To not understand claims that life admin is 'not a thing'

[LabradorsInThePond]

I keep reading this on MN threads about organisation, time management etc. And that the life admin tasks of renewing insurances and checking mortgage rates can't take up that much time. But I spend a huge amount of time in the throes of life admin. We live a pretty normal, busy family life. I work 4 days in a professional role and can easily spend the 5th day (or at least half of it) in the throes of dreaded life admin.

My list tomorrow extends to twenty three separate items. None of which involve renewing insurances, but they do include buying clothing items (Scout shirt etc.), paying instrument hire, photocopying medical reports for school, booking airport parking, collecting worming tablets, booking a restaurant, buying zoo tickets, arranging a delivery of flowers for mum's birthday, an online grocery shop, buying a thank you gift, arranging a birthday party, booking a roofer, buying new windscreen wipers, emailing the GP, updating kids' Nimbl cards, finding a way to teach DS about dividing decimals, paying various people online etc.

None of these are yearly tasks, and next week there will be another 23 items to complete. It is relentless. DH does most of the house and long-term financial admin and he's also executing his father's too-complicated will, which makes my 23 items look like peanuts.

Do we just have an over-committed life, or does anyone one else find (what others consider non-existent) life admin burdensome and time-consuming? What am I doing wrong here?

YANBU. Those people who say 'Oh but those little admin jobs only take a minute if you do them as they crop up instead of letting them pile up' - nope, that makes no sense at all. The tasks take the same amount of time whenever you do them, regardless of whether you're boiling the kettle at the time.

Of course, but that's not the point of the thread is it? The point of the thread is 'why do people pretend this doesn't exist' when it clearly does.

Boiling a kettle not booking a kettle 😂

I do something every day before I start work. Get up when DH does and spend 15-20 mins on admin stuff. That means it doesn't eat into the rest of the day. Also make sure everything is in the calendar so I can forget about it :-)

It never stops.

Again, pretty much everything you list is either annual (insurance, car service, TV licence) or once every month at MOST (Scouting events, school events, haircuts). How does this take up so much of your time?

Life can be simple. But you have chosen a very full, busy life full of family and activities - and that comes with an awful lot of organisational duties.

Yes. And the point the poster made was that there will be another 23 different things next week.

To be honest that doesn’t sound difficult when you have a whole day to do it. Most people would fit that in around a full time job.

I wouldn’t count a lot of your list as actual life admin, just stuff that needs done.
HOWEVER it’s the kind of stuff that’s really satisfying to be able to tick of an actual written list!

😂

The thing is, everyone will have roughly that amount of stuff they keep on top of. I work full time and am a single mum and it is fine. I think the stressy things will ne medical appointments. The rest ... can you just do them as you remember them rather than add them to an ever growing list?

This is just life though, I am FT in a professional role. Sometimes it's manic as in 8am - midnight stints, sometimes it's not but if I'm in the middle of a project balls do get dropped.

DH is hands on but he's a teacher so no use in school hours. This week I have to go to a school mass, costumes and party food for a jubilee party tomorrow, sort pet insurance, food shop, deal with my mothers travel to Aus, try and organise a holiday / break, order pet medication and food, get kids new shoes, do the fucking washing (DH is banned), go to a second hand uniform sale for new school tomorrow, sort kids birthday presents, trying to sort dyslexia assessments for the kids that can happen before December and not in the outer Hebrides when I'm in London and so on.

Oh and submit a tender of a £2.5m for work...

I don't get an hour for lunch, I just do stuff when I'm home - things like instrument hire for example, our council has an online system for that so when I get the email I click the link and sort it out straightaway.

If you prefer to save everything up and do it on the same day that's fine, but otherwise do a few at night when you are home. I'm finding secondary schools don't give much notice anyway so a lot of that kind of admin has to be done pretty much straight away anyway 🙄😁

Life admin is just part of living life really, isn’t it ? It has to be done, maybe you need to divide things up with your DH more ? Or instead of letting a list accumulate, chip away at at it. I’m sure 15 minutes online last night could have ticked off a few items.

Yes. And the point the poster made was that there will be another 23 different things next week.

I very much doubt they can come up with 23 different things each week.

No, the point being made is that it exists, but most people just work it into their daily activities.

So that - to use a handful of examples on this thread - “buying pants for DS” ties in with the weekly shop when you chuck a pack into the trolley as you go around; “booking a restaurant” is done over speakerphone whilst you drive somewhere or on your phone if you’re going by train; “paying an invoice” or “sorting airport parking” is done through after you’ve posted on Mumsnet.

It depends a lot on the ages of the children as well. Even when I don't get a lunch break, the kids are now old enough to not need constant supervision. So I would do a lot of this sort of thing while I'm helping out with homework or stirring the pot making supper or commuting (when I go in by train) or while waiting for someone to turn up to a meeting, and a big one is before they get up in the morning on a non-school day. Obviously when dc were younger and needed constant attention, some of those opportunities weren't possible.

How many more people are going to post this nugget of wisdom?

I don't think people deny it exists. But they do it on the go as they think of it so it doesn't mount up.
And some people are more thorough. My husband, who had a very busy stressful job, took about half an afternoon (say to you three hours) every other week or so to sort through all the financials. He had an ex wife he supported and four kids altogether. He would check every amount against his credit card bill and bank statement as he had to claim expenses and at times used his own card and to keep track of where everything was going. He checked mortgage deals, insurances utilities phone contracts. Upcoming matches (he had a twickenham debenture and season holder for football), kids schedules, when he had to do stuff with his older boys etc etc etc. he knew when cars needed MOTing (though I actually took the car in) and so on. He was meticulous. Everything was sorted and filed.
I was much more lackadaisical about my own accounts.

Op, can I join you. Ds new beaver sweater I ordered came this week. Now to investigate how to sew on. Replacement piano Audio cable. Bok allergen test for dc1. 21st present voucher for nephew. Wrap a different birthday present for Saturday. And a bunch of other things for Thursday. Menu and drinks planning for an upcoming do

Kangaruby
You could do most of these while waiting for the kettle to boil.

How many more people are going to post this nugget of wisdom?

I think many people get twitchy if there's say 5 things outstanding so get the list shorter by doing tasks in moments like this so they don't have a 23 item list. Most of OP's list are quick things eg a restaurant reservation which saves time for the harder stuff.

Maybe, but if no one does it you have none. I’m always a bit sad that we have no photographs up, but it’s just one little job too many, and I’ve never got round to it.

I get it OP. They might be little jobs, but for a functional family, there’s bloody millions of them, and it’s overwhelming keeping track of them. For every one you knock if, another two spring up.

My main problem is clearly that I have a boiling water tap. These thing would obviously magically get done with no effort if I had a kettle. 🤣

At some point managing the tasks becomes another task in itself.

People who struggle with life admin should read Oliver Burkeman. He's the guru on insights into time management.

@ArmWrestlingWithChasNDave - I think the point is that this is just one week out of many and there will be another set of jobs next week. Maybe it’s more the feeling that a lot needs to be done, when in reality, it’s a collection of relatively short tasks.
I do take a PP’s point about having a full and busy life. The more you do, the more admin there is so maybe there’s a lesson to be learned there.
School admin though - that really is an area that needs to be streamlined!