My first job was dishwashing at a small Italian joint named San Remo’s. I was 15, genuinely baffled by the commitment it took took hold a job, and I got replaced by a homeless man.

I didn’t know it at the time, but it was my first exposure prioritizing workflow. What do I mean by this. Well, in a practical sense, when a 6-top, an 8-top and a needy two-top were about to settle up, it was my time to shine. Literally, those $40 lamb chops we’re not getting expo’d on a dirty plate.

There were ___ major stations in my dishwashing role. First, the pre-rinse, this was the brute force of dumping, flicking, swiping, and brushing off the detritus of meals as to save the sewage from a premature clog. Second, the rinse, a high powered micro-jet spray nozzle powered through the stuck on sauces, melted cheese and finer particles left behind. Third, the load, was arranging the dinnerware on the industrial rack as to maximize space, but allow for water flow. A pull on the lever brought down the stainless steel box that contained the spray of hot water and steam that defined the wash phase. A moment of repose, 4-minutes to stack, rinse, rack and repeat. With a deep space-esque whoosh of steam emanating from the rising stainless steel box it was time to un-rack, stack and move on to polishing. Now you may be asking yourself, did he just spend 97 words describing how to wash dishes? yes, yes I did.

Now to the point. There was never enough time to do all this, meaning that I was always behind… and I didn’t like that.

Feeling of being behind

Strategies for optimizing workflow

How do you balance workflow optimization with work

(TPN) vs Ford

inspired by Sal, best processor I know