Work Clean - How to Succeed Through Simplicity
The ability to prepare and organize allows us to achieve an extreme amount of success with reduced effort. No matter what endeavor, whether it be professional or casual, we can utilize organizational and preparatory measures to accomplish marginally more with less.
Work Clean focuses on the methods that extremely successful chefs use to become successful in both output and quality. Success may mean earning coveted Michelin stars, or just being able to produce consistent product to customers on a nightly basis. The work details how specific organization methods used in a kitchen create an environment of success, which is then connected to professional applications outside of the culinary world.
There are 3 key ideas to note within Work Clean that we all can use to improve our lives.
Organization isn’t just for work, it is for life. Within our busy lives, we must remain organized. Bills, relationships, anniversaries, etc. Many believe that our primary brain should be the sole repository for all of this information. Additionally, when we think of organizing these sensitive topics like files on a computer, we get a feeling of intensity and seriousness that we may dislike. This feeling is misplaced. When these soft topics are organized, we are more effective in each of them. Don’t fall prey to this feeling, embrace the discipline then adjust.
Organization can be healthy and not compulsive. As a person who has been clinically diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), organization through compulsion isn’t positive. This kind of organization is highly stressful and difficult to be around, and therefore isn’t what Work Clean wishes to applaud. Organization can be healthy and slow over time, with progressive increments over time. Past this initial setup period, commitment to a system of organization and easing friction within said system has been the most impactful element to eliminate compulsion. No matter the beauty of your system, reduce the friction between elements in order to improve efficiency, sanity, and your likeability to others.
Preparation is critical. You may have heard statements like this in sports, or any important commitment you’ve been apart of. The difference communicated in Work Clean is to prepare for the difficult. Take proactive action when you can in order to eliminate variables that may cause you to fail. Whether it be professional chefs, or professional athletes, one must find their flaws and future difficulties and eliminate them. Prepare for difficulty, and then you will find less failure over time.
Why is this book worth your valuable time? Work Clean not only focuses on how to healthy organize and improve efficiency in your own life, but it focuses on one’s mindset as well. It explains its argument concisely and with vigor, and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. The lessons taught may not be entirely unique, but they are taught in a more welcoming format than I’ve been used to. Read the book, and it will help you to organize healthily, prepare for difficult future events, and maintain high standards over time.
In our busy lives, we must prepare. Preparation is the difference between success and failure, no matter what our goals are. We are responsible for our preparation, and should optimize it as much as we can. Think of the difficult and your flaws. Recognize them, understand them with empathy, and work towards changing them through honest action. Have organization work for you, not as a compulsive act. Through “working clean” or working with preparation and organization, we can produce better results, better relationships, and better lives.
