Home Bakery Time Management – 6 Tips to Get Your Baking Done Faster
Home Bakery Time Management – 6 Tips to Get Your Baking Done Faster
The BEST ways to get more things done in your Home Bakery is not a bigger oven or a better mixer (although those tools can help).
I’m talking about tips that go way beyond any piece of equipment.
Resourcefulness can accomplish a whole lot more than resources my friend.
This post is also definitely not about just “working harder”! That’s not productivity, but actually just “slaving away”, so we’re not going there!
Today’s tips are more about practical advice on mindsets, planning, and time management. If you manage your thoughts and time effectively, I promise you’ll get your baking done so much faster than you imagined was possible.
And to help you plan better and be more efficient, I’ve created a free Weekly Planner for you to download and use in your own business! Here’s how to get it:
1. Join my free Resource Library for Home Bakers,
2. download the planner and
3. print it out 😀 Simple.
Please note: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you end up buying one of these products – but it’s at no extra cost to you. I’m proud to recommend these products to you because I know they’ll increase your productivity at the most affordable rate possible.
Here are my 6 tips for getting your baking done faster and managing your time well in your Home Bakery Business.
And read till the end to get a BONUS TIP!
1. Start the day in “Creating Mode”, not in “Comparison Mode”
This is a tip I recently learned from Angie Lee on The Influencer podcast by Julie Solomon.
Every morning you wake up; your mindset and thought patterns seriously determine the rest of your day.
Those thought patterns will literally call the shots on your work speed, accuracy and efficiency.
Going on Instagram first thing in the morning to look at the feed of your heroes and idols is one sure way to put a rain-cloud on your productivity for the day.
Here’s what happens when you look at all that spectacular feed, deeply inhaling the coveting fumes and singing “I wanna be like you-ou-ou!”…
Your mind is forming a sub-conscious conclusion that you are not good enough and that you’ll probably never be enough and you should actually be more like “them” and less like you. Comparison drains life out of you and clouds your mind. And a clouded mind KILLS productivity.
Comparison thoughts that have the power to torment you the rest of the day. And this all happens when you’ve opened yourself up to all of that comparison and negative thoughts.
All of those thoughts are RUBBBBBBISSHHHHHHHH.
So instead of going on Instagram first thing in the morning and providing fertile soil and a greenhouse for those thought patterns, just don’t even open that box my friend!
Wake up in CREATING mode instead! This means that you wake up with the intention to CREATE beautiful, delicious things today.
Your goal is to make something, to add something to the world by brightening up someone’s day with a yummy treat made just for them! Engage your thoughts in that glorious mission and your baking day will be so much more productive!
2. Master your Evening Routine
A productive baking day starts the NIGHT BEFORE. If you feel lethargic and meh on your work day, you may need to get honest with yourself about your evening routine.
Yep, I’m talking to you Netflix-er!
Watching movies and series can be a good way to unwind and laugh at the end of a rough day, but you absolutely need to keep an eye on the clock.
If you want your mind and body to function optimally the next day, make it your mission to sleep enough and give your body all the rest it needs.
And here comes the difficult part… Stay away from ANY screens for at least half an hour before you go to bed. Digital screens have a very particular kind of light that stimulates our brains and keeps them awake.
So, switch your phone to airplane mode half an hour before you plan to sleep and don’t look at it again. Rather take this time to listen to music, or read a bit or colour in (it works wonders for relaxation!!).
Planning your evening routine instead of letting it just “happen”, will give your body the rest it needs which will make you more productive the next day.
Also take time in the evening to write out your schedule for the next day. Be practical and write out for yourself WHEN you’re going to do which tasks. This way you won’t feel flooded by a wave of overwhelm the next day. You’ll feel more in control of your day, instead of putting out fires all day long.
3. Divide Your Day into Phases
I just rubbed my hand over my face as I read this heading, because I realized that I keep forgetting to apply this tip!
Life is busy. Life is hard. Unless you look at it in part.
By this I mean that it’s not a good idea to look at EVERYTHING you need to do today AT THE SAME TIME. This will lead to severe overwhelm.
Overwhelm overloads your mind and emotions with expectations. A list of 20 expectations will absolutely shut you down, weigh you down and prevent you from functioning productively.
Breaking the day up into separate tasks does not help me either – because the amount of tasks is still overwhelming!
What I like to do is divide my day up into phases.
Defining the different phases of my day helps me to focus clearly on a handful of tasks that all fall under the same type of category.
By focusing on 1 phase at a time, I don’t clutter my thoughts with too many tasks or wonder “WHEN am I going to get that thing done?!”.
I know when I’m going to get that done. It will get done in my late afternoon phase, so I don’t need to spend any energy worrying about it NOW.
I encourage you to test which tasks fit better into which phases of your day.
Some tasks might be easier for you to complete in the morning than for others.
I’ve heard that it’s bad for creatives to answer emails first thing in the morning, but I love it! The world is still quiet and I get to chat with awesome peeps like you first thing – I love starting my day this way.
But laundry is a late morning phase thing for me. The thought of doing laundry first thing in the morning makes me want to cry.
So there are no rules here. Divide your day into phases and distribute your tasks as YOU like them.
Don’t force yourself to do laundry first thing in the morning just because people label such a routine as “super productive”!
Rather be realistic and honest with yourself about which tasks suit YOU better at certain times of the day.
I also like to divide my baking up into 5 phases every day:
Early Morning – Phase 1 – ADMIN for 1 hour: This is the only time of the day I check emails. One of the worst, most time-consuming mistakes you can make is to answer emails on your phone all day long. It breaks your concentration and slows you down! I specifically removed email from my phone so I’m not tempted to respond. Set a time to answer emails on your computer and then walk away!
Morning – Phase 2 – PREP: I sift all my dry ingredients, chop everything that needs to be chopped, cut out the correct parchment sizes, etc.
Late Morning – Phase 3 – BAKING SHIFT 1: This is just to get my baking GOING. I’ll bake 1 thing just to make me feel like I’m making progress. It’s usually a layer cake because I know it needs lots of time to cool before I can start decorating it.
LUNCH – It’s super important to take a short break from your work and SIT DOWN to eat. No order is more important that your health & sanity.
Afternoon – Phase 4 – BAKING SHIFT 2: Rest of the baking work.
TEA BREAK.
Late afternoon – Phase 5 – DECORATING & CLEAN UP.
Early evening – Phase 6 – POSTING ON INSTAGRAM STORIES. Back in the day I used to share behind the scenes videos and photos of my baking throughout the day on my Instagram Stories, but that takes up soooo much more time! It works much better to take photos & videos throughout the day and then post all of it at the same time. It’s a lot better for your engagement too because when your followers start engaging with your stories they want to see what happens next! Making them wait 4 hours to see the next shot isn’t fun for them.
Dividing up my day into these phases has helped SO much to make my baking days feel less overwhelming. This structure has helped me to accomplish more in less time.
4. Do Tasks in Bulk
It’s a whole lot more efficient to simply to do things in bulk wherever it’s possible because jumping between tasks wastes heaps of time.
Doing things in bulk will streamline your productivity and business like crazy.
This also means setting aside times in the day for certain tasks and sticking to that schedule!
For example: Do not answer emails all throughout the day. You can follow my routine I listed a bit earlier. Or you can decide on 2 half hour slots per day for answering emails – one in the late morning and one in the late afternoon.
Keep your phone AWAY from your kitchen when you are baking!! Instagram is the graveyard of time!! Schedule “Insta-times” for yourself in the day, but it cannot be during baking time.
If you had a corporate job, ANY boss would be infuriated if you went on Instagram every 10 minutes, because that means you are stealing his time and being unproductive.
Well my friend, YOU are your own boss now which means that you are actually stealing your own time. Yikes!
Batching is also essential in your baking tasks. PREP IS EVERYTHING. More on this in Tip 6!
5. INVEST in TIME savers
Time is something you can NEVER get back, but Money is something you can make back.
I recently learned this from Sterling Griffin! And upon hearing this and really letting it sink in, I quickly became SHOCKED by how little value I put on my time.
I am super frugal, so I often place myself in a position where I’d rather spend my time than spend money.
This mindset is the ANTIDOTE to productivity.
YOUR TIME IS THE MOST VALUABLE COMMODITY YOU HAVE. Don’t treat it like it’s limitless – because it is absolutely not. It’s priceless.
Invest in time saving tools wherever you are able to. This will get you to your goals FASTER.
Let me use a super obvious example to illustrate my point.
There was a time when a cheese grater was a new invention… Up until then, everyone was just slicing vegetables and other foods with simple knives.
I’m SURE there were women those days that said: “I cannot afford a grater! Money is scarce! I’d rather just keep slicing my carrots by hand for my carrot cakes.”
But others saw the opportunity this grater device was offering. It would save them TIME. If they didn’t need to spend an hour on slicing carrots for 1 cake, they could now double their carrot cake production for the day and MAKE DOUBLE THE PROFIT!
Initially you may need to spend some money to buy a time saving tool, but consider your RETURN ON INVESTMENT.
Will this tool/service/course save you time?
Will this tool/service/course increase your baking capacity and grow your business?
If the answer is YES, then borrow money to invest in that tool. The tool will pay itself off and then proceed to save you time, generate more profit for you and grow your baking business.
For example, it takes up so much time to create templates for invoices, quotes, sales tracking, monthly income statements, etc. But it’s going to save you so much time and frustration to just use mine 🙂 You can get all my templates in the Confident Pricing & Profit Kit.
Another great example: I used to use cup measurements in my baking. But when I started baking for Wholesale Clients I quickly realized that cup measurements just aren’t practical in a Home Bakery! You need to wash them over and over throughout the day and it WASTES SO MUCH TIME.
Getting a digital kitchen scale was the BEST investment (around $25) to save me time and frustration. You just weigh everything directly into your mixing bowl in like 3 minutes total. It’s fantastic! Plus, no extra cups to clean and your baking turns out consistent and perfect every time.
6. Do as Many Tasks as Possible in Advance
The only things you need to do as late as possible is baking the goods, decorating them, and packaging them. But everything else you can do well in advance!
Baking Days and Order Collection/Delivery Days are already stressful and crazy. The last thing you want to worry about is cutting out labels or finishing the decorations on your packaging.
Here’s a list of tasks you can do way in advance:
🍪 Sift all your dry ingredients (the day before baking day) into little labelled zip seal baggies. This way you won’t have to jump between dry and wet ingredients for every single item you mix and your counter space will be less cluttered.
🍪 Create all your decorations in advance. I often decorate my bakes with Dark Chocolate Curls or messages I write with Chocolate. But since chocolate has a super long shelf-life, you can do tasks like this a week or more in advance. Constantly be on the lookout for decorating tasks you can do in advance.
🍪 Finish up your packaging way in advance. There’s zero reason for doing this on order collection day! Cut all ribbons, string & labels while you watch a movie on the weekends. If you write thank you notes, cut the paper well in advance. And whatever you can stick, write or tie in advance, do it. This way you can just pop the baked goods in their boxes in a flash!
7. Bonus Tip! REST is an Investment in Productivity
This seems boring and irrelevant, but RESTING STRATEGICALLY MAKES YOU MORE PRODUCTIVE!!!
I apologize for all the caps and exclamations, but I just had to include them because most bakers struggle to rest.
You NEED to be disciplined about resting.
I used to see resting as wasting time and kept thinking of how much I could be doing in that time.
But here’s another perspective:
You can’t be productive when you burn out, can you?
You can’t be productive if you are constantly exhausted, can you?
Lately I’ve been colouring in for 30 minutes a day with classical music and a cup of tea. You actually get Colouring in Books for Adults and IT WORKS WONDERS! No wonder life was so FUN and exciting when we were kids!
And do not watch series or movies because that won’t let the emotional part of your brain rest.
But whatever works for you, find a way to REST – even for just 15 minutes a day. The world can wait for 15 minutes. We’re not THAT important 😜
Resting at the same time every day also gives you something to look forward to! It’s a time slot that’s YOURS. Having this time to recuperate, rest your body and mind will make you more productive throughout the rest of the day.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my 7 tips to boost your productivity!
Which of these tips are you going to apply this week? Let me know in the comments below 🙂
Aurelia
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Got a question? Something to add? Let’s chat in the comments section down below! (I respond to every single comment)
