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?

Oh come on you googled it to stick the boot in to that poster! You’ve been sticking the boot in and making sneery comments this whole thread. Get away with this obtuse nonsense about “oh I was genuinely interested in the answer” 🙄

Also 5 months is about right for a house rennovation but rennovation and decoration are not the same thing

So what? There’s clearly no dictionary definition, so the definition is subjective. What aren’t you getting?

I would never use a price comparison website, they churn out shitty companies I’ve never heard of who, when you read the small print, aren’t giving you a good deal at all.

Much better to get direct quotes from reputable companies. And cheaper! So I do take the time to do that because it’s worth it.

It talked about feeling at home. I will forever stand by that😁
Then a bit about small group taking long to find sofa etc.

Feeling at home is still at work even after decorating is long finish. It's about where do you put what, changing cups with tins in cupboards because the first didn't work right. Finding place for your random crap (like the magical random crap drawer), finally finding that right agle for tv vs sofa, moving microwave and toaster 3 times until it feels right, and so on.
Then there is that one day when you suddenly do "oh, wait a sec, it's mine. And it's just right Awwww" and you jiggle into comfy position on a sofa and just feel content.

YY, also I think ‘life admin’ can be the most time consuming when you forget to do the admin sooner! Passport renewals is a good one. I forgot, like a tit, to renew DD’s passport one year, and ended up travelling miles a few days before our holiday when you could still get same day passports. I also forgot to do my MOT once and had to fanny on arranging lifts to work as I couldn’t drive the car for a week while I waited for the appontment.

Honestly, if I can actually remember what I though 22 pages ago..! admin is paperwork I assumed, I mentioned online shopping cos ...well..kind of making lists etc. But..obviously this definition ranges far and wide, and I guess hadn't realised that. If I count lots of other stuff in there too like cleaning ,decorating etc then...yup it takes me ages too!

It's just all the stuff that needs doing to keep life ticking over smoothly. I've only ever heard the term Life admin on Mumsnet but it does need doing.

Things like making a daily cup of tea-
getting down a cup
opening the teabag tin
taking out a teabag
putting the teabag in the cup
getting a spoon
opening the sugar bowl
putting the spoon in the sugar bowl
adding the sugar to the cup
taking the kettle to the sink
turning on the tap
filling the kettle
making sure the kettle plug is in the socket and the socket is turned on
turning the kettle on
scratching my arse while waiting for it to boil
pouring boiled water into the cup
using the spoon to mash the teabag
opening the fridge
taking out the milk
unscrewing the bottle
adding the milk
taking out the teabag.
taking the teabag to the bin
opening the bin with my foot
putting the teabag in the bin
making sure the bin lid has closed
putting the lid back onto the milk
opening the fridge door
putting the milk back into the fridge
closing the fridge door
putting the box of teabags away
putting the lid back on the sugar bowl
turning on the hot tap
holding the teaspoon under the tap
placing the teaspoon on the draining board/

I mean it's only a cup of tea but the actual admin tasks in producing it are endless as we can see when each stage is written down. I find it exhausting, especially if I then drink that cup of tea while browsing Amazon, making a vet's appointment or reading a letter from the school.

I'm not even going to go into the work involved in sending a birthday card to my MIL once a year and if my DH doesn't start doing it soon then it won't be done. I know I should leave the bastard-it's his mother and yet I have to pick up a card, write it out and send it. Once every flipping year. It's endless.

Once a year I also check my insurance or mortgage deals. Shattering. I have to find a slot to do this. It takes two hours every 365 days. people don't appreciate it.
Hats off to all us Life Admin Slaves.

🤣🤣🤣

Life admin is just life - it doesn’t need the admin bit.

Life admin is just life - it doesn’t need the admin bit.

So everything in your life is just admin? Or the admin parts of your life are indistinguishable from the other bits? That doesn't sound like much fun.

Life is just life. That doesn't mean it can't be divided into different bits. Mine is generally divided into job, leisure and household tasks. One subset of household tasks is admin. I might call it life admin (or household admin) to distinguish it from job admin. It's hardly a partulicularluly grand or unreasonable title. I was about to add 'so I don't understand why people make a fuss when others refer to it that way'. But actually I think their motives are usually pretty clear.

Works expands to fill the time! Little Big Business types like declaring stuff to Life Admin. Their motives are pretty clear.

You got it right first time OP. Using the term life 😆admin just makes people feel important.

Tomorrow I need to:

• book a GP appointment for a DC
• book a hair appointment for a DC
• find out how to get a new programmed car key, having lost mine
• find out if I need the cat's vaccination certs in order for them to go to a cattery
• move a DC's maths tutor about for half term
• hire a car for a holiday
• investigate care home fee structure for my MiL
• investigate revision tips for visual learners, and persuade a DC to use them

That's going to take me a couple of hours, and is a typical list of weekly admin. I'm not including the shopping washing and cleaning I need to do tomorrow . . .. or my paid job.

You got it right first time OP. Using the term life 😆admin just makes people feel important.

Or, to look at it another way, sneering at the perfectly inoffensive and not-at-all over-important term 'life admin' just makes people feel superior and come across as snarky.

everything from sorting forms for school, buying items for the home, returning items, selling things on FB / gumtree, processing paperwork, shopping online including for groceries, gift buying, arranging playdates, parties etc for DC, shredding bills, saving digital copies of bills etc etc, dealing with landlords / mortgages, making and managing medical appointments, dentist appointments, etc etc.

Little Big Business types like declaring stuff to Life Admin

What on earth are Little Big Business types? I don't think I can be one. I don't work in business and don't have any intention of doing so!

oh and holiday planning, insurance sorting, phone contracts, travel stuff, train tickets, checking over bank statements.

find out how to get a new programmed car key, having lost mine

I needed to do this in about 2020. We keep thinking it will turn up. It hasn't.

#losingatlifeadmin

Holiday planning is not life admin.

Well, it's people who have little businesses-you could say running a house-chuntering on as if they're running ICI.

It used to be quite a common term and I think we can all exactly picture the type. Mr Jones running the corner shop who, if we listen to him, would think he was running Tesco. A type of Capt. Mainwaring if you like. They're people with little business but want to make it look, to themselves as if they're running a big business.

Here, specifically, posters doing the humdrum of life who dress it up with a term to make it look as if it is A Very Big Job!

Everything can be made to look more time intensive than it really is from making a cup of tea and bringing the cat to the vet to filling in a passport application once veery blue moon to taking a daily shit.

So, you don't need to be running a business. It's a saying. Just as you don't need to an solider if you say you're gunning for someone. It's not literal. Hope that helps.

Holiday planning is not life admin.

Why? Says who? Surely admin is basically paperwork, booking, appointment-making scheduling, bill-paying and financial and organisation-type tasks relating to your household, the people who live in it and what they do in their non-job-related time? Holiday planning requires organising and booking.

I don't see why admin-type tasks would stop being admin-type tasks just because the thing you're spending time organising is something enjoyable! It can certainly be time-consuming. If, for example, one adult in a family ends up being the one who's always in charge of researching and booking all holidays, renewing passports etc and organising all family outings, kids' activities etc, would you say all those things are fun leisure stuff and therefore don't count as household admin?

OK smart arse - it’s part of life. That clearer for you? It doesn’t need the word admin, unless you really feel the need to define the subsets of your life.

So, you don't need to be running a business. It's a saying. Just as you don't need to an solider if you say you're gunning for someone. It's not literal. Hope that helps.

It does, thank you. I just hadn't heard the expression. I agree that some people are like that. I just don't think that referring to life admin as 'life admin' in any way means that someone is necessarily bigging up the stuff they have to do. It's just a useful catch-all term that people sometimes use! It's more useful than saying 'life', more specific than saying 'jobs' and less annoying than spewing out the contents of your whole to-do list! If it's clear you're talking aboug home not work, just 'admin' would also work fine .