Life Admin, what is it?

[OneSugarOneSpoon]

Have seen the phrase a few times now, where people have little free time as they're doing this " life admin" most days
What exactly is it? My bills go by direct debit, shopping on line, kids stuff from school doesn't take that long...so am I missing something?

@XjustagirlX it depends what you do at Christmas i guess
We don't do any of that because we go out for a meal at an Indian restaurant
That wipes 99% of the admin out for the family, turn up and eat

*Kanaloa · Today 00:17

...posts where sahps list out normal things like ‘buy cinema tickets’ to make being a sahp sound like it’s a full time job.*

Do people really "justify" being a SAHP like that?! But that makes no sense. It's self-evident that everyone has to do those things (to some extent), in addition to their job if they have one. So, giving this activity a special name, or making a list won't make the activity a reason to be a SAHP.

Haha that is a great way to eliminate the admin of a Christmas meal. 😂

@PeloFondo sorry i tried to reply but it didn’t work

@XjustagirlX

it IS just a roast dinner…but as you asked a point
So no starter- yes usually but it’s not rocket science
no cranberry sauce- it’s literally a jar of sauce that you pick up with the shopping!!?no special drinks, - again…shopping
no Christmas snacks,- shopping.
no arranging which family is coming - we did this last week- it took a 5 min conversation
no collecting family members,- no because they can drive

no crackers, - no because I hate them! Such a waste of money imo
no cheese board, - SHOPPING
no setting the table in a Christmassy way, - yes but I find this fun so I’m not going to complain it’s life “admin”
no doing a quick tidy up of kitchen after cooking, - yeah…such is life not admin
no trying to get a delivery slot,- NOPE…shopping no going to the supermarket when it’s super busy- possibly but who cares if it’s busy (such is life!) , no visiting other family members - yes but it’s hardly life admin!!
or going to church so trying to work out oven timings to fit in.- not a hope!

so in that lovely list you created the only JOB I see is going shopping which I would have done anyway!! Oh and setting the table…mountain…molehill comes to mind!

Exactly this, none of it is life admin its shopping and setting a table lol

i can see who the drama queens on here are from a mile off!! 😆

I've read most of this thread, both sides, and what it seems to come down to is..

Some people like to do things which makes other peoples lives nicer.
Some people would rather just chill a bit and take life as it comes.

The former group requires more life admin time.

Having now read through the whole thread I think people who hate the term life admin, still have a lot of the same shit to do they just don’t like calling it life admin.

obviously they do have less shit to do compared to people with multiple children, older parents, disabilities or in a crucial life stage such as getting married, having a baby or moving house.

the shit to do still exists though but maybe they are either more efficient at getting it done or don’t get it done to the same standard (maybe they pay more for eg or pick the first option they find). Good on them if that’s how they want to live.

Cross post @XjustagirlX !
Yup, agree. And one other thing that I would add to your list which makes a huge difference to how long it takes, is how many extra curricular activities your children do.

It's great
Take leftovers home, we've all been going for years so know everyone and socialise between tables. Usually free snacks/starters/drinks and they don't hike up the prices

@XjustagirlX calling it ‘shit’ just says it all though. Like it’s all a big deal!?! For me it’s just life…not admin…just life. I take it as it comes. I have a full time job and two dc. I’m not going to get stressed over the little stuff…it’s not worth it. Today I did some jobs I needed to do. I didn’t plan it too much, I just did it. I’m not an over thinker. If I didn’t do it today I’ll do it another time.

@Cuddlywuddlies But surely you can see that this list is more complicated for someone who

• does have people with different dietary requirements,
• does have elderly relatives they need to collect or visit,
• does go to church,
• has difficult family members so logistics take more than 5 minutes,
• struggles to take the kids to a busy supermarket so might need a babysitter for a couple of hours,
• oh and does like crackers

just because your situation is easier doesn’t mean some people don’t struggle to do all of those things. look outside your own circle and have some empathy!

Ok @XjustagirlX

does have people with different dietary requirements, = more shopping
does have elderly relatives they need to collect or visit, = I said yes to this one but not life admin.
does go to church,= then you do this because you want to, no need to be a martyr (just see it as a social outlet)
has difficult family members so logistics take more than 5 minutes,- fair enough 🤷‍♀️
struggles to take the kids to a busy supermarket so might need a babysitter for a couple of hours,- also fair
oh and does like crackers- shopping?!

It's just a term for people to use to give themselves a pat on the back for doing basic necessities brought on by their life choices. Oh and also for returning to work SAHPs to have something to fill the employment gap on their C.V.

How many times can 'empathy' be used on one thread about basic day to day living. That word is so overused on this site it has no meaning anymore.

@Cuddlywuddlies

extra dietary requirements isn’t just more shopping though. If you have extra family with say a gluten allergy and one is vegetarian. This could actually involve researching a suitable starter or dessert that everyone can enjoy. Which takes time.

so from my original list, you said only two were jobs shopping and setting a table. Now you have added elderly relatives, logistics and babysitting. So now we are up to five.

@XjustagirlX my main point being I don’t see them as jobs!! It’s life…I have vegetarian relatives.It’s not rocket science!! You ask them…simple
Visiting/collecting elderly relatives fair enough but again lets not be a Martyr about it.
the babysitter is a few phone calls or texts

i don’t know I guess I just don’t let this stuff bother me too much…it’s not a big deal

Are "but"s life admin?

We do international moves at Christmas and it seems less hassle than some of Christmases on here. I think people need to slow down sometimes. It cannot be mentally healthy to have everything that difficult if it doesn't have to be. There are some situations when things cannot be easy, but in other cases, stress kills, people...

i personally like to think of jobs as income jobs and capital jobs.

income jobs are jobs that need to happen to keep life moving such as

• food shop and plan
• feeding ourselves and pets
• cleaning the house
• paying bills but most are DD now
• taking the bins out
• taking children to hobbies

Capital jobs are either one off jobs or jobs that only need to happen more than once a month such as:

• passports
• getting best deal on annual bills
• house diy or decoration
• planning à holiday
• annual vaccinations
• hospital appointments inc doctor and dentist
• school related admin
• care for elderly relatives
• Christmas prep inc research, ordering, wrapping, delivering
• Buying items for a new baby like a pram
• wedding planning
• ivf
• Buying a new car
• moving house admin
• buying items for children’s hobbies
• pets vet visits and vaccinations

i wouldn’t count income jobs as life admin but I think capital jobs are. People will have different capital jobs at different stages of their life.

@Cuddlywuddlies the point I am trying to get across is that lots of people will have more to do than other people.

It’s great that you cope so well but there are loads of people who struggle to cope, either because they have much more to consider or have a disability which makes things harder or are just starting different stage in life.

for example you find it easy to cater for a vegetarian relative, but someone who is hosting there first or second Christmas may struggle.

these people just like to give a name to what they have going on ‘life admin’. Maybe it helps them compartmentalise it. Maybe it helps them not forget stuff if they have a life admin list. It doesn’t matter the reason.

But simplifying other peoples problems is really quite insensitive. Btw this comment isn’t personally aimed at you but generally people on this thread. We wouldn’t reply to someone who had a parent die and say well it’s just life so get on with it, I dealt with my parents estate in my dinner hour!

This is such a stupid argument.
Basically a few goady arseholes poking at people who complain that they are busy.

You are mostly just describing things that you are choosing to do though and it's mostly not admin anyway. Cooking Christmas dinner is not admin. Shopping is not admin.

Totally agree that’s it’s pathetic. I think there are “people” on here - for reasons known only to themselves - perpetually pursuing a misogynistic agenda.

You see it on all the hundreds of threads supposedly about life admin, housework, hobbies, finances which boil down to, in essence, an anti-sahp narrative.