Acknowledge and name the ‘invisible office-type work’ (life admin) that fills your mind and time. Recognizing it as a distinct problem allows you to think about it, deal with it, and understand its impact on stress, well-being, and relationships.
Before pursuing any life goal (e.g., changing diet, starting a hobby), ask yourself: ‘What role does life admin play in this problem or its solution?’ This helps identify and account for the invisible administrative costs of change, preventing them from becoming an unseen drag that leads to failure.
Protect time for important but not urgent tasks (big life goals, self-care) from the constant bombardment of urgent life admin. Urgent admin tasks frequently escalate and get in the way of achieving long-term goals and maintaining personal well-being.
When feeling overwhelmed by admin, use a simple paper to-do list. Many effective individuals find paper lists help manage overwhelm and more completely ‘close the loop’ on unfinished tasks, reducing mental bandwidth drain.
Write your ‘good day list’ (important but not urgent self-care items like meditation, exercise) at the top of your daily to-do list. This reminds you to prioritize these crucial activities, ensuring they don’t get overlooked by urgent admin tasks.
When possible, address small requests or tasks immediately rather than deferring them. This prevents items from ever landing on your to-do list, reducing its length and the cognitive load of unfinished tasks.
Schedule dedicated blocks of time for admin tasks. This approach can make admin less painful, more efficient, and even pleasurable, providing a sense of accomplishment.
Minimize ‘multitasking’ for non-routine activities, as it’s actually rapid task-switching. Each switch drains focus and makes it harder to be present and effective, leading to fatigue and unsatisfactory results.
Actively make your admin work visible to those around you, especially in relationships. This helps others appreciate the effort involved, prevents misunderstanding and resentment, and fosters mutual support.
In relationships, recognize the burden of being the ‘point person’ for certain admin tasks and trade off responsibilities or honor the work involved. This prevents one person from being solely drained by constant interruptions and fosters mutual support.
When you are the ‘point person’ for a recurring admin task, involve others in the process to ‘unstick’ it. This transfers knowledge and skills, preventing the task from perpetually falling on one person and distributing the burden.
Add ‘NNR (no need to reply)’ to messages when a response isn’t required. This signals to the recipient that the communication loop is closed, saving both parties time and reducing email clutter.
When coordinating plans, propose a default option and state that you will proceed with it unless you hear otherwise. This streamlines decision-making, reduces back-and-forth communication, and ensures plans move forward.
Intentionally use the time saved by efficient admin strategies for high-quality leisure or meaningful activities. This ensures the effort put into streamlining admin translates into a better quality of life and personal fulfillment.
Identify what aspects of admin you might find pleasurable and discover your preferred modes (e.g., paper vs. tech, marathons vs. sprints). Understanding your ‘admin personality’ and preferences can make the necessary tasks more tolerable and efficient.
Take the ‘admin personalities quiz’ to understand your default settings and how you relate to admin. Understanding your admin personality can help you identify effective strategies that align with your natural tendencies and avoid those that won’t work for you.
Explore strategies derived from different ‘admin personalities’ (super doer, reluctant doer, admin avoider, admin denier). This allows you to adopt new approaches that might be effective for you, even if they don’t align with your primary personality.
Cultivate compassion for yourself and others regarding the admin burden. Recognizing that everyone struggles with admin in different ways (and that socioeconomic factors impact it) fosters understanding and reduces self-judgment.
Acknowledge that some admin (e.g., child-related emergencies) cannot be postponed and requires immediate attention. Recognizing this type of ‘bombardment admin’ helps manage expectations and allows for better support within relationships.
Consciously choose to ‘deflect’ or decide not to do certain admin tasks. This strategy helps manage your workload by eliminating non-essential items from your responsibility.
Practice gratitude for life admin tasks. It makes the invisible labor visible and appreciated, benefiting both the giver and receiver emotionally and physically.
Actively manage life admin tasks like paying bills or refinancing mortgages. Neglecting these tasks can lead to significant financial losses (e.g., foregone savings).
Create default plans for regular social activities (e.g., ‘we’ll be at the playground at three on Saturday’ or ‘I’ll be in the pub at seven’). This reduces the admin burden of constant individual coordination and increases the likelihood that desired activities actually happen.
For certain local information (e.g., rubbish collection days), trust your neighbors or local community observations rather than extensive research. This can be a simple ‘avoider strategy’ to get necessary information without creating additional admin for yourself.
Make mindful and minimalist choices about your social media use. This helps manage the influx of digital admin and protects your time and focus.
Apply strategies like NNR not just for your benefit, but to empower others by reducing their perceived obligation to respond or engage. This fosters a culture of mutual respect for time and reduces the admin burden on your network.
Consider taking a nutrient-dense whole food supplement like Athletic Greens daily. This can serve as an insurance policy to ensure you meet your nutritional needs, especially if getting nutrition solely from food is not always possible.