Why do we procrastinate?

• Poor time-management

• Difficulty concentrating

• Fear and anxiety about the task at hand

• Negative beliefs that you can't succeed

• Personal problems that range from finances to your love life

• Finding the task boring

• Unrealistic expectations and the quest for perfection

• Fear of failure

In order to overcome this and get on with the task at hand, we need to break down our goals into palatable bites and get rid of all those time-busting temptations. Although you may be tempted to watch the bake off on Food TV, it is imperative that you do some prep work ahead especially if you have a large order. You could measure out all of your dry ingredients and place them in containers so you won’t have to measure sugar, sift flour, etc. while you are preparing to mix batter. However, it is also possible to multi-task. If it is possible for you to watch the show and measure ingredients, then that is fine.

I know that I am guilty of procrastination. I have many recipes that I want to try and place on my cake list, but I always seem to put it off. The more I put it off, the more recipes I have to test until there are just too many recipes to even try. Putting off the inevitable, sometimes until a deadline is staring you in the face causes the highest stress level and results in managing time by crises. There are many reasons why people procrastinate. For some it happens occasionally under specific circumstances, and for others, it is a way of life. Have you ever waited until the person ordered that fondant cake before you even tried to work with fondant? Have you ever waited until the last minute to make royal icing flowers for a cake and on the day the cake was due, your flowers were not dry enough to place on the cake? Let us explore a few of the reasons behind why people procrastinate.

1. Poor work habits. These people procrastinate on everything. They are so far behind that they are constantly trying to keep up with yesterday. Boy, talk about high stress!! Their response is usually, "I work best under pressure." If the truth be known, they are poor organizers and have trouble prioritizing tasks and scheduling their time. It is easier to wait until the last minute to start a task because in their mind it is now important. While they wait until something is important in their mind, what about the times when the child gets sick or a sudden death in the family.

2. Feeling overwhelmed. When we don't know how to do something, it is easier not to do anything at all. Or maybe we feel it would be too time consuming to learn what is needed to accomplish a particular task. It seems like it would take forever to complete. This is the time to break the task down into manageable parts. Decide a starting point and work for short periods of time, say 10 to 20 minutes. Then check off each part as completed. This imparts the feeling of accomplishment as work is being completed.

3. Trying to be perfect. What may be the goal of the perfectionist may well be looked on by others as nitpicking. Perfectionists usually see their responsibilities as burdens, making it more difficult for them to accomplish tasks in a timely manner. They start tasks but put off completion until it meets their standards for perfection. However, these standards are most likely not recognized or appreciated by others, and thereby the perfectionist has wasted a lot of time to accomplish the unnecessary.

The perfectionist could strive for excellence rather than perfection. Excellence is defined as "very good of its kind" or "high-quality performance." Perfection is defined as "the condition of being flawless" which is not impossible, but most unlikely to achieve. Focus on what is realistic rather than what is ideal. Do the best you can in the time allowed. The time investment should be appropriate to the magnitude of the task or project.

Do not beat yourself over the head if you cannot make the “perfect” rose. While you are trying to perfect a rose, perhaps you could seek other alternatives such as buying royal roses from a cake supply store. When I started making roses, my roses looked like small cabbages. I started using a Hershey chocolate kiss as my center. Once I started using the kiss, my roses began to come alive. My roses are not always flawless, but they have an excellent appeal to me and my customers.

4. Rather do something else. Unfortunately, we all dislike certain tasks that we have to do anyway. It could be filing, expense reports, or writing a report. So we keep putting it off, wishing it would go away. Think what would happen by delaying all unpleasant duties. After a while, their numbers build up to where that's all there is to do. Then everything is unpleasant. Consider the consequences of not doing the unpleasant task. Recognize that it will not go away, but just delaying the inevitable. Identify why you procrastinate on a particular task or project - do you hate it, are you feeling overwhelmed by a pending deadline, have a fear of failure, or are you just waiting for the 'right time' to start.

Try setting aside a half hour a day to get started on whatever you are putting off. By working a half hour at a time, you will overcome the overwhelmed feeling and increase the momentum to work faster. Consider the risks of waiting for that last minute 'high.' What if you got sick, priorities changed, or an unexpected crises or event developed. Recall the nightmare experienced the last time you procrastinated until the last minute. When we procrastinate, we get behind before we even start, and create a major time problem.

Here are just a few cake tips to help you avoid procrastination:

• Measure and sift dry ingredients and store in plastic containers.

•Make royal flowers ahead of time and store in containers or tins.

•Try new recipes before someone orders them.

•Be willing to try new designs, practice borders and flowers using leftover icing.

•Mix icing colors, bag them ahead of time, and store in a Ziploc bag. This will save you a lot of time especially if you have a caricature cake that has a lot of colors.

•Keep an up-to-date inventory of cake ingredients. Perhaps you can have a check list, so you will know what you need to buy on your next trip to the store. Check off as it is being used.

•Make icing ahead of time and store in covered buckets.

•Make simple syrup and store in a jar in your refrigerator.

(Article by Sellcakeslikecrazy)