Once the meal is finished and everyone is full and content, the focus turns to the clean-up. My mother is a phenomenal cook; anyone lucky enough to be fed by her knows she's a natural in the kitchen. She grows her own vegetables and loves reading cookbooks. Always experimenting with new recipes that would seem too complicated for the rest of us to attempt. She mixes flavours and makes all of her sauces from scratch. Her cooking has a Middle Eastern style, which means there are often several delicious salads and sides to go with the main meal.
The only downside to all this is that the mess left behind can be overwhelming, especially for someone like myself who likes order and for everything to be neat and clean. I describe her as an artist in the kitchen. She doesn't use lists or really follow recipes; she uses her own intuition and goes with the flow. Clean-as-you-go is too rigid for her and definitely not her style.
The method I use to tackle a messy kitchen, a room that needs tidying, or, in fact, any task that needs to be done is ‘Start with the Sauces.’
“What are you talking about?” my friend Emma asked me as we finished a delicious breakfast. I turned to see the messy kitchen and said to myself out loud, “Just start with the sauces.” My reply was: “Well, the mess is a bit overwhelming, so if I just start by clearing the sauces into the fridge and the salt and pepper shakers into the press, I have the ball rolling, and the rest just follows.” Her reply was something along the lines of “That’s not normal,” which made me laugh. But I realised my little saying could help others get started on tasks that, from the outset, seem overwhelming.
Whether it’s changing jobs, moving house, planning a wedding, losing weight, saving money, taking up a new hobby, or buying a house, the main idea is to get the ball rolling and take the first step, no matter how small that is. Just take action and keep going.
Here are some examples of how you would apply ‘Start with the Sauces’ to the list above:
Changing Jobs - find your CV on your laptop and update the picture, add any courses or projects you have worked on, and update your current job role description.
Moving house - contact three moving companies for quotes.
Planning a wedding - open an Excel sheet, label it ‘Wedding,’ name the tabs, and add any tasks you can think of.
Losing weight - add a 20-minute walk into your routine at lunch every day for a week.
Saving Money - open a new note on your phone and add all your monthly expenses.
New hobby - google classes in your area, read the reviews, and make a shortlist of classes to send inquiries to.
Buying a House - use an online mortgage calculator to determine what kind of house you can afford.
Next time you're faced with a daunting task or a job you've been procrastinating, think, 'Start with the Sauces'—what's the simplest step to kick things off? Start small and keep going.
I hope this helps. Best of luck with the sauces.
Aoife x
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