“Mise en place”, which translated into English means to “put everything in place”, is what every organized cook does before anything else.

Staying organized in the kitchen is what helps to prevent an anxiety-filled stressful environment. There’s nothing worse than being in the middle of a recipe when you need something that needed to be prepped in advance – like preheating an oven or soaked beans.

Here are some tips to organize yourself like a chef:

- Read your recipe before you start. This way, you can do a run-through in your head and figure out what you need to do before you begin (like preheating your oven, soaking beans, or cutting parchment paper).

- Get your ingredients together. Chop your vegetables, cut your meat, measure and mix your seasonings so have everything ready when you need it.

- Clean as you go. This is a good habit to develop so you’re not faced with a mountain of dishes and a filthy kitchen at the end of a meal. No one has an unlimited supply of cooking utensils, so keep some dishwater handy for a super fast clean-up when you need to clean your chef knife or cutting board for another use.

Check out these tips and tricks from culinary legend Alain Ducasse.