Time Management: the Baking Analogy
Time management can often feel like a juggling act, where tasks and responsibilities continually compete for space in our diary. A useful way to think of managing time is through the analogy of baking cakes. Just as an oven has a limited capacity for how many cakes it can bake at once, we all get the same 24 hours in a day - and there are only so many things that can comfortably fit in. The key to good time management is to learn what to prioritise, how to manage competing demands, and how to avoid overload.
Understanding Capacity
Imagine you’re about to bake some cakes. You could fit two large cakes in a standard oven at the same time, maybe three if you push it, but you wouldn’t be able to bake thirty large cakes all at once - there’s simply not enough space. However, if you switch to smaller fairy cakes, you can fit twenty, perhaps even thirty of them in. The type of cake you bake directly affects the quantity you can manage.
It can be helpful to think of tasks as differently sized cakes. Large Cakes represent major tasks in your life that require a great deal of time and attention. Fairy Cakes are smaller tasks, like answering a few emails or running a quick errand, easier to manage and taking less time, but still needing some attention. Understanding what you can realistically fit into your “oven” each day allows you to balance the large tasks with the small ones.
The Compromise Between Quality, Quantity and Burnout
We often try to do too much in a limited amount of time, underestimating how big some tasks are. Trying to fit more large cakes in the oven (big, time-consuming tasks) will lead to frustration when the door wont close properly and the cakes don’t rise: just like cramming too many responsibilities into your day can lead to stress, missed deadlines, or burnout. There’s a saying: you can do something fast or you can do something thoroughly, but you can’t do both.
Another danger we face in trying to squeeze in too many tasks into our day, is to our mental health. Here’s another well-known quote, relating to the impact of being tempted into doing too much:
“My candle burns at both ends
It will not last the night
But ah, my foes,
And oh, my friends
It gives a lovely light.”
How Therapy Can Help With Time Management
Therapy can be very helpful in allowing you to refine your “baking process” by encouraging:
1. Identifying Priorities (Choosing What to Bake)
One of the first things therapy can help you with is identifying which tasks (or cakes) are the most important to do or to bake first. Many people struggle with setting priorities, leading to taking on too much or focusing on less important activities. Through techniques such as those used in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a therapist can help you identify the tasks and goals that really matter to you, helping you to prioritise.
2. Setting Boundaries (Not Overloading the Oven)
Many people find themselves overcommitting because they don’t set clear boundaries. Therapy can help you understand the limitations of your own “oven space” and how to say no to additional tasks that might overwhelm it. By learning to recognise when your “oven” is full, you can avoid cramming in extra tasks that reduce the quality of your work, social life or personal time.
3. Improving Focus (Monitoring What’s in the Oven)
Even when you’ve planned your time well, distractions or procrastination can prevent you from finishing tasks efficiently. Therapy can help develop strategies to stay focused on what’s currently in your oven, whether it’s using mindfulness techniques to manage distractions or working through underlying issues like anxiety or perfectionism that make it hard to concentrate on the task at hand.
4. Time Management Tools (Knowing Baking Times)
A therapist can introduce practical tools like time-blocking or the Pomodoro technique to help you structure your time more effectively. Knowing exactly how long each task takes (how long your cakes need to bake) helps prevent the common problem of underestimating time requirements, leaving your tasks half-finished.
5. Addressing Perfectionism (Accepting That Some Cakes May not Win Prizes)
Many people avoid starting or completing tasks because they fear imperfection. Therapy can help you challenge perfectionist tendencies and understand that sometimes good enough is better than perfect. You may learn to accept that not all cakes will come out flawless, but the important part is that they’re good enough to eat.
Conclusion
Just as a baker carefully selects what to put in the oven and how much can be baked at any one time, we need to be aware of how we manage our time and tasks. We only have so much space in our daily “oven,” and trying to overload it will only lead to unfinished or poor-quality results.
Therapy offers support in understanding your personal limits, prioritising the tasks and goals that matter most to you. It can help you learn how to avoid burnout. Whether you’re juggling large cakes or fairy cakes, a well-managed oven - and a well-managed life - will yield far more satisfying results.