If you’re anything like me, 99% of the time you’re either busy or asleep. That last 1% of available time? Oh, that’s entirely devoted to staring off into space, questioning the very existence of the world. No big deal, sometimes you’ve got to reserve time for that minor existential crisis.
But what that means is that you often don’t find the time to get your life into order, and if you’re already in existential crisis mode, then you’re exactly the sort of person who needs to do so the most. Life admin is often the boring stuff that flies under the radar because you approach it with the attitude of, “that’s a problem for future me”.
Well, future you is peeved. Don’t hurt them like this. Get your ish into gear and make the time, because it’s worth it. Here are three quick ways to get started that won’t make you feel like you’re inundated with existence itself:
1. Work on it in the little moments
Life admin can consist of so many different things — from outlining budgets through to summoning up the courage to make a real-life phone call in the year 2019 (who even calls anymore, really?). So it can be pretty easy to get overwhelmed by the extent of what you believe needs to get done, which leads to a belief that you’ll have to block out a whole day to knock it all out of the way.
Well, that’s wrong. Soz, but not soz. The easiest and most practical thing you can do is take it piece by piece THROUGHOUT your day. You’ve just finished a presentation? Sick, you’re probs adrenaline-fuelled so you’ll be pumped enough to call up your doctor or hairdresser, or well-meaning but overbearing relative.
Beyond the fact that this isn’t as intense as doing it all in one go, it also sets you up for good habits in the future. Updating your Trello board after you’ve ticked off a task? That’s an endorphin rush now, but it’s also a developing habit that’ll see your to-do list diminish over time as you get on top of it.
2. Budget for time as well as money
Anyone who earns money should have a budget — I don’t make the rules, but this is absolutely one y’all should be following. Even if you don’t have a savings goal in mind, knowing where your cash sits is important, and it makes both your work and personal life stacks easier.
Sorting out your financial budget is super simple too, so there’s really no excuse not to get onto it. Sort your money for different purposes (it takes less than five minutes to set up a designated savings account with CUA if you’re worried about time), so that bills will never come out of your ‘self care, but really just impulsive buying’ fund.
But once you’ve sorted those finances, craft a budget for your time as well. Time management is probably the biggest reason your life admin isn’t sorted, because you’re doing what I do and exhausting yourself until you inevitably collapse into a tired heap. It’s fine! I’m fine!! But time management will help you dedicate some time to actual resting and recuperating — and sorting your life out.
3. Streamline your entire existence
If you’re time-poor even after setting up a dedicated schedule and time management system, fret not. There are still a few ways you can kick yourself into gear and get on top of the nitty gritty, even if all you can spare is a moment. Why bother? Because it’ll streamline your existence and give you even more free time to play with.
It can be as simple as hooking up your phone with Google Pay™, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, so you can use your phone for everything instead of digging through a Mary Poppins handbag that has seemingly devoured your cards in an attempt to snack on everything you love. Takes no time at all to set up, you can link them all with your CUA account, and it saves you stacks in the long run. Easy.
And don’t forget that sometimes streamlining just means actively multitasking. That doesn’t mean shoving a million things into the same time slot in the hope that you’ll somehow grow seven extra limbs to do it all — it could literally just mean listening to a relevant research podcast on your commute to work while you get a start answering your emails.
The biggest misconception with life admin is that you’ve got to be this organised professional who knows how to file better than breathe, and that ain’t it, chief. Anyone can get a hold of themselves if they MAKE the time to do so, not just finding it in the crevices of their days.
So you might as well try and take these little steps to begin figuring it out — who knows, you might find you have a knack for it.
