Are you familiar with the feeling of being overwhelmed by your own thoughts circling around planning, and organizing? Ever felt like a victim to mental noise and agitation?
Well I sure do. Time after time I have come to a point where I realized I had to come up with a strategy to deal with the chit chatter in my head.
I asked myself. How and when did my mind become so packed? It feels like I’m standing in the hall of a busy train station during rush hour and my thoughts are constantly racing by.
Feeling uneasy with my mind lead me to the question:
How can I organize my thoughts in an effective and meaningful way?
My first strategy for dealing with mental noise has been meditation for some time now. It is proven to reduce stress . So meditating in almost any case is a good place to start if you ask me.
But what do I do after the storm has calmed down? I’ve still got to clean up the mess. So where do I begin?
Since I started studying social work my time schedule has become more complex than it had been while I was working full time. I’ve got different jobs, projects and school subjects going on all at the same time. In addition to that I’m in a relationship, have friends and family, weekly band practice and I’m building a blog. Yep, I’ve got a lot going on.
Organizing my days and weeks has become more challenging. Especially since most part of my work I do self-organized (That includes things like working on my blog & writing this blogpost 😉 ). Therefor I don’t follow a schedule that I am given from anyone else. I actually plan what I want to do with my time and when I want to work on the tasks I take on by myself. (Hell yeah I am a lucky girl and very grateful for this work mode!)
This way of self organizing is also a great part of what it means to be part of the “Freiform”. The mode in which I am partly already studying and will choose to study full-time starting this fall. (Read more about the “Freiform” by going to “About DWYT”)
Concerning planning and organizing I have come to realize the importance of asking myself “WHY?”.
For example I ask myself why I want to do a certain task on Monday this week and not on Wednesday next week. The reason I want to put a task on my To-Do list in the first place. Why I want to take a task of the list. Etc.
So. How do I do that?
Here’s comes the “mise en place” reference.
A so called “mise en place” means putting things in place. Organizing and arranging all that is of need to be able to start combining and cooking an amazing dish or meal.
So how can I use the concept of “mise en place” outside of my kitchen?
I just lately read a book called «The Bullet Journal Method».
What is that Bullet Journal Method thing? You might wonder.
The author Carroll Ryder describes it as “a mindfulness practice disguised as a productivity system”.
In his book he talks a lot about planning and organizing.
So when you’ve got a busy wrestlers mind. Planning can become a mindfulness practice that will help with calming your thoughts and gaining more clarity.
Planing is like laying out all your ingredients in front of you before starting.
It allows you to “focus on what’s important”.
Here are my 5 steps on how to prepare a proper “mise en place”
- Give your thoughts a place to wrest.
Write down your thoughts. Really just anything that comes to your mind. Grab a journal, notebook, piece of paper or whatever you can get a hold of. (I prefer and recommend writing over typing.) - Structure the “data”.
Ask yourself: What’s a task? What’s an upcoming or past event? What’s a note? And then prioritize. Find out what is urgent? What do I absolutely have to remember? What can I let go of? - Ask yourself what truly matters to you. Ask why?
Is this important to me? If it’s a task your looking at ask: Is it something I want, have, should or get to do? Why do I want to do this? And then try to cross out all the things you truly don’t want to do & can afford to let go of. Focus on what brings value and meaning to your life. - Lay out your “mise en place”.
Start scheduling & getting more precise. Create a time schedule & fill in your tasks. Or migrate the tasks and events into your calendar.
Always be aware that your time schedule must remain flexible and should be able to adapt to what’s actually happening in your life.
Tadaaa… There ya go! That’s your “mise en place”!
Of course there is much more to say concerning productivity, mindfulness, planning and organizing. This post is simply meant to be an introduction to what “mise en place” can mean outside of the kitchen.
If you’re interested in learning more about this topic I recommend reading the book “The Bullet Journal Method” or checking out the BuJo Method website. I’ve become a true fan of this method and an active Bullet Journalist. It has changed my daily mindfulness practice and I am truly grateful for that.
