I feel like this is a little like learning to cook. At the very beginning, I would just create a huge mess as I was going, use a different pan for every item, a

I feel like this is a little like learning to cook. At the very beginning, I would just create a huge mess as I was going, use a different pan for every item, a different mixing bowl for each thing, and I didn't know how to prep effectively in advance. This left a train wreck in the kitchen after each meal that I was forced to clean up before I could cook again. I learned how to do a little up front prep, and that saved time and mess, and made the whole process smoother. As I learned more, I started trying to clean up as I went and conserve the number of pots and pans, I made a lot of mistakes washing everything after I used it, which slowed the whole process down, and I didn't need to reuse some of it. Now I'm in a place where I have enough experience that I know in advance what I can reuse for this meal and whether it needs to really be washed (maybe you just deglaze a pan and wipe it down with a paper towel instead of hauling it over to the sink and scrubbing it), when I'm actually done with an item, what the approximate cooking times are, etc. Now I can cook complex multi-course meals to a good restaurant quality and have just a couple of things left to clean up by the time dinner is ready to serve. It doesn't take a genius to figure these things out, just the acknowledgement that these things are important, and the more people you are working with, the more important they are. Sure, I could have spent the rest of my life cleaning the huge mess after every meal at home, and it wouldn't really matter. But if you are going to be a line cook at a large restaurant, you must get a hold of these concepts.