If you don't consider life admin to be a thing...

I don't think people tend to deny life admin is a thing. I think its more that we say it isn't the onerous burden that some make it out to be.

I mentally label them a pain in the ass and give them low priority. There's far too much bureaucracy in the modern world. Life's too short. Do the bare minimum on the last minute if it's absolutely necessary.

This.

The fact people consider unloading the dishwasher a ‘job’ they have to do, akin to repainting a hallway or taking a child to a dentist appointment, is why people take issue with the label ‘mental load’. To me, unloading the dishwasher is like drawing the curtains at night or brushing my teeth. It isn’t a “job” or “admin” that weighs me down.

I think you hit the nail on the head - paperwork sounds a lot less wanky than ‘life paperwork’!

It’s the life bit I think - like ‘life coaches’

I'm not a Saint either @Alltheyearround but I could have done a lot of teaching in the time getting that EHCP took.

It would try the patience of saints.

Of which I am not one!

I have a disability also, so only work part time, apart from the admin mountain which comes with a child with SEND.

You'd think we'd get support, in any sane society, but actually you end up working twice as hard.

The thing that really irritates me is that DLA/EHCP admin time could otherwise be used in helping DS with any number of things, speech therapy, OT, literacy, or even just family time with a child with extra needs.

Instead I'm playing constant 3 D chess with the local authority/school about why they are not meeting needs/wrong school/downplaying identified needs/not consulting with SEND school, and appeal illegal moves.Tribunal last year (we 'won') and another being registered as I type.

Not to mention having to try and work diplomatically but assertively with a chronically underfunded NHS to get much needed referrals. Yet more appointments and pleading DS's case via emails to consultants/paediatricians.

I’m not going to label something that st most takes about 20 minutes a month, I’m not sure it’s even that much.

No - I think that’s a totally normal term to group together housework like cleaning / laundry etc.

I’d probably say housework to a stranger or someone not in my household because they don’t need details but to DH be more specific because it’s more relevant to him specifically what is getting done.

That’s why the admin label is useful to DH I might say:

I spent two hours cleaning the guest bedroom this afternoon on top of an hour sorting out that banking glitch and confirming great aunt Joan’s power of attorney.

But if a colleague asked I’d just say ‘spent most of the afternoon on housework and admin stuff’

It's a thing. It's just not a big thing for most people. A simple part of being an adult.

Of course, for parents of children with disabilities and other people with situations that require considerable paperwork, life admin is certainly more complicated and onerous.

I recognise that a home does not run itself, there are bills to pay etc. I just think life admin is an expression that I don't like or use.

Honestly, I'm sure I'll be shot down in flames for this but no, I don't.

It's just stuff I need to do that's part of my daily life. I don't spend hours on it, it just takes 5-10 minutes at random points throughout the day.

So you would never think about housework as 'housework'? And if anyone said they had some housework to do that afternoon, you'd think 'Fancy making a fuss about normal household tasks (oops , that's another collective term!) by calling it 'housework!'?

I've got so much life admin going on, I could literally and legitimately employ a PA at the moment.

Applying for DLA took me 5 complete working days of 7 hours, 35 hours. My day rate for that would be over £5,500, if I hadn't had to stop work to look after kid, so the 500 quid we now get every month will just about get us in profit by end of a year.

I am at peak life admin with a non desk job. I agree it’s relentless but doing it everyday as it comes up is the best way of dealing with it.

my biggest admin chores are my tax return and my expenses.

Everything else tends to be 2minite jobs that I get done in queues, endlessly waiting around for children, on the train etc.

I think if you lack agency you make more of your role or if you think your worth is what you do for others rather than what you are - so in my case my mum's currency/worth was her keeping the house clean, so she'd say to me, you'll never be able to run a house - you aren't running a house mother, it isn't Chatsworth is it. So no one could do it like she could, we were all useless, if she didn't do it who would do it.

I would say people mostly use the term ‘life admin’ because they consider it the dull stuff that is stopping them doing the fun stuff. Like the filing admin etc in an office job.

Certainly some of the stuff you describe op I would consider life admin and time consuming. Correspondence and financial things for elderly parents or other family is arduous, DH has legal responsibility for his disabled brother and it doesn't help all the services he needs to communicate with are completely incompetent.

I think people respond negatively to the term when annual tasks like insurance or switching providers is listed. Or, even more ridiculous, grocery shopping. I really do wonder how people get through the day. I had pretty quiet day today but if I wanted I could list literally even thing I have done and make it look like I'm a frazzled mother with a 100 things on my to do list.

I need a dentist check up soon. Guess I should fret about it before a few weeks before making the 2 minute phone call

I know - for me it's just something that comes up every now and then when planning the day.

What are you doing this afternoon?
I'm going to do the laundry and some admin?
How long will that take you?
I probably need about 2 hours to get all the admin stuff done, I'll stick the laundry in around that, you?

I thought we all kind of grouped tasks together in our heads, especially when fitting it in around set schedules like work shifts or school pick ups etc.

And do you feel terribly superior for not having a name for them? Do you think not having a name for them makes you better at getting them done? The non-admin-namers usually seem to feel this way imo.

Banking is all set up automatically. A couple of transfers to do on pay day. It’s just part of life and I don’t call it anything. As for making appointments etc, again few and far between. I’ve raised 3 kids and life admin isn’t a phrase i’ve personally used.