AIBU to think all Mumsnetters are on top of life admin

[Southern]

Just that really, it's been a bit hectic lately and I feel like I have fallen behind on stuff. I read some threads for tips on here and most MN'ers responses were quite scathing towards those who weren't on top of life admin which to be honest, made me feel like a bit of a failure. Is everyone on here on top of everything and always goes on comparison sites to check all their quotes etc? The amount of form filling just fills me with dread and sends me on a procrastination loop (which is why I am here typing this probably)...... for those who are on top of it, when do you do it?

Online shop 10 mins

10 mins!!! I can't spend that browsing the bread options

can!

Life admin ?

I have a pile of letters that I shall go through at some point and a few I shall keep and file others bin. Takes an hour max just joking to do so I put it off. Everything paid by dd

Only time there is lots of paperwork is moving and it takes a couple of hours to do the initial stuff then the rest you fit in between

Im a working single parent and a LL so a bit of extra paperwork now and then but it’s certainly not something that takes much time

Unless you are justifying your time to other who probably don’t care

@brownet

The next week's slot is booked the day the current shop arrived.

Jesus, trying to get an Ocodo slot for any day at some point in the future has been a major challenge for me this last yr!

TBF, we have been really lucky. During the first lockdown I was booking 3-4 weeks in advance with Morrisons.

Boring to do

Not joking (but sure how boring became joking)

For some people a 5 minute form involves an hour search for their passport and national insurance number.

That reminds me - I need to renew my passport but I guess there's no hurry as I won't be going anywhere for a while yet.

@Nyctophyllia

Life admin indeed, what a big pile of steaming shite

Beautifully put😆 Why does everything have to be labelled??

I think it's fine if you can do it in five minute bursts through the day but harder if you both work full time in environments when this isn't possible. If you get maybe an hour to yourself a day (which is typical for me) having to do the three tasks totalling 25 minutes given as an example a few posts back feels bigger than it is. Also things like getting to the post office to return a parcel have to be planned because most of the time the post office's opening hours are when you are at work. It's kids clubs and activities that get me. I've only got one child but the amount of emails a few after school clubs generate is ridiculous. Then there's kit to buy, things to print, apps to check, etc. At the end of what is often a 12 hour working day for me it feels like it never bloody ends.

Yes, I remain mostly on top of it - it was tough recently as I was also the executor of my Dad's will and also selling his house and car etc. But I tell myself that I have to stay on top of it - otherwise it gets worse to try and correct things or do things late!

I am pretty organised, keep lists, check things off. I always do my life admin on a Sunday morning with a nice coffee and monthly payday.

It amazes me how some people manage to turn simple things into a mammoth task akin to being CEO of a multinational. We all have to shop, pay bills, do banking, have dental/medical apts, run cars, have subscriptions etc. That’s life nowadays. Some of us manage to work full time while also doing all these things.

Umm, definitely not! I moved 3 months ago and still haven't let my bank know

Loads of others, but that is the one I know is a priority.

If I knew what it was, I am pretty sure I wouldn't be on top of it.

And don’t we all have a list of things that need doing

For some it’s written down others it occasionally pops up in their kind depending on urgency

I thought that was normal

I'm super on it at work but get paid for it. Can't be arsed to do it at home for free sometimes 😆

It’s hardly 9-5 five days a week is it confused.

I can't recall me, or anyone else on here saying it was. You are the person who said it was a 2 min job. I was disagreeing, but at no point exaggerated like that.

Tip - there is a clever little thing called a comparison site that will compare insurance prices for you in a couple of minutes. They’ll even email the result to you.

No need to be sarky.

a) I do use comparison sites - more than one as they can vary quite a bit.
b) When you have to answer questions about information you don't happen to carry around in your head, then it takes a damn site longer than 2mins. No, I haven't memorised my driving licence number. No I haven't memorised dh's DL number. No, I haven't imprinted into memory the exact date of the two (non fault) incidents we have to put the details of into the questions . No I don't know the exact amount of the claim without looking it up. No, I'm not 100% of the NCD number of years without double checking. etc etc etc

I am NOT on top of life admin AT ALL!! HTH

I always just sort of pottered along doing things as they needed doing, alongside the same kind of life everyone else has. I am a big believer that very busy people get stuff done - I tick all the boxes of single parent, child with medical needs, and working full time.

Then my mum asked if I would take over her admin too, and since I lived in fear of cocking it up I decided I needed A System.

After a few false starts, this is it:

1. Batch and combine similar tasks. So my boiler service is booked for same week (or day even) as my mum's. I order her prescriptions at the same time as mine. The car service is scheduled for the same time as the MOT so it's all one booking, etc.
2. Let a system do the remembering for you - we have a shared google calendar with ALL the life and house maintenance jobs in, set to recur at the intervals we need. That's everything from changing mum's bed to ordering pet food to renewing the car insurance to paying window cleaners.

None of the jobs take very long, it's the mental energy of "not forgetting" them that is draining - so let the smart phone or calendar or something do the remembering and then you can relax about it.

When there is extra stuff, like house repairs, I highly recommend going down the list and assigning each job a specific day. I am infinitely more likely to declutter and build new wardrobes, for example, if I put it in the diary as "Weds: order skip. Fri: empty clothes rail. Sat: build 1 wardrobe" It means it's less overwhelming, and by doing smaller jobs spaced out, I get to actually spend some time with DC sit back and drink gin

I'm regularly baffled by people claiming "life admin" is overwhelming who, when questioned further, break each task down into tiny components like 'switch on computer, open browser, find comparison site, fill out form, wait for results, choose one of the options, set up the DD or pay the annual amount...it's exhausting". Everybody I know in real life just gets on with it and it doesn't even warrant a conversation.

I very much doubt that everyone is on top of "life-admin" whatever the fuck that is

A very quick glance at the current cheesecake thread will show you that many posters aren't even on top of basic general knowledge, so I very much doubt they could deal with much else.

MN loves to label things. Like "meal-planning"

I thought it must be some mystical skill that I had never been taught, but it turns out that it means deciding what you are eating that week and making sure that you have all of the ingredients.

I think life admin is a pretentious term for just doing every day organisational stuff.

Why does everything have to be labelled??

You know that whatever you call it is a label, right? But of course, saying 'just doing everyday organisational stuff' is much shorter and more convenient.

OP - I use a Bullet Journal. I know they sound a bit wanky, but honestly it made me so much more organised and more chilled out. Removing the jumbled mental load from my head and putting it all in a sensible, categorised way, all in one place, felt very liberating!

So many opeople are mentioning house repairs😱 We have something to do quaterly at max.

Obviously it will sound like A LOT if people write down what they are doing in whole 12 months into 1 post tho. 🤷🏻

I don't think many people have the slightest idea of the amount of admin required if you have disabled children. Forget, the car insurance x 2 the caravan insurance, the passport renewals, the driving licence renewal x 2, try doing DLA, all 40 pages of it! and now I have PIP for DS and for me they are so draining it took me 2 years to attempt DS's! There's also Tax credits, family fund, rest bit applications, college applications bursary applications. I'm sure there's some more, and people wonder why I've never got back to full time work since adopting our two!

Tbf I don't tend to call it 'life admin', just 'admin'. It's not that there's an overwhelming amount of it, it's just that some of it is pretty important and needs keeping track of.

If you include everything, like kids' school stuff, ordering things, appointments, bills, diy jobs, remembering to send birthday cards and presents, booking trips, car maintenance etc it's not an insignificant amount. Some people are good at just remembering and keeping track of this stuff without thinking about it too much. Others could do with a system!

I don't even remember what day it is let alone what date it is most days.
Smart phones. 😁 Blessings

You put it into the calendar once and click "repeat annually". Beautiful. Haven't missed a thing in last 5 years. (I haven't missed most even before, but this is just such a smooth ride).

@SchrodingersImmigrant

So many opeople are mentioning house repairs😱 We have something to do quaterly at max.

Obviously it will sound like A LOT if people write down what they are doing in whole 12 months into 1 post tho. 🤷🏻

House repairs aren't admin, they're DIY. If it requires a hammer, nails, stud wall detector or even a picture hook, you wouldn't expect the admin clerk at work to do it! Unless you mean booking someone to do jobs, like a new bathroom. I still don't think of home repairs as life admin. Clearly the reason I have less life admin that other parents of children without disabilities is due to my very narrow definition of what qualifies as life admin! Feeding people is separate. Home ownership is separate. Basically just insurance, paying the bills, and booking the dentist.