I was first introduced to the idea of mise en place through an episode of the Art of Manliness podcast. For those unfamiliar, mise en place is a French culinary term that means "everything in its place" - it's about preparing and organizing all your ingredients before you start cooking. Ever since listening to that podcast, I started thinking about where else I could use this concept to my advantage. That's how I ended up blocking off a 30-minute "mise en place" session on my calendar every Friday. ## My Weekly Planning Process Let me share what this actually looks like: Every Friday around 4-5pm, I sit down with my coffee and notebook. I take a look at all my open tasks, upcoming meetings, and project deadlines. Then I pick the 4-5 most important tasks that need to get done next week. These become my main priorities - everything else is secondary. I write them down in order of importance, and that becomes my game plan for the week ahead. It has become quite a ritual for me now. During my Friday afternoon mise en place session, I do a quick review of the week and then prioritize all my tasks for the following week. To say this has been a game changer for me would not be an overstatement. ## The Three Benefits I've found that doing mise en place on Friday instead of Monday morning has three big advantages: First, it helps me finish the week on a high note. When I log off on Friday evening, I feel in control and accomplished. Second, I can completely disconnect from work on Saturday and Sunday, knowing that everything pending has been noted down and tracked. Third, I don't waste my prime morning hours on Monday scrambling through notes and schedules. I already have a solid plan in place, so when Monday morning hits, I can hit the ground running. ----- Disclaimer: Inspired by others. 💡 Thoughts are my own. 🧠 Some words may be borrowed. 🤖 Date: January 24, 2025