Dear SLP’s,
We all know the stress of scrambling to keep up
Ug, the stress is exhausting.
In this post I want to tell you about a concept that helps me save time and more importantly, that feeling of being scrambled.
Mise En Place
…pronounced me-zahn-plahs, is a French term that literally translates to “set in place”. To the culinary world it means you have all of the ingredients and tools ready to cook and in its place before preparing a meal.
The idea of Mise En Place makes a complicated meal come together smoothly and efficiently at the end. Making it a more enjoyable process.
French chefs begin with the end in mind.
I love this concept for SLPs.
We need to continually be looking for ways to make things run more seamlessly.
The chef who practices Mise En Place has taken the time to plan and calculate tasks ahead of time.
Let’s compare
A chef who does not prepare a meal using this concept will most likely be able to make a fantastic dish.
Each meal may be equally as delicious –
It’s just, when the chef who did NOT “Mise En Place” is finished cooking, they are stressed and exhausted.
After a few years, they are burned out!
It takes some initial time and planning. It is worth planning these steps ahead of time so that it’s less decision making and last minute scrambling in the end. Therefore less energy expenditure on your part.
In what areas can you Mise En Place at work?
My example
I made a list of the yearly reoccurring “documentation tasks” I complete.
-Lesson plan/ schedule
-Student paperwork checklist
-Daily therapy notes (Medicaid)
-Quarterly progress reports
-Annual review progress summary
-Present levels of performance, needs and goals in the IEP
-Regression data
All of the pieces of information that need to be in these are similar. So I prepare the “ingredients” all ahead of time.
Around annual review time, I make sure my daily notes are highly aligned with goals and the pertinent information I’ll need to include for other reports.
I cut and paste that information into my quarterly report.
I write it so it so that blurb can also be used exactly in the annual progress summary and IEP.
No revising. Just cut. paste. DONE
No running around for more ingredients, no slicing and dicing. I put them in the pot and go!
It takes a little more effort upfront- but that part of my job comes together smoothly when it really counts.
How can you “mise en place” your work?
Are you so overwhelmed you can’t begin to see how to make things better?
Do you just want to quit?
Schedule a Clarity Call with me- CLICK HERE, fill out the quick form, and I’ll get back with you. 🙂
