use
• Put awa...

Only one profession has developed a comprehensive philosophy on how to work, the culinary arts, and that philosophy is mise-en-place, a French phrase which means “to put in place.”

In the kitchen, it means to gather and arrange the ingredients and tools needed for cooking...

• Commit to working smoothly and steadily. Use physical order to restore mental order. Don’t rush.
• Commit to balancing external and internal awareness. Stay alert.
• Commit to confirming and expecting confirmation of essential communication. Call back.
• Being polite can ge...

• Conserve space to conserve motion to conserve time.
• Log where you lose time and resources to see how you might make better use of those resources and time periods. How can you plan better to avoid waste?
• Create routines for when you have downtime, for when you’re distracted, ...

• Commit to preparation with a 30-minute daily planning session.
• Commit to a process which makes you better.
• Commit to being present in whatever you do.

• A big part of our overwhelm with work occurs because we’ve never been taught how to manage that work.
• Chefs commit to a life of preparation, where you always have to think ahead. Cooking can’t happen without prep coming first.
• A commitment to process doesn’t mean following te...