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?

Thanks for the DofE reminder up there, I need to get DD1 some equipment for an expedition to Snowdon.

If she is old enough to go on an expedition to snowdon she can do the time consuming bit of researching kit online & finding it all herself. Tell her the budget, send her to the computer and come back when she needs you to give her card details to pay.

I ask hate the term. Give a job a busy person and all that.

Life admin is everything posters have listed & more! Doesnt matter whether you work or not? Ive done both ways & yes for me when you are at home you sometimes take on even more of the load, coupled with elderly relatives as the years go on which accumulates more " admin" tasks. There are lots of reasons why some people have numerous ongoing admin that is just continual & others are lucky to have virtually none. I think " life admin" is a great name to encompass all those extra emails/phone calls/sorting, such is life I am the "secretary of my family" & yes i can say its pretty relentless. I dont include housework, shopping, gardening childcare, special needs, elderly relatives thats a whole new list that never finishes! And yes it is no different if you work but it isnt a competition, you just fit it in at lunchtime, on journeys to & from work, maybe a day off. I think it has become worse now its all digital. There are days where it is all consuming.

This. Bore off, OP.

Meal planning, grocery shopping/ordering, freezer clear out, opticians, car tax, mot, service, repairs, dentist, GP, vaccinations, mortgage renewal, birthday gift buying, school stuff - fancy dress, pay for disco, harvest festival, home work, utility bill switch to new provider, calling plumber/electrician, fixing things that break in the house, hospital appointments, setting up childcare payments, annual registrations for clubs, haircuts, booking things to do, buying uniform

It always amuses me to read 'life admin' on here to me life admin is just being an adult, same with the phrase 'mental load'.

Yep. Same person also included asking their grandson what kind of cake they wanted.

So basic communicating is now "life admin".

Anyway I'm going to carry on scrolling this thread watching for the words "mental load" - surely someone will say it soon and I can tell BINGO!

I wonder how much stress attached to life admin is how much the potential consequences will impact. So choosing to buy something might take a lot more weighing/investigating by someone worried about money. Sorting appointments for someone with a serious illness or condition vs arranging routine check-ups.

working out what next "job" needs doing in the house

So not even doing the job? Just deciding what to do next around the house is so labour intensive that it needs to be included on the list?

I mean seriously, deciding on what chore to do takes literal seconds. It takes longer to type it out!

OP, in the last year or so I've had to deal with moving house, moving country, organising a funeral, arranging probate, new school for DD, getting Wills updated, arranging power of attorney, selling a house, buying a house, changing schools for DD, arranging an ADHD assessment, multiple other doctor, physio, hospital appointments, planning multiple birthday celebrations, planning several trips & holidays, bills, tax returns in two countries, loan applications, mortgage applications, tenancy applications, organising building, gardening and decorating work, finding a cleaner, organising a flea market stand, ordering birthday presents for multiple people, car repairs and MOT.... (plus a full time job) I'm sure there's more.

Yes, some of those are fun, but most of them involve multiple emails, conversations, phone calls and waiting. It's been a particularly busy year, but there's always something.

I've often wondered if other people have as much life admin or if they're just able to relax in the evenings and weekends. Now I know!

Yes, next time someone asks me what I'm doing on my day off I'll say, "oh just being an adult". Much better term for it, I'm sure they'll know exactly what I mean.

Writing Birthday and Christmas cards and writing a shopping list.

Reminds me, need to check if there are some better ISA rates out there and what can be transferred.

Thanks OP 😊

Would you really say in real life out loud from your mouth 'Im doing life admin'?

Yeah I think many confuse 'mental load' with responsibilities.

Exactly! Some people just make a job out of it. Unless you are a single parent, you and your DH just divide up what needs doing and get it done whilst both working full time. If DC’s need new school shoes, DH can take them on the way home from a Saturday morning swimming lesson. If you need presents for a childrens party, add it to the online shopping list. Most isn’t complicated.

i actually know of 2 families with a family PA - v rich though. Properties in multiple parts of world, investments etc. Do PAs do something similar - do they need to deal with people’s personal dental appointments as well as work meetings? I have a tiny amount of work admin as I’m junior - But I understand that some people have a lot more co-ordination requirements (meetings, business trips) and need (and benefit from) a PA - I don’t think I’d say that it’s just part of work. I’d imagine that Good PAs are really valuable and allow the efficient functioning of multiple people.

My 'life admin' for today :
Picking prescriptions up
Booking boiler service
Meeting with

Posted too soon!
Meeting with school senco

Reminds me of Gudetama

When life gets too hard!

Admin has increased loads though as you have to do it all yourself now, years ago insurance brokers sorted insurance out for you, gas and electric was just a bill to pay after meter reader read meter, everything online as definitely added to it all

Some of it is very complicated
Some of it isn't
It's the sheer volume / quantity that adds up

@myexisawanker yes I run a small corporate event agency but we're quiet this week so taking advantage of flexibility.

If you have 30 things to do, yes, most take 5 minutes, but some take 20, 30 minutes, an hour or more then that adds up to a massive chunk of time!

Agree with @BrieAndChilli post on first page.

There is a certain superior attitude amongst a lot of MN. "I can't believe you find this time consuming or difficult, I do everything online/by direct debit/in my lunchtime, don't know what the fuss is about"

Most things that are listed don't take very long and don't have to be done every day, or even every week....but sometimes just remembering what needs to be done when does feel like a chore and is mental load that more often than not falls to the woman of the partnership (I don't know what happens in same sex couples!)
My kids school uses 3 different online platforms all with different passwords/logins.just that on its own is pretty annoying. I asked my DH once how he would know when parents evening was, or kids dentist apt and he said he would look on the calendar!! As if the calendar was pre-printed with the info and those things required no input from me! It wouldn't occur to him to read an email from school because he'd assume I would read/digest/act upon it if needed.

At the moment I'm sorting out the affairs of a relative that recently died. Of course that (thankfully) doesn't happen frequently but I know from having done it before that it can take months of sorting out stuff on top of the usual day to day sorting kids lunches/school trips/dentist/Dr apts/haircuts/insurance/parents evenings/uni open days etc and I'll admit it does feel overwhelming sometimes

Could

I have a 1950s house with thick walls and there’s only one spot I can get a consistent unbroken phone signal in my house, thats the reason my desk and computer is there so I can talk and access needed accounts. And I’m partially deaf so no I Can’t put the phone on loudspeaker and do something else. My home phone is also corded and can’t be put on loudspeaker and no I won’t be changing it. It’s set up for my disability and needs.

and we should get up onto the whole multi tasking thing and why it’s not a good idea and why it’s better to focus on one task at a time.

Women are told we’re better at multi tasking yet there’s a lot of research that shows it’s detrimental and that’s why we get burned out. The constant flipping from one task to another leaves more room for mistakes or missing vital information. We have to stop the madness that multitasking is the solution.

throw in difficulties like adhd, autism (I’m being assessed for both and woefully under diagnosed in women) attempting to multitask would be worse than trying to juggle an octopus.

again, multi tasking is NOT a solution. We have to stop peddling that really fucking bad idea.