Work Clean
Rating: 4 / 5 stars
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High-Level Summary
One of the best productivity books I’ve read. The breakdown of the kitchen landscape with the hands-on exercises provides a systematic view to translate into other areas of life.
Get your most important spaces in order because space is precious. Practice and perfect the motions that make sense to refine because your energy is precious. Honor time because you’re not getting any more of it. Use your resources wisely because ultimately we all must share them. And treat each other with care.
Summary Notes
Standout Quotes
“Mise-en-place is philosophy (what chefs believe) and a system (what chefs do),”
“When sitting, just sit. When cooking, just cook. Care for nothing but the work when you work.”
“The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent,”
“Entering a space calmly, under your own control, and without apology retains your power and dignity.”
“What did it take to become great? “Make sure that your station is clean,”
“The first task of organizing space is that the resources be in place, so that the cook himself can stay in place,”
“We arrange space to remove resistance,”
“The point is to stop the wasted time, energy, and resources that come from our carelessness. Life produces enough chaos without us manufacturing more of it.”
“A project that is 90 percent complete is zero percent complete because it’s not deliverable.”
“Understand first that what we’re after is excellence, not productivity. Productivity is working hard. Excellence is working clean.”
Top 5 Concepts
The cost of chaos. Choosing to delay a task leads to internal strife. The longer you wait to clean or do said task, the harder it will be to return to the original state. Tasks added with a jumble of thoughts lead to feeling enclosed. One can’t tell the cost of chaos and mess since it is a byproduct of your other activities.
Immersive vs Process Time. The processing time is worth its face value. It is where you don’t need additional time to let something marinate. This includes sending emails out or answering phone calls. In contrast, immersive time is where you let ideas soak in and utilize that space for your immersive time. An example of immersive time is when you write a recommendation letter for a student as you have to spend time reflecting.
Finishing Yields Space. Finishing actions clear space for you to focus on other projects in motion. If there is not anything roadblocking one project, continue forward with it while the other roadblockers are being completed. Determine how and when you will finish each one. Every time you cross something off your list, you get a little endorphin rush. Every time you deliver, you get that thing out of your life.
Precision. Minimize your messages to what is needed. Decrease the excess words in sentences. Chefs communicate precisely with “Heard!” and “Two minutes!” These phrases keep the kitchen moving and aligned for each dish sent out.
Ordered. The chef is actively conscious of their decision-making process. They see what is on their plate and treat it with honor and respect as they break it down piece by piece. This also includes the space on the dish to allow it to speak as a whole.
