gandalf100
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I want to cook more. First - I can't define what it is. It's not a project because it's something that there is no finish line that I can see.
What do you think?
What do you think?
Define done for cooking
- Thread starter gandalf100
- Start date
gtdstudente
Registered
@gadalf100
For habitual cooking sustainability . . . begin with what does clean-up look like . . . continuous cleaning while cooking
Use fridge door for 'Most Immediate Use'
Constant celebrating for habitual/intrinsic reinforcement(s)
Your gonna do great !
As you see GTD fit. . . .
Ps. On this end, 'always' prefer Steaming and Simmering in water using Low-Heat whenever possible to facilitate easy clean-up
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What would wild success look like?
What is preventing you from cooking more? Are you an experienced cook who now cooks less? Do you want or need to become a better cook? Do you have recipes you want to cook? Are there health or financial issues involved? Do you need to do meal planning and buy food? Do you know all the actions you need to take to cook more? How much more? At this point, maybe it all sounds like a project. Maybe it’s turns out to be a weekly recurring project, maybe eventually cooking will be completely on cruise control, but right now it’s really a project.
Mrs-Polifax
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@gandalf100
Is it a routine? Maybe, but it sounds to me more like a spontaneous and enjoyable hobby.
Could it be a Someday-Maybe that you get out now and then and play around with? I kind of like making it a Someday-Maybe because it is not a commitment until you decide to do it. It can be a fun thing to do when the mood strikes. Then it can return to your Someday-Maybe list until you're ready for it again.
Could it be a Horizon 2 Area of Focus or a sub-set? For instance:
Enjoyment of Life ---> Fun Hobbies ---> Cook More
As I recall, the idea of the Areas of Focus per Coach Meg Edwards, is that this Horizon of Focus is a bridge level that connects or gudes the Higher Horizons (Purpose and Principles, Vision, and Goals) into current Projects and current Actions.
I understand that a Project needs several things:
1. It includes more than one action
2. Its actions will generally be completed within about a year
3. It has been given a "desired outcome," so it is clear whether or not all its actions have been completed.
A "desired outcome" is an answer to the question: What does "done" feel and look like in the present tense?
I think it could become a Project:
"I am now adept at boiling water, and I'm thrilled with my achievement."
"I now poach delicious salmon with panache, and I love doing this."
This end-state orientation, while great for focus and clarity and making progress, might (or might not) eclipse the sponteneous joy of (doing whatever) on a delightful whim.
I think "cook more" could be a sub-categoy in Areas of Focus, and also a Someday Maybe, and whenever the urge strrikes, a Project.
Or maybe it does not need to be on a list. I recall that Meg Edwards once had an inspiration (if I recall this correctly) to bake blueberry muffins. It was a spontanous urge she had that was not on any of her lists, and she did not need to locate it within her system.
Go figure. We create a time-worn and hard-wrought system only to bravely, inventively, and creatively unicycle without it.
Thanks for your post, @gandalf100!
Emily
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Mrs-Polifax
Registered
What great questions, @mcogilvie!
I see that the answers to specific questions can help us clarify what we want to get done. I think that's what the OP was saying about not seeing a finish line, and therefore not thinking this is a Project. What you seem to me to be doing is getting more granular about what is involved in "cook more" in order to gain more clarity about what the OP might want to achieve, or what the OP's finish line could be. Or did I miss something here?
Do we in GTD translate whatever arises into what we want to achieve? You know, I think it does. I had not grasped this. GTD is an active orientation. We move things from our thoughts and notes and external input and Higher Horizons into do-able small steps. No matter what arises when we are capturing what has our attention, even an emotion that revisits us, any problem can be identified as actionable and can become a Project. If we set something aside in Someday-Maybe as non-actionable for now when we cannot commit to it yet, it is still part of our system. We will be then able to take action when and if the time is right.
Yes, but surely some things are deeper, more meaningful, more aligned with the life force: the blush on the face of a beloved, the delight of swimming across a cool freshwater lake, the ineffable majesty of Half-Dome, the power and grace of striding out when dancing to music, the quiet pleasure and comfort we feel with a beloved pet, the simple immediacy of the full experience of being human and alive.
Does a GTD system crafted with simplicity and focused on actions and outcomes encompass these magnificent subtleties? David Allen might say that our ability to be present in the moment and participate in life wholeheartedly is the whole point. I'm with him.
Warmly,
Emily
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gtdstudente
Registered
@Mrs-Polifax
Great suggestions
Capture how many minutes to:
'Cook' the perfect hard boiled egg . . . non-rubbery white . . . without any green tinted yolk . . . signifies overcooked
'Cook' the perfect soft boiled egg
Make a very, very Low-Heat crustless mini-quiche . . . egg mixed with 30% water
An egg a day gives the body all the enzymes it needs according to the nutrition scientist that got transfats banned through the FDA
Suelin23
Simplicity on the far side of complexity
I have project called 'Meals', and whilst it is aimed at helping me cook more, the project is more about the system of planning meals and organising storage. I am working on getting my recipes into OneNote, having a spreadsheet list of all my recipes, and organising my fridge and pantry better. Success will look like me cooking 3-5 nights a week with no stress, it will just become a regular easy routine to plan, shop and cook.
I pretty much cook seven nights a week for my wife and me. There are two things which are helpful to me. The first is a dedicated recipe app which gives a lot of flexibility; I use Paprika. The other is a set of Pyrex storage containers, enough to handle the needs of a week. This makes all aspects of cooking more pleasant. In fact, cooking can be relaxing and creative.
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gtdstudente
Registered
@Suelin23
Easy = Sustainable ?
Cooking can always be more engaging to add appropriately flair to the already easy ?
It's the clean-up that can do the 'burning-out' when 'flying solo' ?
As you see GTD fit. . . .
Ps. Weekly Review is analogous to Cleaning-Up after Cooking ?
In other words, don't go bananas with Pots-&-Pans [Inboxes-&-Tools] ?
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To me, "Develop a reliable habit of cooking meals" could be a project with an end, though I'd probably start with "Develop a reliable habit of homemade dinner."
I would go through a period of experimentation and trying new things until I achieve some sort of goal--maybe homemade dinner, without retreating to frozen dinners or takeout or bowls of cereal, thirteen nights out of fourteen, twice.
Then I would call that project successfully completed and I might have a project called "Keep dinners rolling." I'd probably wait several weeks until that is a well-oiled machine, and then move on to trying to develop a habit of eating homecooked breakfast. Then homecooked (or homecooked and packed) lunch.
Different starter projects could be:
Develop a reliable habit of trying two new recipes a week.
Develop a reliable habit of trying three new ingredients a week.
Or something like that.
Edited to add: As it is, I have an ongoing project called "Keep Us Fed" and when I want to try a new or challenging recipe, I'll give the recipe its own project.
I would go through a period of experimentation and trying new things until I achieve some sort of goal--maybe homemade dinner, without retreating to frozen dinners or takeout or bowls of cereal, thirteen nights out of fourteen, twice.
Then I would call that project successfully completed and I might have a project called "Keep dinners rolling." I'd probably wait several weeks until that is a well-oiled machine, and then move on to trying to develop a habit of eating homecooked breakfast. Then homecooked (or homecooked and packed) lunch.
Different starter projects could be:
Develop a reliable habit of trying two new recipes a week.
Develop a reliable habit of trying three new ingredients a week.
Or something like that.
Edited to add: As it is, I have an ongoing project called "Keep Us Fed" and when I want to try a new or challenging recipe, I'll give the recipe its own project.
TesTeq
0
@mcogilvie For me cooking is very stressful because of ingredients. There's always something missing but I don't want to keep a stockpile of everything. And then I'm lost in the grocery – I can't find anything and sometimes I confuse some vegetables with others.
gtdstudente
Registered
Unlike baking, when creative cooking with or without a recipe
When creative cooking with or without a recipe . . . making due with what one has in scarce inventory can be a great catalyst for cooking creativity ?
Purpose
Gratitude through Creative Culinary Arts
Project
"Use It Up"
Principle Parameter
As best as possible, Zero-Waste in Physical Movements, Pots-&-Pans, and Provisions can be a very good expression of Creative Gratitude ?
Subjective 'Support Materials' application(s)
Physical Movements, slow for seeing accurately, and like keyboard typing, speed naturally happens
Pots-&-Pans as few as possible and through low-heat for easier clean-up
Provisions: Oldest First [First In, First Out {FIFO}]
Very timely as February is the ancient month of purging [zero-waste] as one can use to prepare/roll into March/Lent
March is ancient month of war and as it is Lent . . . the war, in this case, can be efficiently applied in conquering oneself as gratitude for oneself ?
Bonus: Negotiation Skill Development
Distance is the best defense from those who make war on others due to it seemingly making it impossible for cowards to make war on themselves ?
As you see GTD fit. . . .
When creative cooking with or without a recipe . . . making due with what one has in scarce inventory can be a great catalyst for cooking creativity ?
Purpose
Gratitude through Creative Culinary Arts
Project
"Use It Up"
Principle Parameter
As best as possible, Zero-Waste in Physical Movements, Pots-&-Pans, and Provisions can be a very good expression of Creative Gratitude ?
Subjective 'Support Materials' application(s)
Physical Movements, slow for seeing accurately, and like keyboard typing, speed naturally happens
Pots-&-Pans as few as possible and through low-heat for easier clean-up
Provisions: Oldest First [First In, First Out {FIFO}]
Very timely as February is the ancient month of purging [zero-waste] as one can use to prepare/roll into March/Lent
March is ancient month of war and as it is Lent . . . the war, in this case, can be efficiently applied in conquering oneself as gratitude for oneself ?
Bonus: Negotiation Skill Development
Distance is the best defense from those who make war on others due to it seemingly making it impossible for cowards to make war on themselves ?
As you see GTD fit. . . .
I have been cooking since I went to college, where I cooked for thirty other undergrads in my living group. Over time, through trial and error and a little research, I learned the art of substitution, so you use what you have. I started going to a smaller grocery store (Trader Joe’s) for most things, so it’s quicker and easier to navigate. Think of cooking as an opportunity for experiments- I’m sure you can embrace the challenge
.