I’m reading a book right now by journalist and author Dan Charnas, who has taken the concept of Mise en Place from some of the world’s best chefs and kitchens, and applied it to other realms of work and life.

When I was young, my parents always complained that I left a trail wherever I went.

I say that as if I outgrew the habit.

It is far too embarrassing to post photographs here of my “work” space, but suffice it to say, I struggle with organization.

I always have.

This past week at the farmers market, I had the pleasure of working with a newly-hired stand attendant whose past life included owning two businesses, both in the food industry (one a cafe, and the other an ice cream shoppe in a busy tourist district near us).

She is a few years younger than me, a wife and mom, a creative and industrious person whom I grew to admire over the first several hours of our work together.

She quickly picked up on our system for selling mushrooms and engaging with customers, and I had no problem leaving her alone with the stand for a couple of hours while I went to deliver mushrooms in the city to a few of the chefs who use our products in their kitchens.

In my line of work, I have visited plenty of kitchens during deliveries, chef tours, and new restaurant openings. My partner and I also have an affinity for competitive chef television shows, so we’ve watched a few of those over the years.

But kitchens stress me out.

I am reminded of all the things that can go wrong in a kitchen; the precision with which great chefs must manage time, measurement, temperature, etc. etc. etc. The messes, the confusion, the chaos.

In my own kitchen, I grudgingly manage a few favourite, simple recipes for the nourishment of myself and my family, and sometimes I get ambitious and try a new recipe. I’m a pretty good cook, according to those I’ve fed, but it wears me out.

That is probably because my tools are often (read: always) in disarray, in different places than the last time I used them, or completely MIA.

I know I could benefit from better organization, but I have a longstanding pattern that looks like this:

1. Look at mess;
2. Feel ashamed and/or determined;
3. Underestimate time and energy;
4. Become overwhelmed;
5. Give up and vow to start another day.

Ad infinitum.

I’ve tried some different programs over the years. Remember Marie Kondo? Remember the Fly Lady? If (I mean when) I get all my books organized by genre, I bet I will find an embarrassing stack of How To titles for organization, decluttering, focus, etc.

Back to this past week at market:

I returned from my deliveries to find a different stand than I left.

All my tools and “ingredients” were organized, and neatly arranged on the tables, under the tables, and in easy reach.

“Why didn’t I think of that?” I mused, as I admired the way my new stand attendant had organized the little plastic bags we sell along with our mushroom grow kits. I am usually fumbling under the table to find one, and making a mess when I finally find the package, pulling out ten or twenty at a time, instead of the one I need to hand to the customer.

I resisted the urge to dive into a shame spiral, and instead thanked her and asked for some tips.

She said it is just a habit she developed, working in fast-paced kitchens, and something she also does at home. She referred to it as Mise en Place.

I’ve heard of it.

Even my mom used to chirp about “A place for everything and everything in its place.”

I grew up in a home run by an exceedingly tidy housewife, and a guy who actually loved the army for its simplicity and organization. Not to mention dad’s mom, my grandma, who was legend for cleanliness (traumatically so, but that’s another story…)

I have spent years not understanding why it never rubbed off on me, my dad’s perfect organization and my mom’s tidiness.

Once I became too old for Mom to clean my room for me, she eventually gave up and just kept my bedroom door closed.

My room was the cause of many “where-did-we-go-wrong,” disappointed sighs and grimaces over the years.

When I moved out on my own, whether I lived with a roommate or a romantic partner, my lack of organization was often a point of contention.

Too immense for a New Year’s Resolution, too innocent for a professional intervention, my disorganization has slumped along next to me my entire life.

I keep things *clean,* mostly — but with clutter, how clean can you really keep it? How do you sanitize a refrigerator when you can’t even see the shelves for the confusion? I clean toilets and countertops, even baseboards, sometimes! But clutter? Universe, help me.

Despite my inability up until now to address this situation, this time feels different.

You know how sometimes you can know of three or four concepts in different realms of your life, but you never put them together, because you didn’t realize they all belonged to the same puzzle?

Neurodivergent

I also live with at least three, possibly four people with neurodivergent diagnoses: ASD, ADHD, and plenty of anxiety. Stand Attendant also said running her life with the Mise en Place concept helps at home, where she and her husband are in the trenches of raising a neurodivergent child.

Something about Stand Attendant’s unassuming and simple concept, applied at a time when I’ve been struggling with figuring out a system for organizing my writing workspace and library, at the same time that I’ve been trying to come up with a way to get my neurodivergent kids and husband involved in helping maintain our home and have more nourishing meals together, as well as beginning to wonder if my own neurodivergent behaviours haven’t been contributing to my troubles all these years, all of these converged in a Google search that brought up Dan Charnas’ book.

I’ll report back. Today, my goal is to read a couple of chapters and start to put a plan in place.