from the I-must-find-a-place-for-this... dept.
Did you make a New Year's resolution about getting organized? Of all the places where disorder would seem to reign supreme, restaurants have developed a system for keeping order among the chaos:
The system that makes kitchens go is called mise-en-place, or, literally, "put in place." It's a French phrase that means to gather and arrange the ingredients and tools needed for cooking.
But for many culinary professionals, the phrase connotes something deeper. Some cooks call it their religion. It helps them coordinate vast amounts of labor and material, and transforms the lives of its practitioners through focus and self-discipline.
[...]
At Esca, an Italian restaurant in Manhattan's theater district, sous-chef Greg Barr describes what is perhaps the central tenet of mise-en-place: working clean. "It's like a very ... Zen-like thing," he says. "All my knives are clean. Clean cutting board. Clear space to work. Clear mind."
[...]
Across town at Telepan, chef and owner Bill Telepan explains another principle of mise-en-place: slow down to speed up. "I always say, 'Look, I'd rather you take an extra minute or two and slow up service to get it right.' Because the one minute behind you are now is going to become six minutes behind because we're going to have to redo the plate."
I started my working career in a kitchen where I saw these principles in action. I took these principles to heart and can attest that it makes a world of difference in how I go about my day. When I have things organized and things in their proper place, I can get things done quickly and efficiently — almost effortlessly. It's terribly frustrating for me when I have to deal with co-workers who just drop things wherever-they-feel-like-it. I end up wasting more time cleaning up after them and trying to locate things than the actual task at hand would require.
My greatest challenge is that when I encounter a new situation or thing, it takes me a while to figure out where it should belong — where to fit it in with the rest of the already-organized things. How do you Soylentils keep your things organized? Or if you don't organize things, how do you deal with the chaos?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday January 04 2015, @09:15PM
There's a whole bunch of stuff that I know I have around here somewhere yet cannot find.
In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig points out that a good way to find something that he's lost when working on his bike, is to put away all his tools.
That actually works real well for me. It might not be tools but whatever I have scattered around, I put it away, often I do find what I need.
I used to get odd jobs as a house painter when I was in school. Chuck Lundquist, a more experienced friend, told me that "Painting is all in the preparation", for example scraping or water-blasting off the old paint. The application of the actual paint goes very quickly if you'd done your preparation right.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 05 2015, @02:47AM
Please fix your signature. It's way past 2014-03-21.
(Score: 1) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday January 05 2015, @03:40AM
This needs work...
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday January 05 2015, @05:06AM
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Monday January 05 2015, @06:46PM
My recollection of Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance is significantly different. I recall there being two types of people. One type is able to find any tool in apparent chaos (but not if anything gets moved). The other type requires neatness and is progressively unable to function as their environment becomes unordered.
1702845791×2
(Score: 1) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday January 06 2015, @02:03PM
-f.
But my mother is so zealous about cleanliness that the tidies up what I myself regard as her hallucinations.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday January 05 2015, @07:38PM
Clean is key. A while back I worked for a guy who despite being a general mess of a person (alcoholic, womanizer, uneducated) did very neat handyman type work. Basic carpentry, drywall and taping, tile work etc. First up was demo work, gutting the old plaster and wood lath walls. We did one wall at a time in sections pausing to completely clean up. All tools were cleaned and put back into their cases/boxes, sweep up the bulk debris, bring the bags out to the curb and vacuum the floor. Then back to smashing. After a day we had a very clean room, no trash clutter and open walls ready for drywall. Same process when doing the drywall, one section at a time pausing to clean up any mess or cuttings. Very efficient way to work.
Recently I worked on a project for a client that had me working with wood and metal. The mess began to build up which impeded work. Where the hell is that screwdriver, where did that piece of wood I cut before go, where is the 5/16 drill bit etc. So I stopped. Swept up, vacuumed and organized my tools. Back to work and everything resumed smoothly. And I would stop to clean up every hour or two and always clean up at the end of the day.
Getting organized requires a certain detachment from your possessions. I know a lot of us have built up a "collection" of things over time. Computers, electronics, collectibles etc. It's more hoarding than collecting. If your possessions are just there to collect dust then get rid of them. It's hard and I can't even follow my own advice. Organization starts with getting rid of clutter. I have a lot of crap and I need to really lighten the load. Oh I'll just keep this dead ATX power supply from 10 years ago as I might be able to salvage some wires, or components from it. And yea, I have done a few interesting things with saved junk but the thing is I have more junk than projects that can make use of it. Ill even admit that I once used to sweep up and pick screws and other tidbits out of the debris and try to save them. It's better to just toss everything. If I need screws then I have a real need for them so I'll just buy them.
I used to have a friend who cleaned sewers for a living. He started out like me, interested in computers and electronics but dropped out of college and followed in his fathers footsteps and cleaned sewers. Sounds gross but the pay was amazing. And to top it all off he was very, very organized. As a sewer cleaner he worked as a contractor. A company that was the actual sewer company people called when they needed service. They were middlemen who doled out work to contractors who owned their own van and tools. My friend was their top man, was the first contractor called and could adjust his schedule on a whim and on his terms. He could make anywhere from 100-150K year and paid off his home by age 26. He worked mainly in the winter pulling in 6+ grand a week working like a dog and in the summer worked a few days a week and partied the rest. He was organized beyond belief. In his room was his desk, and hung on the wall were all sorts of aides. Large calendar which he penned in the total money he made for each day. Red for cash, black for check. He also had a white board for notes and reminders, cork board for hanging to-do type paperwork and various other things. He then tracked every single penny in a spreadsheet. Didn't matter if he spent 35 cents on a pack of gum or 35 bucks in gas, it all went into the spreadsheet. At a glance he could tell me how much he spent of food, gas, stuff for his parties like booze/ food and his bills. I toured his van and everything had a place. Spare clothing in case he gets wet, equipment, tools, replacement parts and some basic plumbing parts for quick repairs he could make to pocket some cash (eg fix a leaking toilet). It was either in a cubby hole, bin or bucket. He even had an accident kit which was a disposable camera, pencil and pad for taking information. When he drove around he would map out his route and had delis he liked on speed dial so he could call in his food order, pick it up and drive while eating. This way he wasted as little time as possible. He also had a list of customers who either stiffed him or were difficult to deal with. If he got a call and they were on the shit list, it was passed of to someone else. He really had it good. Too bad some wreckless shithead killed him in a car wreck.
The most free people I know of were free of possessions. And I mean free as in just up and move from apartment to apartment and city to city on a whim. A musician friend of mine has a bicycle, guitar, some clothing along with a laptop and phone. He even doesn't keep all of his clothes when he moves. He gets rid of clothes at thrift shops or donation and just goes thrift/bargain hunting at his destination. He could move himself with just his bicycle. He is partly nomadic living with friends, family and girlfriends. As of now I think he is living with bandmates in a shared apartment. If he wants to travel or go someplace, he just goes.
I remember an old girlfriend was a clean freak and would just toss anything at the drop of a hat. She once threw away a gift I bought her right in front of me as it wound up in a drawer unused. I was not offended but actually intrigued by how little attachment she had to things, even gifts that many would be sentimental with. Her room was very empty: bed, dresser few trinkets and a stereo. She opened her drawer, couldn't find what she was looking for and decided right there on the spot to clean house. SHe grabbed her trash can and started throwing out one thing after another until her drawer was half empty and she found what she was looking for.
(Score: 1) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday January 06 2015, @02:11PM
It's not quite like that.
If I touch something today, that I possessed long ago, or better, that someone I cared about possessed, it helps me to remember my past experience.
I still have my pet rock, for example. I didn't buy it, it wasn't given to me. pet rocks were all the rage back in the day. I didn't know that one was supposed to purchase them. I found mine in the field behind my elementary school.
"Charlie" still fits real nice in the palm of my hand the way he used to, but he seems so much smaller than he did then.
The vast majority of my stuff is in storage lockers. The stuff I have with me where I live now, are a few technical books, my drawing supplies - pencils, pens, paper - and a few of my father's things, like his slide rule.
For a while I have been quite seriously contemplating riding my bike off over the horizon. I have a close friend who lives in Zihuatenejo, Mexico, on the Pacific Coast - the "Mexican Riviera". I might ride my bike to his place. I live in Vancouver, Washington, but my bike is with a friend in Alameda, California.
If I do ride to Mexico, my present plan is to not come back, rather to continue on into South America.
The hardest part for me, if I do that, will be deciding not what to take but what to leave behind.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday January 07 2015, @05:26PM
It is very tough. Sentimental items are difficult to let go. My mother saved a whole load of things from her mothers house. Antique furniture that was passed down a few generations, trinkets and other things.
Paying to store stuff is a difficult burden. I know people who paid thousands to store worthless junk. All because they somehow saw value in it. In the end they wound up tossing it once they couldn't afford to keep paying. Storage prices are close to criminal. No wonder so many of them popped up over the last 20 years. I will never even put a dime into one of those things. I'd rather burn it all.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 04 2015, @09:15PM
(Project) managers are going to love this phrase: "speed down to slow up"
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday January 05 2015, @03:33AM
Don't assume they are rational :P
(Score: 3, Interesting) by microtodd on Sunday January 04 2015, @09:33PM
Does this apply to your hard drive? Your files? Your email?
I've noticed that Google tends to look at this in a different way, with GMail and the old Google Desktop. Why bother keeping files and things organized when your search tools are good enough to find what you need.
So what's the search tool equivalent for meatspace?
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday January 04 2015, @09:41PM
Yup: Heap concept vs file system concept.
I've noticed that developers I have hired that learned programming by useing integrated development packages have no idea where stuff is unless they are IN their IDE.
Same for Outlook users. Their world IS their tool. And these tools tend to work on the concept of a HEAP rather than a File System. Throw it all in a pile and use tags and pointers.
When the tool breaks they are toast. But it works for them. Whole different mind set.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday January 04 2015, @09:55PM
otherwise I lose stuff, forget to back it up, create multiple copies then edit both copies so they are out of sync with each other.
Among the main reasons I am getting ready to move away from gmail is that I can't create my own mailboxes. I don't want to use search, I want list mail to go into a mailbox for each specific list.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by black6host on Sunday January 04 2015, @10:40PM
One option you have is using a third party email client. My experience is that they can be a lot more flexible than gmail.
I've got mail coming into one account that goes into different folders, and multiple other accounts that go into their own folders. Outlook 2010 is what I use but that's because I have to use a Win machine and I happen to have it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 05 2015, @07:09AM
Even the out of date Eudora 7 is still better at searching through mail than Outlook: http://asset2.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/sc/31880471-2-300-SS1.gif [cbsistatic.com]
Put your mail store on an SSD for best effect.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Sunday January 04 2015, @11:01PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 4, Informative) by SlimmPickens on Monday January 05 2015, @12:13AM
Gmail can automatically create new labels (tags) by using a plus in the email address. You do username+newlabel@gmail.com and it will get to your account and automatically create a label.
This is useful if you use labels as folders, and if you get a lot of spam you can use it when you sign up for new online accounts. Gmail also supports nested labels but I don't know if you can create those with plus addressing.
(Score: 4, Informative) by demonlapin on Monday January 05 2015, @12:28AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 05 2015, @07:14AM
On a related note: flagging their stuff as spam would be kind of an asshole thing to do if it actually has an effect (e.g. if many people flag it as spam, gmail might consider it spam).
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Sunday January 04 2015, @10:09PM
I find links/bookmarks to be way better than search.
The problem with search is that someone else's search results are not going to be the same as yours, and even your own search results today may not be the same as your search results yesterday.
How would you like it if you always searched "foo bar" to pull up a file you're working on, but because you edited it, now it doesn't show up anymore, or it shows up 50 items lower on the results list?
You should use search for finding something the first time, or if you really lost track of something, not as a regular means of operation.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday January 04 2015, @10:37PM
I find links/bookmarks to be way better than search.
Another, third option is fully indexed file systems.
The one in windows is pretty much half-ass in my opinion, but the one on my OpenSuse/KDE desktop has finally become very useful.
After several releases of pushing the crappy Nepomuk engine, the desktop search switched over to the baloo engine, and suddenly it all works as expected. I really depend on this for searching through code repositories, etc. File content search extremely fast, because everything is indexed on every word, so a "search" is really just some hit(s) to a database. The indexing is a background process that (finally) does not take any noticeable resources.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Sunday January 04 2015, @10:38PM
Worst quoting job ever.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday January 04 2015, @09:35PM
I've always practiced this over my entire programming career, organizing every component of every system, and have been doing this so long that the advent of change management systems offered nothing that I (and my cohorts) weren't already doing. Not just for code, but also for listings, test data sets, test outcome catalogs, change documentation, task lists, task scheduling, milestones, and a bunch of things that most systems don't even offer.
Too bad this does not transfer outside the computer.
Garage: mess.
Office: mess.
Home Office: don't go there.
Kitchen: access denied.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 04 2015, @09:40PM
I once had a VHS tape from a woman named Julie Morgenstern who preached this principle. The analogy she used was a kindergarten, where the toys, rugs for napping, and other gadgets all had dedicated places for stowage, and everything was put back into place before beginning the next activity. Unfortunately, I always seemed to have more stuff than I could find "homes" (her word) for.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Sunday January 04 2015, @10:06PM
No kidding. I just moved into an apartment less than half the size of my former one after my roommate moved in with his girlfriend. I thought most of the crap was his, but somehow I ended up with it, and no closest space to put it in.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 04 2015, @10:45PM
Of course the solution of "way too much stuff" is obvious to state, but hard to do, especially I think for techies. I don't have much problem getting rid of old clothes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 05 2015, @03:55AM
If it is usable crap, then drop it off at Goodwill or some other thrift store.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Monday January 05 2015, @08:22PM
Some of it could work that way. I don't know if they'd have much use for several tubs of Warhammer 40k terrain or computer parts. They might want the duplicate kitchen stuff though.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by dcollins on Monday January 05 2015, @01:30AM
Yeah, I think over the course of my life (not having read any of these other gurus, just figured it out on my own) one of the more important principles I've developed is "everything that comes in the house must have a dedicated place". Earlier in life I was more of a hoarder, as family would give me loads of crap I didn't want, but the idea of throwing it out was so painfully wasteful I'd just keep it floating around (I grew up with family from the Depression and I think that rubbed off). Now if someone gives me a gift or something that I don't have a clear use for, and a clear space for, it goes directly into the garbage -- their problem, not mine. Achieving the point where everything has a dedicated resting place, and not just stacks of clutter floating around, is a total game-changer.
(Score: 3, Informative) by francois.barbier on Sunday January 04 2015, @11:17PM
(Score: 2) by demonlapin on Monday January 05 2015, @12:35AM
The most valuable lesson I've ever learned about cooking is clean as you go. If you never let piles build up, you never have to worry about clearing them.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by kaszz on Monday January 05 2015, @03:50AM
The take home:
* Keep order as much as you can
* Have a specific location for everything (and fire, eject or deny anyone just drop stuff wherever-they-feel-like-it)
* Working space is not storage
* Think of the total result, a small saving now may be a long term disaster
* Preparation is the foundation, execution is the easy part
* There are no special places, just ones that are unusual enough to forget
* If you lost something, clean your place and you will find it
* For the heap mind, search is the right tool for every job. For nail minds, a hammer is the tool for everything
* Tools that have a fixed set of functions are tools that will narrow your mind
* Everything shall have a use and place. Useless gifts have a specific storage destination - the garbage can.
* Clean as you go
(Score: 2, Funny) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday January 05 2015, @04:13AM
then I had the gall to ask the instructor to write one of the recommendations that got me into grad school.
He shouted at me one day "DO YOU RESERVE ALL OF YOUR NEATNESS FOR YOUR SOFTWARE?!"
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday January 06 2015, @01:44AM
Perhaps he should be aware of that any change to a physical and on top of that analog design usually requires a lot of more work than any software fix. Not something you do relaxing in your sofa..