Cooking forgives a little guessing. Baking doesn’t. Some goals are baking.

Some things absorb improvisation and some collapse under it. A dish can survive a rough estimate because the ingredients adjust to each other, while a rise depends on ratios that do not negotiate. Confusing the two is how careful people fail: they bring guesswork to a goal that needed measurement, or precision to something that only needed starting.

Look at what you are working toward and decide honestly which kind it is. If it is the exact kind, write down the numbers and follow them for a while. If it is the forgiving kind, stop stalling over the recipe.