Author : [[Dan Charmas]] *** # Fractal Reading : [[Work Clean (Everything in its Place)]] [[Mise-en-Place for Knowledge Workers 6 Practices for Working Clean]] # Key Takeaways - Commit to being honest with time. Plan daily. - Commit to setting your station and reducing impediments to your movements and activities. Remove friction. - Commit to maintaining your system. Always be cleaning. - Commit to delivering. When a task is nearly done, finish it. Always be unblocking. - Commit to working smoothly and steadily. Use physical order to restore mental order. Don’t rush. - Commit to confirming and expecting confirmation of essential communication. Call back. - Commit to valuing space, time, energy, resources, and people. Waste nothing. # Notes Part of developing good MEP is having a plan of how everything will happen, and a map of where everything should be. Figure out your Meeze Point, the optimal number of actions you can put in your daily list before you begin to overload yourself. 1. Select 3 actions to complete for this day. 2. Plan those actions on your calendar 3. If you truly commit those tasks when and as quickly as you planned, you can up to 4 tasks tomorrow 4. Keep increasing until you start to fail at completing your tasks. That’s your meeze point. Arrive everywhere 15 minutes early so you never feel rushed or stressed. Create checklists so you have recurring recipes for your processes 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 time you use it, as necessary 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. Try “knolling”: 1. Scan your environment for anything not in use 2. Put away everything not in use 3. Group all “like” objects 4. Align or square all objects to either the surface they’re on, or the studio itself 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, for when you know you’re passing through a particular place. # Actionable **Evening: Preparation with the Daily Meeze** Step 1: Cleaning your station 1. Empty and log physical inputs (notes, papers, bag, desktop, notebook, etc.) 2. Clear and log digital inputs (email, messages, note taking software, social media) 3. Set the table: straighten everything out and clean it up Step 2: Sharpen your tools 1. Adjust your calendar based on what didn’t get done today, move the relevant things to later in the week 2. Adjust your to-do list so you have an accurate view of what needs to get done Step 3: Plan your day 1. Make a list of the actions and routines already scheduled for tomorrow and what else you want to do tomorrow 2. Identify the immersive vs. process tasks 3. Ballpark how much time you’ll have available 4. Schedule everything on your calendar Step 4: Gather your resources 1. Collect anything you need for tomorrow, load up your bag, lay out your clothes, etc. **Morning: Process** 1. Greet the day by waking up early 2. Do a morning check-in in case anything has come up that means you need to adjust your plan 3. Start with 30 minutes of process time to free other people up. **Afternoon: Presence** 1. React to surprises as they show up, adjusting your schedule and task lists 2. Tie up anything you can’t finish so it’s easy to pick up later 3. Then start again the next evening!