Kitchen Condiments as Organizational Tools

With Labor Day behind us, many of us are in ‘back to school’ mode, even if we’re no longer students, and haven’t been for ages. With the shift from summer to autumn comes the need to improve our focus and be more mindful of how we use our time.

If you’re like me, staying on task is a daily struggle. As someone who isn’t a natural list-maker, I’d rather just jump in and do the things, rather than writing down what things I need to do. Nevertheless, I recognize that without some kind of organizational system, important tasks get missed.

What helps for my ADHD brain is finding a way to inject a little bit of whimsy or creativity into the process of task-management. Since I’m also a foodie, when I heard someone on social media talking about “condiment days,” my attention was caught.  I replayed the video clip a few times and learned that, aside from being great on hotdogs and hamburgers, common condiments (mustard, ketchup, mayo, pickle, relish) can serve as little nudges to help prioritize tasks.

Here’s how it works:

• MUSTARD items are MUST-Dos. These are the things that should be handled before anything else.
• KETCHUP tasks are things you need to CATCH UP on. Email messages, perhaps, or unfished projects that are important, but not urgent.
• MAYO stands for things that are optional. Things you MAY do now or may be set aside for another time.PICKLE and RELISH are both optional items.

• A PICKLE task is something you PICK to get out of the way sooner rather than later and is useful on days when you find yourself with unexpected spare time.
• RELISH on the other hand, is an activity you enjoy – it can be a hobby, entertainment, or the decision to focus on self-care.

Of course, once I learned about this system I started seeing it everywhere. My sister-in-law uses it in her elementary school classes, and an artist friend of mine uses it as well, though she only does MUSTARD / KETCHUP/ RELISH, and not the entire array.

If it seems overly simplistic, consider that it’s really just a re-dressing of color coding, with the added bonus that every time you open your refrigerator, you’ll receive a gentle nudge to stay on top of your to-do list.