Are you 'procrastibaking?'

There is a new trend emerging that is evident on social media, perhaps you have participated?

#Procrastibaking is a popular hashtag on Instagram, duly accompanied by pictures of the owner’s accomplishment.

As you might guess, this pastime is the practice of involving oneself in a baking exercise as a way to put off work.

There are even a bunch of unspoken rules involved to ensure you can feel good about your misplaced energy.

However, we are satisfying our present selves and sacrificing our future satisfaction by putting aside our true priorities.

I will admit that I have been guilty of this practice, albeit without knowing it was a thing. That doesn’t let me off the hook, though.

Do you have a passion that can distract you from more important matters? Have you ever been caught avoiding deadlines and making excuses with some minor task?

I suspect most of us could raise our hands on this subject. Isn’t it interesting, however, that some pastimes don’t lend themselves to being a false priority. Even my garden doesn’t make the cut.

I love gardening, but I won’t head outside with my gloves on unless I know I can honestly dedicate time to accomplishing a particular task. Why then, do I find myself baking sourdough bread from time to time instead of updating my accounting?

An article in the New York Times on the subject mentions that best practices for procrastibaking include the following:

• A fun component (so the recipe shouldn’t be something you need for a proper diet – maybe then I’m off the hook by making bread?)
• Working with ingredients at hand (no, heading out to shop for items is a different kind of procrastination – hence the propensity for “kitchen sink” recipes to be featured)
• Many steps in the baking process (okay, baking bread is back on the list, with all its time for turning and proofing — rats. The fact that I do a bit of work in between the steps supports the procrastination according to the experts, not the important task at hand)

I could take solace in knowing that many professionals and creative types use procrastibaking as a sort of “warm up,” getting into the flow of their process.

Does that mean that a mechanic might “procras-tinker” in the garage with some random machine? Does a painter dabble at some little drawing or paint the house while a commission awaits? I wonder.

I am constantly working on my time management, trying to make the most of every day with a balance of accomplishment and heartfelt enjoyment.

I know I can do more to improve but I have to say, the fruits of my procrastibaking labours make it hard to feel bad about the time I spend. I’m going to work on just putting a bit of baking on my regular “to-do” list, so it can be a real priority to be scheduled in my day.

If you feel the need to try out this new trend, I can recommend a suitable recipe that fits all the parameters. Millionaire Shortbread is certainly not a required dish in the food pyramid, and it has a few steps with its layers of shortbread, caramel and chocolate.

It will certainly make you feel good when you indulge in a piece.

If you’re one of those people who is focused and on top of things, well maybe you should take a load off and celebrate your organizational skills by stopping with a coffee or tea and a piece of this delectable treat.

Of course, you’re welcome to use the hashtag if you’d like to post a picture of your baking efforts. Just don’t get stuck down the rabbit hole of scrolling through your feed for too long.

You’ll never get anything done if you go down that road.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.