Guest post by LJ Earnest, SimpleProductivityBlog.
Productivity is the intersection of efficiency and effectiveness. It is doing the right things (effectiveness) the best way (efficiency). There are many things that can help us get to our peak productivity. One of those tools is meal planning.
We all have to eat. Yet what we eat determines in large part how we feel, so to get the most from our bodies we need to put in good fuel (effectiveness). However, using unnecessary time and effort in the preparation of our food takes us away from other tasks (efficiency). A meal plan can solve both of these problems.
Effectiveness
Meal planning is equivalent to setting out a task list for the day. The most effective people have a list somewhere of the things they want to accomplish. Meal planning is applying that concept to the kitchen.
By deciding what you are going to eat ahead of time, you give yourself the advantage of customizing your meals to your schedule. If your schedule is busy one night, that is not the night to prepare a time-consuming dish. I believe we all take the easy way out, and having an overly-complicated meal planned on a busy night can often lead to either fast food or packaged stuff loaded with unpronouncable chemicals.
Planning meals also allows you to adjust your grocery shopping to the best time. If you know what you are going to make for a whole week, you can go shopping and get it all done at the time of your choosing. You will not find yourself in the grocery store at 5 p.m. wandering through the crowds, looking for something for dinner.
Efficiency
Efficiency means doing things in a way that requires minimal effort to get the desired results. Efficiency is a backbone of productivity, for people who spend time doing things that aren’t necessary aren’t going to have time to do more important things. Applying the concept to meal planning, it means that you reduce the time to getting meals out to what is necessary.
Of course, you have to temper this with other factors. Sure, it’s faster to nuke a frozen burrito than it is to make a meal from good ingredients but if you put in the need for good fuel into the equation, nuking the burrito is not the most efficient way to feed your body good food.
Why is meal planning efficient? One of the main reasons is that you know what you will be doing. Having a meal plan is like knowing where your keys are. If you misplace your keys you are going to waste time looking for them. If you don’t have a meal plan you are going to waste time trying to figure out what you can make with what you have on hand (or eat fast food).
I rely on meal planning as one of the things that keeps me on top of my game. By taking the extra time out of the daily necessary tasks, I give myself more time to work on other things.
LJ Earnest of SimpleProductivityBlog.com writes about the intersection of productivity and simplicity as they apply to all areas of life.
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Hi, interesting way to look at meal planning. To further add, its also efficient as you don’t end up throwing half the food you buy out.