Page 18 | Life Admin, what is it?

OneSugarOneSpoon · 2022-10-13T20:37:38+00:00

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 · 14/10/2022 22:04

CrushingAndClueless · 14/10/2022 22:01

No, I don’t. Sorry.

Im not sure that doing 7 hours worth of jobs a year (the ordering of 12 prescription and renewing a passport) can contribute to the “adding up of jobs.”

Doing day to day jobs is just part of life.

If a person was spending hours every single day doing jobs then fair enough….but to give examples of “booking a dentist appointment” which is done once every 6 months as being a piece of time consuming Life Admin is just silly.

Same as when someone talks about researching and booking a Boiler Man….I mean how long can that actually take?!

And the same for booking pets in for the vaccinations….what is so time consuming about that? It’s a two minute phone call.

Im sorry…..but it’s just normal life stuff that everyone does without making a big song and dance about it.

Show quote history

@CrushingAndClueless haha well done for picking 3 examples which are usually pretty quick.

how long do you think it takes to move house, or plan a wedding, or decorate a house, or deal with an elderly relative, or research and buy a car?

or will you reclassifying these as just life so those big jobs don’t count within this discussion?

OneTC · 14/10/2022 22:05

wordler · 14/10/2022 22:04

I actually LOVE that phrase! That's exactly what I'm going to say from now on - better than 'stuff'

I'm sorry I have too much life going on!

Show quote history

Yeah it's up there with adulting

XjustagirlX · 14/10/2022 22:07

OneTC · 14/10/2022 22:04

Sorry something's come up normally cuts it

Show quote history

@OneTC so it is just the phrase you don’t like then?

if I kept saying to my friends something has come up, they would definitely ask me what. Then I would probably let them know what I was doing. Hopefully they would be kinder than some people on here.

OneTC · 14/10/2022 22:12

So you'd really tell someone you couldn't come out because of "life admin" and they wouldn't say what you doing then? When it could be literally anything surely?

And yeah like I said it's just the phrase itself. I have no problem with people needing to defrost something and then cook it for example, or go to the doctors, or book a lesson or whatever.

CrushingAndClueless · 14/10/2022 22:12

how long do you think it takes to move house, or plan a wedding, or decorate a house, or deal with an elderly relative, or research and buy a car?

It took me 4 months to plan my wedding, it took us just under 4 weeks to decorate our whole house and when I bought my latest car I researched it on one day and bought it the next day.

I think the way people perceive “life admin” just varies from person to person and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Some posters may think I’m awful, naive, stupid….or any other word they can come
up with….simply because I don’t see “life admin” as being anything other than just normal life stuff that everyone does.

Some posters may think my attitude is made in just the same way I think a lot of the other posters are mad.

And that’s just life 😂

5128gap · 14/10/2022 22:15

XjustagirlX · 14/10/2022 21:50

This thread is so ridiculous.

A poster said it right earlier, it’s just a modern phrase with a modern meaning. there are so many fuddy duddies attacking people because they don’t like the phrase. Get over it. You don’t like the phase others find it a useful way to describe their to do list.

i wonder if there is any correlation between people who hate the phrase and lack of stuff going on in their lives.

No. I think its the opposite generally. People with a lot going on in their lives tend to squeeze the little tasks in here and there without registering them and needing a name for them. If I was asked how I'd spent my day, I'd not say 'life admin' because I'd renewed my passport, opened the gas bill and paid the window cleaner. If you've a lot going on, these are non events that don't need a label.

XjustagirlX · 14/10/2022 22:17

OneTC · 14/10/2022 22:12

So you'd really tell someone you couldn't come out because of "life admin" and they wouldn't say what you doing then? When it could be literally anything surely?

And yeah like I said it's just the phrase itself. I have no problem with people needing to defrost something and then cook it for example, or go to the doctors, or book a lesson or whatever.

@OneTC i actually prioritise my friends so generally I wouldn’t cancel because of life admin. However if it clashed with something important I needed to get done then I would say so. And I would tell them what I was doing. I wouldn’t describe it to them as life admin that’s just the way I clump all my tasks together for me.

wordler · 14/10/2022 22:18

CrushingAndClueless · 14/10/2022 22:12

how long do you think it takes to move house, or plan a wedding, or decorate a house, or deal with an elderly relative, or research and buy a car?

It took me 4 months to plan my wedding, it took us just under 4 weeks to decorate our whole house and when I bought my latest car I researched it on one day and bought it the next day.

I think the way people perceive “life admin” just varies from person to person and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Some posters may think I’m awful, naive, stupid….or any other word they can come
up with….simply because I don’t see “life admin” as being anything other than just normal life stuff that everyone does.

Some posters may think my attitude is made in just the same way I think a lot of the other posters are mad.

And that’s just life 😂

No one else here sees 'life admin' as being different from the everyday life stuff either. Please point me to a poster or post if you see anyone describing tasks that aren't everyday life stuff.

At this point, I'm not sure what your point is.

Is it that...

Everyone is either lying, incompetent or time-wasting if they can't buy a new car in 24 hours?

Everyone who says they are very busy on a regular basis is lying or incompetent because no one's life could be busier or harder work or more complicated than yours?

CrushingAndClueless · 14/10/2022 22:20

wordler · 14/10/2022 22:18

No one else here sees 'life admin' as being different from the everyday life stuff either. Please point me to a poster or post if you see anyone describing tasks that aren't everyday life stuff.

At this point, I'm not sure what your point is.

Is it that...

Everyone is either lying, incompetent or time-wasting if they can't buy a new car in 24 hours?

Everyone who says they are very busy on a regular basis is lying or incompetent because no one's life could be busier or harder work or more complicated than yours?

Show quote history

My point is basically what a poster said above who I completely agree with:

”No. I think its the opposite generally. People with a lot going on in their lives tend to squeeze the little tasks in here and there without registering them and needing a name for them. If I was asked how I'd spent my day, I'd not say 'life admin' because I'd renewed my passport, opened the gas bill and paid the window cleaner. If you've a lot going on, these are non events that don't need a label.”

LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 14/10/2022 22:21

celestialsphere · 14/10/2022 15:19

People have listed things which either don't take much time or only have to be done once or twice a year.

Show quote history

It is life admin.

To me life admin = extra stuff to do on top of every day life.

Life admin does not, to me, mean “Going through hell and physically drudgery for hours on end” like some people seem to think.

Booking a day off to stay in for someone to fit broadband is something to do. It’s life admin. No one said life admin has to be painful but it is usually very boring

LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 14/10/2022 22:23

XjustagirlX · 14/10/2022 15:21

@reigatecastle So no starter, no cranberry sauce, no special drinks, no Christmas snacks, no arranging which family is coming over, no collecting family members, no crackers, no cheese board, no setting the table in a Christmassy way, no doing a quick tidy up of kitchen after cooking, no trying to get a delivery slot, no going to the supermarket when it’s super busy, no visiting other family members or going to church so trying to work out oven timings to fit in.

Let me guess, you spend Christmas with just your nuclear family and everyone gets chocolate or socks?

Show quote history

I grew up in a house that overdid Christmas because CHRISTMAS IS IMPORTANT FOR THE CHILDREN and it was fucking tedious and also meant my mum spent the day in the kitchen tending to ‘special touches’ rather than spending time with us. No one gives a fuck about ‘Christmassy ways’, don’t bother!

XjustagirlX · 14/10/2022 22:23

CrushingAndClueless · 14/10/2022 22:12

how long do you think it takes to move house, or plan a wedding, or decorate a house, or deal with an elderly relative, or research and buy a car?

It took me 4 months to plan my wedding, it took us just under 4 weeks to decorate our whole house and when I bought my latest car I researched it on one day and bought it the next day.

I think the way people perceive “life admin” just varies from person to person and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Some posters may think I’m awful, naive, stupid….or any other word they can come
up with….simply because I don’t see “life admin” as being anything other than just normal life stuff that everyone does.

Some posters may think my attitude is made in just the same way I think a lot of the other posters are mad.

And that’s just life 😂

@CrushingAndClueless let me guess, when you say you decorated your house in 4 weeks. You are referring to decorating being just painting the walls haha 😂 and you probably picked one colour throughout the entire house.

you surely don’t been buying new furniture (which ftb need to do), snd you don’t mean styling with fabrics or decor items or art work, you also I bet didn’t consider paint samples in different north south east or west facing rooms? You didn’t have a new kitchen or bathroom or any big DIY projects?

either your house is very small or you went to B&M, grabbed a colour probably gray, painted everywhere and then did a feature walk of wallpaper 😆

decorated ✅ job done for the next 30 years. Let me guess life is for living and you don’t want to waste time creating a nice home.

LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 14/10/2022 22:24

I’m my house I get everything bought in trays from M&S even roasties. The heathen that I am! If they don’t like it then tough shit but it is just a roast!

wordler · 14/10/2022 22:24

@XjustagirlX shall we just give up? You and I don’t even use the phrase life admin! 😂

InCheesusWeTrust · 14/10/2022 22:29

XjustagirlX · 14/10/2022 22:23

@CrushingAndClueless let me guess, when you say you decorated your house in 4 weeks. You are referring to decorating being just painting the walls haha 😂 and you probably picked one colour throughout the entire house.

you surely don’t been buying new furniture (which ftb need to do), snd you don’t mean styling with fabrics or decor items or art work, you also I bet didn’t consider paint samples in different north south east or west facing rooms? You didn’t have a new kitchen or bathroom or any big DIY projects?

either your house is very small or you went to B&M, grabbed a colour probably gray, painted everywhere and then did a feature walk of wallpaper 😆

decorated ✅ job done for the next 30 years. Let me guess life is for living and you don’t want to waste time creating a nice home.

Show quote history

Erm. We redecorated whole house in about 4 weeks including some new furniture (seems like we were unsual ftbs with some own furniture?), Went shopping, did different colours and wallpapers. All in all 4 or 5 weeks.

Kitchen and bathroom refit is not decorating. That's refurb or refit so the poster was actually quite right in very easily achievable time scale.

LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 14/10/2022 22:31

CrushingAndClueless · 14/10/2022 21:46

I’m not targeting the OP personally,

It just amuses me that something that is done once a year, and probably takes an hour, is classed as a stressful “life admin” event.

Someone up thread even classed ordering a prescription as “life admin” which takes up their time. I take medication and ordering my prescription takes up about 30 minutes per month…..that’s it. It’s just life.

I am honestly baffled by this thread.

Show quote history

No need to be baffled. It’s very simple.

To many of us life admin is extra shit to do - regardless of wether it is ‘hard work’ or time consuming.

To other, life admin MUST involve paperwork

And to some life admin is stuff that’s ‘hard work’ - though I can’t see any examples being given.

OP asked a question people replied with their varying interpretations. And that apparently upset some people and we have all unwittingly entered a ‘I find things easier than you’ competition.

InCheesusWeTrust · 14/10/2022 22:32

I do like how people always bring up the super extremes to explain why something has to have / or can't have certain names.

Nothing is average on mn

XjustagirlX · 14/10/2022 22:32

@wordler you are right. They do think we are lying, incompetent or time-wasting.

They think sahp are lying to justify their existence. They think people with disabilities (physical or mental like adhd) are incompetent as they can’t do stuff as quick as them.

LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 14/10/2022 22:35

CrushingAndClueless · 14/10/2022 22:01

No, I don’t. Sorry.

Im not sure that doing 7 hours worth of jobs a year (the ordering of 12 prescription and renewing a passport) can contribute to the “adding up of jobs.”

Doing day to day jobs is just part of life.

If a person was spending hours every single day doing jobs then fair enough….but to give examples of “booking a dentist appointment” which is done once every 6 months as being a piece of time consuming Life Admin is just silly.

Same as when someone talks about researching and booking a Boiler Man….I mean how long can that actually take?!

And the same for booking pets in for the vaccinations….what is so time consuming about that? It’s a two minute phone call.

Im sorry…..but it’s just normal life stuff that everyone does without making a big song and dance about it.

Show quote history

Who is making a big song and dance! People have just described what life admin is. The definition does not include “and it’s really hard and takes 47 hours to complete”.

There seems to be a really weird jealousy on here of people who have lots to do. I can’t put my finger on why!

XjustagirlX · 14/10/2022 22:37

InCheesusWeTrust · 14/10/2022 22:29

Erm. We redecorated whole house in about 4 weeks including some new furniture (seems like we were unsual ftbs with some own furniture?), Went shopping, did different colours and wallpapers. All in all 4 or 5 weeks.

Kitchen and bathroom refit is not decorating. That's refurb or refit so the poster was actually quite right in very easily achievable time scale.

Show quote history

@InCheesusWeTrust but a new kitchen or bathroom is possible for some people. Are we allowed to call that live admin?

maybe instead of saying life admin we should say, ‘decorating, refurb, hospital appts, caring for elderly relatives, booking a holiday, helping child with a school project’

but that’s a bit of a mouthful to say. Wouldn’t it be easier if we had a catch all term to generally let people know we are busy at the moment…

stevalnamechanger · 14/10/2022 22:42

Clothes returns
Moving house processes
Adhoc things like birthday gifts , cards
Chasing refunds for said clothes returns
Booking travel arrangements
Planning diary

Namenic · 14/10/2022 22:47

Personally I count medical appts in life admin - coz they just have to get done, and you have to book them and make sure they don’t clash. Same as dentist appts and trademen coming round. If u have to arrange this stuff for kids and parents, it can add up.

i found buying a car took a lot of time coz we were on a budget and prices were rising due to semiconductor shortage during covid. I had a small car and couldn’t fit additional car seat as was expecting new baby. Sure - you could make a decision quick if you are free-er with your cash, but we waited around, tried to get a feel for a good price etc and what would be best fit for us in the long term (7 seater vs large 5 which takes 3 kid car seats. New vs 3yr old vs 10yr old. Electric vs petrol. Made a few thousand pounds difference in price). I suppose it’s a time-cash trade off.

InCheesusWeTrust · 14/10/2022 22:53

XjustagirlX · 14/10/2022 22:37

@InCheesusWeTrust but a new kitchen or bathroom is possible for some people. Are we allowed to call that live admin?

maybe instead of saying life admin we should say, ‘decorating, refurb, hospital appts, caring for elderly relatives, booking a holiday, helping child with a school project’

but that’s a bit of a mouthful to say. Wouldn’t it be easier if we had a catch all term to generally let people know we are busy at the moment…

Show quote history

If you do refurb you do refurb. You just took a piss out of someone for decorating in actually normal timescale for... Decorating in actually normal timescale...

This wasn't about doing refurb this is about "hahaaha I bet you shopped in b&m because you decorated in a month hahahah" twattery.😐

XjustagirlX · 14/10/2022 23:04

@InCheesusWeTrust a Quick Google said it takes on average 5 months to decorate an entire house. So if you can do it in 4 weeks you either, did a bad job, it isn’t finished yet or you paid someone to do lots if it or you have superpowers and needs to sell your services

InCheesusWeTrust · 14/10/2022 23:10

XjustagirlX · 14/10/2022 23:04

@InCheesusWeTrust a Quick Google said it takes on average 5 months to decorate an entire house. So if you can do it in 4 weeks you either, did a bad job, it isn’t finished yet or you paid someone to do lots if it or you have superpowers and needs to sell your services

Ok it looks like we did a shite job. Shame on us all.

Except that it doesn't say it takes 5 moths decorating but feeling like at home. Which if you come from rental actually can take longer so 5 month average would be fine. Takes a while sometimes to realise you can change things if you don't like them hence feeling at home a bit and being content.