Life Admin Life Hacks: Recent Episodes
Life Admin Life Hacks
Tools, techniques and tips to tackle your life admin with efficiency. Dinah Rowe-Roberts and Mia Northrop introduce ways to save you time and money, create peace of mind and restore harmony in your household.
In this milestone 100th episode, Mia and Dinah tackle listeners' questions, including how to get out of overwhelm and just start, environmental design, digital overload and meal planning. They also talk about their favourite episodes and highilghts over the last 5 years.
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In this episode, Mia and Dinah explain what personal boundaries are and why having rigid or porous boundaries can result in too much of a life admin workload. They talk about how to set healthy boundaries with others so you can prevent resentment and burnout if your life admin load is too high.
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In this episode, Dinah and Mia delve into decluttering, providing insights and strategies to help you streamline your household. From understanding your personality type to navigating differing styles within your household, this episode offers practical tips to enhance your organisational skills and create a harmonious living environment.
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In this episode, Mia interviews Elke Einhalt, a coach passionate about empowering women to create fulfilling lives. Elke shares insights on acknowledging life phases, getting to know oneself deeply, and mastering self-talk for personal growth.
Resources
- Coach Eke's website - Elke’s website
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In this episode, Mia and Dinah take Alpha Schulte, money coach and ex-tax accountant, on a deep dive into good and bad debt, credit scores, credit cards and loans, how to prioritise what debt to pay off first, and the help available if you have unmanageable debt.
Resources* ww.money-madesimple.com.au * Money With Alpha podcast
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In this episode, Mia delves into the world of circular fashion with expert Kathrin Baumann. Discover how circular fashion can reduce your mental load and save you time in managing your kids' or your own wardrobe.
Resources
Little Renters - Children’s clothing rental
Promo code: LIFEADMINHACKS10
This provides your subscribers with a 10% (or $5) monthly discount for the first 3 month of subscription to Little Renters.
The Volte - Adult clothing hire
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In this episode, Mia interviews Sharon Collon, an award-winning ADHD coach, who shares insights into the strengths and challenges of the ADHD brain and how individuals and families dealing with ADHD can get organised in a way that works for them.
Resources
- The Functional Family
- ADHD Families Podcast
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Transition from a dedicated life admin day to a more efficient approach for better organisation.
In this episode Mia and Dinah delve into the concept of a Life Admin Day and its effectiveness in managing the overwhelming tasks of adult life. They explore the challenges and benefits of dedicating a specific day to tackle life admin tasks and provide alternative approaches for a more efficient and sustainable life admin routine.
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In this episode, Mia and Dinah talk about improving the way you and your household cope with climate-related events and emergencies. This is known as climate resilience and it isn’t about preventing climate change or taking action against climate change, but preparing for escalating climate-related issues and disasters.
Resources
Emergency kits and evacuation plans
https://www.getready.qld.gov.au/emergencykit
https://www.getready.qld.gov.au/plan#household-emergency-and-evacuation-plan
- Red Cross Preparing for emergencies
State climate change websites
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Australian Capital Territory
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New South Wales
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Northern Territory
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Queensland
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South Australia
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Tasmania
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Victoria
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Western Australia.
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In this episode, Mia and Dinah discuss the common experience of overwhelm and share practical tips and strategies for managing it effectively. They explore the contributors to overwhelm, such as perfectionism, decision fatigue, multitasking, and comparisonitis. They emphasise the importance of mindset shifts, time management, setting boundaries, self-care, mindfulness, and organising and decluttering as key strategies for dealing with overwhelm.
Resources* The Art of Adulting program * Book: Reasons not to worry:How to be Stoic in chaotic times, Brigid Delaney * Watch: The Minimalists: Netflix
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In this episode, Mel Kettle discusses perimenopause with Mia and Dinah and its impact on mental load, productivity, and life admin. Perimenopause is the transitional phase leading up to menopause, marked by hormonal changes and various symptoms. It can last for a significant period of time, during which women may experience changes in their menstrual cycle, hot flushes, night sweats, and other physical symptoms. However, what is often not discussed are the cognitive symptoms, such as brain fog, increased anxiety, and short-term memory loss. Get tips for navigating this transition.
Resources The Art of Adulting* * Mel Kettle's website * Australasian Menopause Society * Dr. Jen Gunter's book "The Menopause Manifesto" * Dr. Jen Gunter's Instagram: @DrJenGunter * Lara Bryden's book "Hormone Repair Manual" * "Not My Mother's Menopause" podcast
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Mia and Dinah talk with accredited practicing dietician, Annie Barry, about how to plan family meals that help you 'glow, grow and go', balancing 'whole food' with 'soul food' and which food to embrace to support the perimenopause transition.
Resources* The Art of Adulting * Annie Barry's website: www.allroundwellness.com.au * Supermarket Meals * Annie Barry on Instagram: @healthy.habits.dietitian * Annie Barry on Facebook
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Mia and Dinah talk about how to find more time in your day for reading, exercising, studying, family, yourself...all the things. They canvas 12 ideas you can start experimenting with today.
Resources The Art of Adulting online membership*
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Mia and Dinah talk about what it means to be 'on top of things', how to diagnose why you might not be on top of things, and the essential tools, mindsets and processes to adopt to get on top and stay there.
Resources Monthly Momentum Digital Calendar*
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Mia and Dinah interview certified money coach, Marion Mays, to discover how to improve your financial IQ and EQ, build wealth, finding the right financial professional advice and managing your finances systematically.
Resources Thalia Stanley Group * Money Smart*
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In this episode, Mia and Dinah talk about what life admin is and is not, and describe the different categories of life admin, so that you can approach it in a more systematic way.
Mia and Dinah share their definition of life admin and explain that it is not housework or parenting but it often overlaps. Life admin is the third piece of the domestic labour puzzle and includes the scheduling, booking, shopping, paperwork, and planning that often facilitates housework and parenting tasks, but also has its own areas of responsibility.
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Discover gift-giving hacks for the festive season to save money, reduce your mental load and and buy group gifts efficiently.
In this episode, we interview Ali Linz, co-founder of Group Together, about the benefits of group gifts, common mistakes when buying gifts, and the benefits of a systematic approach to gift buying.
Resources* GroupTogether * Get Ready for Christmas Checklist * Catherine Hamlin * Fred Hollows Foundation * Oxfam Christmas gifts * Kmart Wishing Tree
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Discover smart strategies for a memorable and meaningful holiday season without breaking the bank.
Mia and Dinah talk about celebrating Christmas given the high cost of living and how people can enjoy a low cost Christmas with some clever hacks. They discuss:
- Setting a Budget
- Cost-Saving Strategies for Buying Gifts
- Budget-Friendly Holiday Meals:
- Travel Hacks for the Holidays:
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Mia and Dinah interview advocate, Carol Robertson, and discover how a buyer's advocate can help reduce the mental load of buying property, saving you time and stress.
Carol Robertson is a real estate veteran with more than 20 years of experience in property. She specialises in her clients' homes rather than property investment and provides valuable insights and guidance for her clients to make informed decisions about their next home and selling their current one. She is dedicated to reducing overwhelm for her clients in the real estate industry.
The Impact of the Current Economic Climate
- Market uncertainty affects both buyers and sellers, making it crucial to carefully consider the timing of buying or selling a property.
- Downsizers need to ensure that the sale of their current home will provide enough equity for their future plans.
Essential Steps for Buyers:
- Get your finances in order before starting the search for a property, including obtaining pre-approval from a lender.
- Research the market thoroughly, looking not only at current listings but also at recently sold properties to understand pricing trends.
- Consider your long-term goals and the specific features you want in a property to ensure it meets your needs.
Importance of Building and Pest Inspections
- Depending on the age and condition of the property, it may be necessary to conduct building and pest inspections to identify any major defects or issues.
- These inspections provide valuable information for buyers to make informed decisions and negotiate repairs or adjustments to the purchase price.
Strategies for Buyers in a Competitive Market
- Understand the local market and the tactics used by agents, such as underquoting, to set realistic expectations.
- Be patient and avoid rushing into a purchase, as this can lead to overpaying or making a decision that doesn't align with your long-term goals.
- Consider hiring a buyer's advocate to navigate the process, provide independent advice, and negotiate on your behalf.
The Role of Buyer and Seller Advocates
- Buyer and seller advocates are independent professionals who guide clients through the buying or selling process, providing valuable insights and reducing stress.
- Advocates conduct extensive research, shortlist properties or agents, and ensure that clients are well-informed and prepared.
- Advocates can also assist with coordinating other professionals, such as conveyancers and tradespeople, to streamline the process.
Buying or selling a property can be overwhelming, but with the right preparation, research, and support from buyer and seller advocates, it can be a more efficient and less stressful experience.
RESOURCES
- msproperty.com.au
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In this episode, Mia and Dinah follow Obu's journey from an affluent upbringing to navigating financial constraints, setting the stage for a discussion about helping women take control of their financial wellbeing.
Obu Ramaraj is a money management speaker, author of two books: Smart Women: Smart Home Loans - what your lenders won’t tell you and Smart Women Smart Habits - powerful practices to create your ideal financial future. She’s the CEO of Smart Money Solutions. Her mission is to help women take control of their financial lives, helping women transform their relationship with money to transform their relationship with life.
The key topics covered include:
What is financial wellness and how to improve financial literacy
- Obu highlights the common mistake of women relying solely on their partners for financial decisions, emphasizing the importance of financial independence and open communication in relationships.
- The absence of financial literacy in traditional education is highlighted, with Obu stressing the importance of understanding where one's money comes from and where it goes.
Uncovering Money Stories, Limiting Beliefs and Emotional Spending
- Recognizing one's money stories and limiting beliefs is paramount for making sound financial decisions. The conversation spotlights the psychological factors influencing financial choices.
- The issue of emotional spending is discussed, with a focus on identifying triggers and developing healthier habits to curb impulsive buying.
Aligning Values with Financial Priorities
- Creating sustainable financial plans involves aligning financial priorities with personal values and desires. Setting specific financial goals is a fundamental aspect of financial planning.
Money management
Obu emphasizes the importance of financial tracking and the availability of apps and tools for tracking spending is discussed, along with the value of using spreadsheets. The conversation encourages individuals to create separate financial buckets for savings, investments, and daily expenses to ensure proper allocation of funds.
Superannuation and Retirement Planning
- The discussion delves into the topic of superannuation, emphasizing the need to understand fund and investment options and the benefits of regular contributions
Insurance and Emergency Funds
- The conversation highlights that insurance isn't solely for major events and recommends having a financial safety net to cover unforeseen expenses.
Investment and Overcoming Risk Aversion
- The conversation addresses the common tendency of women to be risk-averse when it comes to investing. It encourages women to overcome this fear and explore long-term investment options.
LIFE ADMIN RESOURCES
- Obu Ramaraj's website
- Obu's Savvy Finance Tracker
- Episode 70 - Your Money Mindset
- Episode 68 - Managing investments
- Episode 30 - Sorting out life insurance
In this episode, Mia and Dinah interview Casper ter Kuile, author of The Power of Ritual and co-founder of The Nearness, about infusing meaning and ritual into daily routines to transform how we approach life admin tasks.
The inspiration for his book, The Power of Ritual, came from his secular upbringing and his curiosity about intentional living.
- Casper highlights the need for intentional community-building in a world with fewer traditional religious structures.
- The conversation delves into the scarcity of meaningful rituals in modern life, with weddings becoming one of the few grand moments.
- Casper shares an example of his personal ritual, the "State of the Heart Order of the House" meeting, as a way to bring intentionality into daily life.
- Rituals are defined as habits with added layers of meaning, serving to remind us of what's important and fostering gratitude.
- Casper suggests reframing daily habits, like brushing teeth, with intentional practices to turn them into rituals.
- He suggests starting with habits that already have some joy or meaning.
- The three key steps to create meaningful rituals are: intention, attention, and repetition.
- Intention: Begin by understanding why you perform a certain task. What is the deeper purpose or meaning behind it?
- Attention: Pay close attention to the task at hand. Engage your senses, and be fully present during the ritual.
- Repetition: Establish a consistent rhythm for your ritual. It doesn't have to be daily; it can be weekly or as suits your lifestyle.
- Casper shares personal examples, like using a moisturizer application as a daily ritual for reflection.
- He highlights the importance of creating a communal aspect to rituals, where people can share their experiences and challenges.
- Find ways to make tasks less lonely by involving others, such as co-working sessions for administrative tasks.
- Rituals connect us and make us feel part of something bigger, even in a virtual setting.
- Consider how rituals can bring people together, foster support, and add meaning to routine tasks.
- How a tech sabbath embraces traditional sabbath ideas in a modern way
- How to go 'ritual spotting'
- Connecting with nature and moments of transcendence to bring more spirituality into our lives during daily activities LIFE ADMIN
RESOURCES
- Casper ter Kuile's website
- The Power of Ritual
- The Nearness
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Much loved the world over, Swedish-born Kristina Karlsson is the Founder of kikki.K, Founder & Creative Director of Dream Life, author of bestseller Your Dream Life Starts Here and host of the Your Dream Life podcast. which has over 2.5 million downloads in more than 160 countries.
In the episode, Kristina:
- discusses how her journey began when she moved from Sweden to Australia, searching for her life's purpose. Her partner's suggestion to write down her dreams led her to create her own business, Kikki.K, which offered beautifully designed stationery products.
- emphasizes the importance of setting clear goals and dreams. She advises people to start with a dreaming exercise to determine what they would do if they couldn't fail, if they had all the resources, and if their health and energy were at their peak. From there, she encourages breaking down those dreams into actionable steps.
- suggests creating an ideal week or time-blocking your schedule to allocate time for various activities, whether personal growth, work, or family. She also emphasizes starting small, dedicating just a bit of time each day or week to work on goals.
- advocates for having a dedicated home for everything. She believes that this simple practice can save a lot of time that might otherwise be wasted searching for items.
- discusses how she combines both paper and technology in her organizational approach. The key is to find a system that works for you/
- talks about the power of rituals to create a productive and fulfilling life. She suggests incorporating morning rituals, like spending even just 10 minutes on personal growth activities, to set a positive tone for the day. She also recommends having dedicated time slots during the week for working on dreams and goals.
- regularly reviewing and adjusting your routines and systems is essential to staying on track and improving productivity.
- her perspective on achieving work-life balance, emphasizing the importance of avoiding burnout and focusing on self-care.
- that daily self-care practices, such as meditation, writing morning pages, and going for walks, play a crucial role in maintaining balance. Kristina's morning routine involves meditation, writing, and taking a walk, which helps her find clarity and inspiration.
- that she doesn't view work-life balance as a strict separation but rather focuses on integrating her passions into her daily life.
- her interest in health and longevity, mentioning that she's studying to become a health coach and is passionate about inspiring others to pursue their dreams and live healthy lives.
- the significance of creating space for oneself, mentioning that she dedicates Sundays to unplanned activities and relaxation, which allows her to recharge and cope with life's challenges more effectively.
RESOURCES
The Dream Life Store
Follow Kristina on Instagram
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In this episode, we explore the AI tools Chat GPT and Google’s Bard to expedite your life admin and drop your mental load.
We talked about:
- the key differences between the tools
- Chat GPT has been trained on data up until 2021and is better at responding to analysis queries
- Bard is continually drawing information from the internet so it has the latest information and research
- Bard generates multiple drafts of its response and ChatGPT lets you see alternatives if you thumbs down the response.
- Bard can also read out its responses and you can click buttons to generate shorter, longer, simpler, more casual and more professional versions. You can also click through to Google search results for your query, which is a good way to fact check whatever Bard told you. You can use the mic to give it an audio prompt.
- For both, you can click to copy the answer and paste it elsewhere, and you can share responses with others. They both store your previous chats so you can pick up where you left off.
Caveats
- they’re experiments and imperfect. they get things wrong. they hallucinate and make up stuff. fact check the answers if it's important.
- don’t type in sensitive, confidential info. they save every input they receive and might regurgitate it back to a stranger.
- human reviewers might scrutinise your conversations to improve quality.
Meal planning prompts with ChatGPT and Bard * give multiple criteria such as frequency, meal type, ingredients, categories, calorie count, nutrient macros or specific chefs or cooks + “Create a weekly dinner plan with a mix of comfort food favourites and lighter options to satisfy cravings while maintaining a healthy balance. Include Jamie Oliver, Yotam Ottolenghi, and Rachel Ray recipes * tell it the format you prefer so you can use it readily + “ put it in a table format that I can paste into the Notes app in my phone”
AI prompts for life admin writing
- Use ChatGPT and Bard to draft effective letters, emails, messages
- give the tool enough context: who you are writing to, why, the outcome you are seeking
- suggest the tone: friendly, professional, formal, sincere/earnest, humorous, apologetic, sympathetic, inspirational, casual, in the style of a specific person
- ask it to draft 3 versions so you can pick and choose the best elements
AI prompts for travel
Use ChatGPT and Bard to get advice about:
- destinations and top attractions for time of year
- transport options : faster, cheaper, more direct
- currency exchange resources
- visa and passport requirements
- compare travel insurance policies
- packing lists for certain destination and activities at a specific time of year
Bard is useful here because it links to websites and shows images
AI prompts for gift giving
- Bard useful here as it includes links to websites and images
- “suggest some gifts that cost less than $70 for a man who is turning 53. he likes fishing, skiing, foraging, DIY, barbecuing and family time.
AI prompts for book, tv, film, podcast recommendations
- List titles you like and ask for similar suggestions
- Compile ‘best of’ lists of award winning titles
- Collate reading, watching and listening lists to dive deep on a topic
Be aware of hallucinations: ask the tools which sites can verify their responses and use those sites to fact check
RESOURCES
- Bard
- ChatGPT
- Pi
Penny Locaso is the world’s first Happiness Hacker on a quest to teach 10 million humans by 2025 how to flourish in life.
Voted one of the most influential female entrepreneurs in Australia, Penny works with governments, educators and the likes of Google, Microsoft, Deloitte, and LuluLemon, to empower people to release their fear of uncertainty, and build a more intentionally adaptable society.
Penny created the world-first Intentional Adaptability Quotient® (IAQ®) psychometric tool, which decodes the skills required to not only navigate but flourish in complex and uncertain change. She’s the author of Hacking Happiness, a Harvard Business Review contributor, a passionate yoga teacher, a faculty member at the esteemed Singularity University, and a student of psychology and trauma-informed therapy with world-renowned teacher Gabor Mate.
In this episode we chat about:
- Penny’s definition of happiness, embracing emotional diversity and learning how to navigate a range of emotions effectively.
- that women often suppress negative emotions due to societal expectations, which can lead to issues like anger being misplaced.
- the concept of "Angry Mum Syndrome," a term she's exploring to understand how women deal with suppressed anger
- challenges faced by women who often take on excessive responsibilities, delving into the "Martyr Mother Syndrome" and the need for better communication within families.
- the relationship between productivity and happiness and that the traditional concept of productivity, often associated with constantly doing more, has become problematic.
- the importance of self-care, taking micro-breaks, and recharging mental resources to maintain well-being.
- that while humans are naturally good at adapting, much of this adaptation happens unconsciously.
- the Intentional Adaptability Quotient, a psychometric tool she developed with the goal of empowering people to adapt intentionally, which measures a person's level of intentional adaptability and allows individuals to assess their adaptability skills and identify areas for improvement.
- removing the word "should" from your vocabulary and replacing it with "I want” to shift the focus from external pressures to personal desires, allowing individuals to prioritize tasks that align with their values and needs.
- the key skills that constitute intentional adaptability - these include:
- focus - essential for dealing with distractions
- courage - using fear constructively
- curiosity - maintaining a sense of wonder and exploration
- two practical strategies for promoting happiness and well-being
- device-free family dinners, providing a platform for open communication and connection
- a practice called "Rose Rose Thorn Stem Bud," where family members share positive and negative experiences of their day, fostering emotional expression and understanding.
- the relevance of intentional adaptability in the context of neurodiverse individuals, and Penny emphasizes the potential for growth and development in everyone.
RESOURCES
Hacking Happy
Follow Penny on LinkedIn
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In this episode, Olivia Clayton shares the impact of ADHD on organisational skills, common challenges faced by individuals with ADHD, and practical strategies and tools to help adults with ADHD stay organized.
Olivia Clayton is a clinical psychologist who supports many adults with ADHD as part of her private practice work. She's a founder of Collected Minds, a multidisciplinary service which seeks to provide high quality timely online psychology and mental health support to people across Australia.
In the episode, Olivia:
- emphasises that ADHD affects individuals differently and that it's essential not to make assumptions about their experiences.
- describes ADHD as a neurodevelopmental disorder that leads to different ways of thinking, highlighting the strengths and positives that can come from it. She explains that ADHD can manifest differently in adults compared to children, with challenges like relaxation, emotional regulation, motivation for mundane tasks, and time blindness becoming more prominent.
- explains that ADHD can be diagnosed in adulthood, and accessing treatment, including medication, is important for those seeking support. She suggests seeking an ADHD assessment from a psychiatrist for proper diagnosis and medication management. Psychologists can provide strategies and support while working alongside psychiatrists.
- highlights the importance of self-compassion and self-awareness in managing ADHD-related challenges. She encourages people not to use ADHD as an excuse but to understand their struggles and seek appropriate support.
- recommends considering environment setup: i.e. creating a designated place for frequently used items, using visual cues, and setting up a "launch pad" for essentials like keys and wallets can reduce everyday frustrations.
- suggests that technology tools can be beneficial: such as utilizing apps, widgets, and alarms for reminder, and breaking down tasks into manageable steps.
- establishing routines, adopting time-management techniques like the Pomodoro technique, and setting specific times for activities can help with focus and task completion.
- engaging with online communities, watching YouTube channels dedicated to ADHD, and participating in forums can provide valuable strategies and a sense of community.
- encourages friends and family to educate themselves about ADHD, offer empathy and compassion, and possibly participate in therapy sessions to better support their loved ones.
RESOURCES
Collected Minds
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In this episode we interview productivity coach, Donna McGeorge.
Donna is passionate about enhancing the large amount of time we spend in our workplace (too much, for many) to ensure it is effective and productive, as well as enjoyable. More often than not it’s getting the simple things right, consistently, that has the greatest impact. She also knows that when we decide to be intentional, we can surprise ourselves with what we can achieve. Known as THE productivity coach, she has a range of sessions, books, products and services to help you improve your productivity.
Donna McGeorge shares her insights on maintaining energy and managing productivity. Her advice includes:
- the importance of sleep and space as crucial factors for maintaining energy and focus for work and life admin tasks. Donna believes that giving her brain rest and space allows her to tap into creativity and problem-solving abilities.
- Donna challenges the notion that any time not spent actively doing something is wasted time.
- the significance of creating a system for organizing tasks and belongings, making everything have a designated home, which reduces friction and increases efficiency.
- hacks for taking control of unruly inboxes. She recommends clearing out old emails into a folder called "done" or "stuff" and processing the remaining emails regularly to maintain a zero inbox. Donna advises checking emails only 2-3 times a day and turning off notifications to avoid being constantly distracted by emails.
- the importance of creating thinking space and outlines her three-step approach: stop, take stock, and decide.
- the concept of "wipe the mind," a stream-of-consciousness exercise to clear the mind of clutter and improve focus.
- best times for planning - Donna advises using the late afternoon hours to plan, as they typically require less mental intensity and can set the stage for a productive day ahead.
RESOURCES
Donna McGeorge
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In this episode, we interview executive coach and recruitment expert June Parker.
June Parker is an executive coach, people strategist and facilitator with 20 years of experience working in recruitment, HR consultancy, career coaching and technology development.
She has been a general manager, a business owner and now heads up the career coaching and transition practice at CLA where she leads a team and provides executive coaching to a range of clients from individual contributors to CEOs. Her clients span a broad section of private, public and not-for-profit organisations.
We loved chatting with June Parker in this episode about all things career. The topics we covered included:
- June’s experience that peace of mind is vital for her in her role, which is a fast-paced and intensive job. She attributes her peace of mind at work to being organized at home and emphasises the importance of finding work-life balance.
- the changing dynamics of the job market during the pandemic and how people are reevaluating their career paths, leading to questions about job satisfaction, work expectations, and potential career changes.
- when considering a career change, the importance of understanding what career means to each individual, considering life stage, financial commitments, and personal aspirations.
- the importance of self-awareness in identifying your skills, passions, and values.
- using skills assessments and seeking feedback from others to recognize your strengths and potential career options.
- how to manage the administrative aspects of changing jobs, including CV formatting and keeping track of job applications.
- creating a master CV that includes all career accomplishments and achievements to easily tailor CVs for different job applications.
- the importance keeping records of professional development and any positive feedback or commendations received.
- the significance of LinkedIn for networking and job searching.
- not spending excessive time researching each company before applying and focusing on quality applications tailored to specific roles.
- reaching out to recruiters for assistance and maintaining connections through networking.
- how job selection processes have evolved, with an increased focus on cultural fit, behavioral assessments, and personality profiling.
- practicing cognitive tests to feel more comfortable during assessments balanced with the importance of not over-researching and stressing over the process.
- the need for continuous adaptation and learning in today’s job market, where individuals may have multiple careers and various jobs over their working lives.
LIFE ADMIN RESOURCESYour Career – Government website
Seek – Career Advice
CLA Solutions
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In this episode, we walk through how to decide what not life admin is not worth doing. We discuss the art of prioritizing, delegating, and letting go of non-essential tasks to free up time for what truly matters.
Mia and Dinah kick off the episode by discussing the importance of understanding one’s season of life, values, and goals. By doing so, individuals can identify where to focus their efforts and tackle their life admin more efficiently. They acknowledge that when life admin is overwhelming or time is limited, it becomes even more crucial to determine the areas that require the most attention. They emphasise the need to prioritise and focus on tasks that align with personal values and goals.
Their tips include:
- embracing “satisficing” and avoiding the pursuit of perfection in every task. By adopting a more pragmatic approach, individuals can avoid getting overwhelmed and free up time for more enjoyable activities.
- delegating responsibilities within the household, particularly in sharing life admin tasks. They discuss the challenge of letting go and not interfering or rescuing when someone else is responsible for a task. They highlight the importance of self-control and allowing natural consequences to unfold. If tasks are not completed or done differently than expected, it is essential to resist the urge to intervene immediately. By stepping back and letting others handle their responsibilities, individuals promote shared accountability.
- rethinking social life admin, particularly regarding organizing social events and maintaining friendships. They suggest being selective with social commitments and focusing on spending time with people who are most important to them. By creating a list of priority individuals and considering personal preferences, they can make deliberate choices that align with their values.
- managing overwhelming email inboxes by declaring email bankruptcy, unsubscribing from unnecessary subscriptions, and minimizing filing by evaluating the importance of documents.
RESOURCES Book: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown
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In this episode, we interview author and time-tracking expert Laura Vanderkam.
Laura Vanderkam is the author of several time management and productivity books, including the new Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters, along with Juliet’s School of Possibilities, Off the Clock, I Know How She Does It, What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, and 168 Hours. Her work has appeared in publications including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Fortune. She is the host of the podcast Before Breakfast and the co-host, with Sarah Hart-Unger, of the podcast Best of Both Worlds. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and five children.
We loved chatting with Laura Vanderkam in this episode about time tracking. The topics we covered included:
- thinking about time management as a strategy to make life more memorable and fun
- outsourcing – how to make the decision on what to outsource and let go of the guilt – particularly for traditionally female tasks
- getting your kids to think about time management and to establish good mindsets about time from an early age
- the nine time management rules from Laura’s latest book Tranquility by Tuesday
- the benefits of a weekly planning session and why Laura likes to plan on Fridays
- creating a backup slot in your calendar to make your schedule more resilient
- the benefit of having two things in your week worth remembering – one big adventure and one little adventure
- the importance of sleep – and to give yourself a bedtime – that if you get the amount of sleep you need every single night and you’ll have far more energy and life will feel more in control.
LIFE ADMIN RESOURCES* Laura Vanderkam’s website * Tranquility by Tuesday – Laura’s latest book * The 9 rules from Tranquility by Tuesday * Best of Both Worlds Podcast
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In this episode we discuss the importance of using lists to improve productivity, save time, and reduce mental load. Lists are the secret to successful adulthood.
Mia and Dinah discuss the different types of lists: to-do lists, checklists, and reference lists. To-do lists consist of time-bound tasks that require action, while checklists help with recurring activities and ensure efficiency. Reference lists capture suggestions and recommendations and serve as a source of information.
Mia and Dinah highlight the importance of having a single source of truth for lists to avoid confusion and to easily share them with others. We recommend going digital by using apps like Notes or Reminders, which provide the convenience of accessing and sharing lists anytime and the added benefits of using voice commands through devices like Siri or Google Home Assistant.
Dina and Mia share their personal experiences with using digital lists and how it has improved their productivity. They mention the ability to set reminders, integrate lists with email, and even link tasks to specific people or locations. They recommend choosing a simple app that suits individual preferences and investing time in learning its features for automation.
The hosts also discuss the pitfall of including unnecessary items on lists. They suggest distinguishing between tasks that can be done immediately and those that require planning or execution at a later time. They mention the concept of "two-minute time killer tasks," which are better completed right away instead of adding them to a list.
Mia and Dinah stress the importance of using lists effectively to free up mental space, prioritize tasks, and streamline daily activities. They encourage listeners to embrace digital tools and develop a consistent system that works for them. By implementing these list hacks, individuals can enhance productivity, save time, and reduce stress associated with life admin tasks.
RESOURCES Life Admin Hacks the book
Best List Apps - PC Mag
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In this episode, Mia and Dinah tap into the expertise of coach Nicole Alesios to discover how your money mindset and archetype impact your relationship with money, your habits and decisions about money management, saving, investing and outsourcing.
About Dr Nicole Alesios
Nicole is an economist, money mindset coach and speaker who is passionate about helping people to have easier money conversations through money mindset coaching and also helping them set a clear and achievable strategy that is in alignment with their unique money personality.
One of the biggest benefits of getting your life admin organised is that it can save you money, through budgeting and money monitoring, sorting out your tax and estate planning, and comparison shopping major household expenses.
But money is an area where people bring complex feelings, childhood lessons and personality traits to the decision-making. Having the right app and a process will get you most of the way there, but recognising your behaviours when it comes to money is also important.
In this bumper episode, we interview Nicole Alesios and discuss:
- the taboo that still surrounds talking about money, which can limit our financial literacy
- what your money stories and money mindset are
- the eight money archetypes Nicole uses in her work to describe your predisposition toward money.
RESOURCES * Nicole's website * Nicole’s Money Personality Quiz * Nicole's Instagram
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In this episode, Mia and Dinah dive into how to share the mental load, drawing on expertise from relationship expert and psychologist Dr Morgan Cutlip.
About Dr Morgan Cutlip
Morgan Cutlip has a PhD in Psychology, is a wife, mom to two kids and life-long lover of all things relationships. Dr Morgan's work centres on creative content development for My Love Thinks.com and delivering educational content for your relationships in a way that is not just professional but also practical. Dr Cutlip has been a featured relationship expert for Teen Vogue, the New York Times, Flo Tracker app and is the upcoming author of two books with Thomas Nelson, How to Love your Kids Without Losing Yourself and The Mother Load.
In this episode we talk about:
- what inequity in the mental load looks like
- the impact this inequity has on other areas of your relationship
- how to explain the mental load without your partner getting defensive
- the difference between ‘within work’ and ‘between work’, and why you need to do both
- thoughts and behaviours that can sabotage an equitable relationship
- minimum acceptable standards and letting go of control
- taking initiative versus making requests for support
- how frequent check-ins with your partner are essential
RESOURCES * MyLoveThinks.com * My Love Thinks podcast * The 5 Love Languages
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In this ep, Mia and Dinah talk to an expert about the life admin side of investing - it's a great way to build your wealth but also comes with paperwork and passwords. While anyone of working age has investments through their superannuation, in the last two years there’s been a surge of first-time share investors.
About Sophie Dicker
Sophie Dicker is an M&A consultant by day and the co-host of You're in Good Company (YIGC), a podcast that aims to make investing accessible to anyone, by night. Although working in finance, she had no idea about investing until her partner encouraged her to start. Her investing goal is to build the freedom to do things that she's passionate about - whether it be starting a business, donating to causes close to her, or taking time out of the workforce to start a family. The ultimate goal of YIGC is to build a community of like-minded people right alongside.
In this episode we talk about:
- the challenges of getting into the property market in Australia and other factors leading to an influx of younger investors in the share market
- developing an investment strategy and the importance of understanding your money type and risk tolerance
- why you might want to engage a financial adviser and how to find one
- where to find information from experts to guide you on your investment journey
- micro-investing: investing small amounts regularly through apps like Spaceship and Raiz
- ETFs: a bundle of shares that provide exposure to a range of companies listed on the stock market, allowing you to diversify your investments more easily
- finding an online trading platform that works for you and testing out the apps
- managing the paperwork that comes with investing by adopting a folder structure to keep all the paperwork for purchases and dividends
- the importance of your HIN on CHESS statements and making sure you keep these in a secure place like your password manager
- managing your account and password with the share registry
- the process of setting up an online share trading account
- the benefits of developing a consistent investment routine
- setting up investment goals (short, medium and long term)
- considering auto investing - a regular direct debit into an ETF
- using your Hours of Power to do the initial research and education into investing so that ongoing investing can become a Ten Minute Timekiller task in the long run.
RESOURCES * YIGC podcast * YIGC Instagram * YIGC Investing Podcast Discussion Group on Facebook * Invest Like The Best podcast * How I build this with Guy Raz - podcast * Livewire Markets * Spaceship app * Raiz app * Stockspot
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In this ep, Mia and Dinah share their experiences and top hacks to streamline life admin for new parents. Conventional wisdom recommends parents-to-be focus their discussions and planning on housework and parenting. But there is a third dimension of domestic life to discuss and organise: life admin. Life admin explodes when you have a baby, just at the time you are sleep deprived and learning to care for a new member of your family.
In this ep, Mia and Dinah discuss:
- that before you have children you have more leisure time, physical and mental energy and life admin is done independently or designed around two people. When a baby enters your family life admin systems need to accommodate another person.
- When the baby is first born it's really important to prioritise what life admin you need to do. Prioritising is about deciding what you won’t do, getting clear about what’s truly urgent or important and letting go of the rest
- that in different-sex couples there is a tendency for stereotypical domestic roles to kick in and that it's essential to have the negotiation early with your partner about who will do what in terms of housework, child care and life admin. It's important to get good at having this conversation as the discussion will need to be had again and again as the baby develops, its needs change, parental leave finishes and paid work resumes.
- Some of the life admin you can attend to before you have a baby:
- choosing your healthcare provider and managing appointments
- adding your baby to waiting lists for childcare
- meal preparation - planning for sleep deprivation
- creating a checklist of what to take to the hospital
- setting up a keepsake system
- securing all the baby equipment and supplies you will need
- updating your budget to reflect your new circumstances and be confident about how much time off from work you can take
- preparing or updating your will including identifying guardians for your children
- reviewing your life and income protection insurance
- identifying options for online shopping and meal kits for the first few months when leaving home can be challenging
- planning a babymoon!
- After the baby is born and you are on parental leave, the day and week lack the normal structure that work once provided. It can be helpful to create a schedule for the housework and life admin tasks and a daily routine for yourself and baby.
- When you return to work, routines and schedules support the smooth functioning of your household. As the baby develops your daily routine needs to shift as eat, sleep and play times will change from month to month. You need to embrace the idea that you need to redesign your life every three-six months as their needs change.
- Some of the other life admin hacks for after the baby is born include:
- lists! - checklists and to-do lists that are shared with your partner
- registering with Services Australia for the parental leave payment
- decluttering - developing habits to declutter as you go
- meal planning and bulk cooking - particularly when your baby starts solids
- keeping track of health appointments in a shared digital calendar
- starting a cloud storage system for filing important documents
- adding your baby to your private health insurance policy if you have one
- planning your social Life - hard but important - people priority vs event priority - lots of changes - need to be deliberate.
RESOURCES Life Admin Hacks the book
Episode 26: Optimising kid admin
Episode 45 - Tracey Spicer on upskilling your kids to contribute at home
Episode 51: Michael Grose on upskilling your kids to contribute
Episode 54: Daycare and school transitions
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With the cost of living on the rise, a key way to save money is to comparison shop your major household bills. In this ep we’ll help you get an understanding of the payoff to a methodical approach, seven steps to make your choices straightforward and point you to the best comparison websites.
We start this episode talking about why you need to make the effort to comparison shop - not only to save money but also to give peace of mind that your product or service fits with your needs. We also chat about the frustration that most providers offer the best discounts and deals for new customers. This means you need to accept that you'll need to do the work if you want to save money.
We also talk about the challenges of finding the time and the complexity of comparison shopping:
- We have more products that we need to choose due to the privatisation of services like utilities
- It can be complex to choose between the hundreds or thousands of products out there
- 'Satisficing' - achieving a good result as fast as possible by choosing something sufficient that satisfies you - will yield a better result than trying to find the best possible deal.
We also talk about the elephant in the room: making the time to get the comparison shopping done. We recommend you set up a regular Hour of Power in your schedule to get more complex life admin tasks done, including comparison shopping.
We talk through the seven steps that make choosing a better deal efficient and effective:
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Take stock
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Jump onto your online account or review recent statements – to gain an understanding of your current plan, assess your usage and sense of value
- If it's a product you're not that familiar with, listen to one of our podcast eps or dive into the relevant book chapter, where we break down the jargon and the typical product features
-
Then think about what will make you happy. Is it saving $100 a year or $500? Is it getting more convenient service in some way? Or simply peace of mind that you have the right product for your needs? Decide on the goalposts upfront so that you know when you’ve scored.
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Set up your comparison table
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The next step is to create a table to set out the criteria you need to compare
- A comparison table makes it much simpler to pick the best offer, rather than tirelessly going through the features of each, one at a time
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You can use one of the downloadable checklists from our website or set up your own table.
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Compare three
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We recommend that you compare three options: your current provider and two others
- There are diminishing returns if you compare beyond a handful of alternatives, and the more options you compare, the more confused and dissatisfied you will be
- The key thing is to use the best comparison website to find the three offers to compare
- Where possible, you want to use the government websites, so for PHI and energy that is usually your best bet
-
Choice, Canstar, Finder and Whistelout are the comparison sites we recommend the most but in our book we recommend which sites are best for which service.
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Make the 'keep me' call
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Sometimes your current provider can offer you a better deal. When you’re armed with the details of what competitors are selling, calling your current provider may be all you need to do to save money
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If your current provider comes to the party with a competitive offer, this might be the last step
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Call around
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If your current provider can’t offer you a better deal and the alternative isn’t obvious, or there are complexities you want to check, you’ll want to call one or both of the competitors you identified in Step 3
- We recommend you jot down a script to guide your chat
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Try to call in when call centre queues are likely to be shorter - when they open, on evenings or weekends.
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Decide...and switch
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Go back to your goals and pick the offer that best meets them. There’s usually a clear winner
-
If you’re struggling to make a decision, it can help to think about what you would advise a friend.
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Integrate and celebrate
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You’ll need to integrate this new plan or provider into your life admin systems and tools
- This includes things like updating your password manager, opting into paperless communication, direct debits and adding important documents to your cloud storage
- Take time to celebrate your achievement. 🎉
RESOURCES Life Admin Hacks the book
Episode 33 - Comparison shopping in an hour
Choice
Canstar
Finder
Whistleout
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At some stage, we all have to navigate appropriate aged care for ourselves or a loved one, so in this episode we turned to aged care expert Grace Petherick to demystify it for us all.
Many of us are in the sandwich generation, and are the support people for parents as well as young children. Some of us are also of an age where we’re having to investigate aged care services for ourselves or our partner.
This can be an overwhelming task because, let’s face it, the aged care system in Australia is complex, unfamiliar and bureaucratic, and if your family member is suffering poor health or has had a health incident, it's all the more anxiety-triggering.
About Grace Petherick
Global experience in service industries and the shock of accessing aged care for her grandparents sparked Grace Petherick’s passion to revolutionise an industry.
It became clear for her that what her grandparents had suffered was unacceptable, and it was time to shake up 100 years of unchanged service standards in aged care.
Her visionary and innovative approach has attracted extensive investor and media attention, including placing as a finalist in the current Telstra Business Awards and winning a City of Melbourne Innovative Business Grant, for her business Age Up Health.
Our recent survey revealed that one in three of our listeners is doing life admin for a parent or elderly relative and that often includes researching aged care services. In this episode we discuss:
- how the aged care system is very complex and waiting lists can create a lot of stress for families
- that you shouldn’t wait until a crisis occurs to investigate aged care - as soon as everyday things feel harder you should consider investigating options
- the preventive measures you can put in place - allied health to improve balance, ramps and handrails
- the differing roles for Residential Aged Care - including temporary respite and rehabilitation after a hospital stay
- how to fund aged care - the first step should be the government website - My Aged Care
- you can also find information on aged care provider websites and there are paid aged care advisers you can access
- the range of services and products that Home Care Package funding can be used for including home modifications, cooking and meal delivery, supplements, companionship and social support - anything to keep you safe and well at home
- the assessment process for Home Care Packages - government assessors come to your home and consider what support/funding you are eligible for - a letter of support from a GP can be helpful
- after your Home Care Package is approved - means testing is conducted by Services Australia to determine what (if any) income tested fee you will need to pay (there is an income and asset test similar to that for the Aged pension - the maximum contribution you can make is $40 per day)
- after an assessment you receive a notification of your level of funding and estimated the waiting time until the funding will be available
- the wait list for a Home Care Package can be up to 9 months - while you are waiting you may be able to access CHSP or other organisations that may provide support - Carers Gateway and some providers provide limited free support while you wait
- after the funding comes though you need to select from one of 900 providers within 56 days or you will lose the funding
- 3 months before your funding is allocated you will receive notification and this is a good time to start selecting a provider
- things to think about when selecting a provider include: what support you need, what level of admin you are willing to do, how they manage workforce, consistency of workforce, costs (care fee, administration fee, other fees including setup fee, exit fee, surcharges, travel fees)
- that the comparison websites for Aged Care that exist are commission based - however Aged Care Guide seems to be most representative of the market
- My Aged Care is an online application system and you don’t need a power of attorney to represent your parents as long as your parent advises My Aged Care that you may act on their behalf.
- My Aged Care is a paper based system so will receive a lot of letters which you need to keep!
RESOURCES * Government website - My Aged Care * Age Up Health * What to do about aged care when on the National Waitlist * How to compare Home Care Package providers * Surprising ways you can use you Home Care Package funds * Free Seminar on understanding and more easily navigating the Home Care Package system * 1hr Free Care per week for anyone on the National Waitlist * Book an initial free 15-min consultation with Home Care specialist * Aged Care Guide * Carer Gateway
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In this episode, we interview Ayla Toyokawa, certified wedding planner and founder of WedSites, about the key steps in planning a wedding.
About Ayla
Ayla Toyokawa is a certified wedding planner and founder of WedSites, an all-in-one project management platform designed for collaboration and streamlining the wedding planning process for modern couples.
There are two types of life admin:
- Everyday life admin - occurs cyclically or seasonally - daily, weekly, monthly, annually
- Life event admin - occasional life events that trigger life admin.
If your everyday life admin isn't humming then dealing with a major life event can tip you into overdrive.
Weddings have always been a significant life event for people to manage and in the last two years since the pandemic kicked off, planning a wedding takes Olympic-level administration skills. In addition, some life events like getting married have an ongoing impact on your life admin and in our survey 27% of you identified planning a wedding as generating a significant amount of life admin so we thought we should talk with an expert.
We discuss:
- setting a budget and vision for the day
- selecting a date and contemplating a weekday wedding to save money - in particular because there have been so many weddings delayed over the past two years
- booking a venue as a key first item as it is likely to be one of the biggest expenses.
- booking a photographer, videographer and wedding planner with enough lead time
- that the average couple will spend 200-300 hours planning their wedding
- selecting a dress which can take 6-9 months to be made or 4 months even if purchased in store
- the overwhelm of so many options and the risk of the comparison trap
- that the pandemic has reduced the expectation to have a large wedding
- being prepared to have a Plan B - like reducing guest numbers or changing the date
- having a wedding website - to provide all the information for guests that can change as things evolve
- using the RSVP process to collect guest information including dietary requirements, assistance with transportation to the venue, song requests, choice of plated meals, travel plans for overseas guests, RSVP to additional events
- using checklists to remember important tasks - checklists that might be helpful include wedding planning checklist, checklist for photographer of photos you want, questions for venue, packing checklist for the actual wedding day
- using checklists to help share the load with your partner and other members of the bridal party and family members
- wedding planning is a marathon so take breaks you as you need
- plan a regular time when you will talk with your partner about wedding planning.
We also talk about the admin tasks that need to be done after the wedding including:
- thank-you notes for guests and gifts
- cleaning and/or selling wedding dress
- sharing photos with family members
- changing your name on all legal documents if you choose to change your name
- combining your finances if you choose to do that.
- keeping your marriage certificate in a secure place.
RESOURCES
Wedsites
Webistes - blog post with wedding planning checklist
SHARE
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There are challenges to life admin but they’re not what you think they are. In this episode, Mia and Dinah dispel the most common myths they hear that people tell themselves when it comes to life admin.
We’ve been talking to people about their life admin for the last 4 years: one-on-one with friends and coaching clients, in corporate presentations that we give, and when we’re running workshops with groups. We hear the same myths mentioned again and again when it comes to streamlining life admin.
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It just takes willpower
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Willpower is about self-control, emotional regulation, being mindful to respond rather than react and make intentional choices
- Research has shown that willpower is finite, that it is depleted by self-control tasks during the day. So if you’ve had a day where you’ve had to exercise willpower to avoid certain things or to do certain things, then by evening you’re more likely to succumb to things you want to avoid.
- If you’re relying on willpower to get on top of life admin then doing anything in the evening is likely not going to happen as your willpower is too depleted. Mia and Dinah recommend:
- scheduling your Hour of Power for the morning or lunchtime
- making your important decisions during high-willpower moments.
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However, willpower is only required when a task or decision is hard. As you build your life admin skills and set up your environment to make things easier, then you won’t need to draw on willpower. The tasks won’t demand you to control your emotions and you won't feel that you're forcing yourself to do something unpleasant.
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It just takes more motivation
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Motivation is a reason for acting or behaving in a particular way.
- Mia and Dinah discuss the benefits of linking the time dedicated to life admin to your goals and values, so you can see the bigger picture. You need to reflect and ask yourself what it's costing you not to have this sorted and anchor the activities to what is important to you.
- They also discuss how they based each chapter of their book to support behaviour change based on the habit model from BJ Fogg’s book Tiny Habits - Behaviour = Motivation x Ability x Trigger (B = M x T)
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If you maximise your ability to do life admin, and are aware of the relevant triggers for certain life admin tasks, then you don't need to draw on a huge amount of motivation to get it done. Focus more on mastering skills and you won't have to summons motivation to do life admin tasks.
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I know how to do it well
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Most people overestimate their ability with respect to life admin. However, if you ask people when is the best time to do certain life admin tasks or the steps involved or the criteria you should focus on, they struggle to respond.
-
Investing time in learning shortcuts, decision making criteria, better apps, better websites to consult, means you increase your ability and it's easier to make behaviour changes when it feels easy.
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I just need more time
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Pandemic lockdowns taught us that even given more spare time due to no commutes, no social lives, no extracurricular activities, not everyone tied up all the loose ends in their lives.
- Most people try to do life admin in an ad hoc way with no dedicated time slot
-
You need to ruthlessly prioritise, delegate, share, and outsource and schedule a regular Hour of Power to make the time for tasks that require you to concentrate. This means you have less admin to do, are focused on valuable life admin tasks, and have a dedicate time slot to do it within where you can get in a flow state and achieve more.
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My paper system is ok
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If you are single and live alone and don’t need to consult with anyone about your time or need to share tasks then, paper systems are ok.
- However, if you continue with paper you are likely to play the CEO of your household and carry the mental load that goes along with that
- The key benefits of digital tools for to-do lists, calendar, passwords are:
- accessible from anywhere via your phone
- ability to file in one click from email to cloud storage
- shareable - others can contribute and provides transparency
- backed up in cloud
- reduces clutter
- environmentally friendly.
RESOURCES BJ Fogg’s - Tiny Habits
James Clear - Atomic Habits
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About Christie Flora
Christie Flora is the owner of florandorder, she’s a Time Trainer and Goal Strategist and she’s the one overwhelmed professionals turn to when they want to ‘do life differently’. Christie’s strategies around time management, combined with her heart-centered and gentle approach keeps her clients on track to accomplishing their goals and seeing their calendars reflect their best life. Christie believes that focus, planning and inner stillness create efficiency and purpose-led action. This is the basis of her coaching programs and the content and resources she creates.
Getting your life admin under control isn’t just about time management but it's certainly an essential skill to hone if you want to streamline your approach.
We’re big fans of time boxing life admin tasks, where you set yourself a time limit, do what you can, and then stop. We’re also advocates for aligning your life admin with meaningful goals, scheduling tasks in a calendar and using to-do lists so you’re working on your priorities rather than red herrings. Making the most of your time is a quest for the ages, so in this episode, we talked to time management expert Christie Flora to expand our thinking about the dimensions of time management.
The highlights of our chat include:
- the way we live our lives is changing and we are changing time as we work more flexibly and remotely
- time management is not a one-size-fits-all solution and your approach needs to adapt over time based on the chapter of your life
- time management is actually about accommodating your energy and attention, recognising that you have different energy levels on different days and at different times of the day
- everyone has a unique relationship with and perception of time
- observing yourself when you are procrastinating or distracted to break down your habits and create new habits
- undertaking a time audit for two weeks: using a reminder on your phone or using a digital time tracker to help you diagnose your time management challenges
- how setting goals helps you manage your time with intention
- how our values can guide what we focus on and are the basis of our goals
- the difference between productivity (getting the right things done) and efficiency( getting things done with the least amount of effort)
- getting out of the “busyness” competition
- thinking of your calendar as your best friend and having a shared family calendar to manage family logistics
- to-do lists are a capture tool and if tasks will take longer than 10 minutes they should be included in your calendar
- scheduling an Hour of Power in your calendar for chunky life admin tasks
- scheduling planning time to review your calendar.
RESOURCES Nir Eyal - Indistractable
Make Time
Flor & Order - Christie’s website
Laura Vanderkam
Screentime for iPhone
Toggl - time tracker
Rescue Time
Episode 1 - Setting up a Shared Family Calendar
Episode 5 - Scheduling the Inevitable, the Inspirational and an Hour of Power
James Clear - Atomic Habits
Chris Bailey - Productivity Project
Kate Northrup - Do Less
Alisa Vitti - In the Flo
List of values
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In this episode, we talk about planning and making time for managing the clothes, accessories and shoes for you and your family.
Keeping you and your family clothed might not automatically come to mind as life admin but it most certainly is. The shopping, storing, and eventual decluttering of our clothes, accessories and shoes doesn’t happen by itself - someone has to plan for it and make time for it. Depending on your relationship with fashion and shopping, these tasks can be guilty pleasures, a proud part of your identity, or a relentless chore. So we turned to stylist Lisa Stockman to get all her top hacks.
About Lisa Stockman
Lisa Stockman was born in Australia, and in her twenties lived in Italy and Japan. She studied a Master of Professional Styling at the Australian Style Institute and worked in the fashion industry both as a stylist and boutique owner for over 15 years and held global training roles in the retail sector. Her personal styling career began over a decade ago as a side hustle while owning a clothing boutique in Melbourne.
Today, she is Personal Stylist to a diverse range of clients and specializes in working with people who are experiencing life-changing events such as gaining a job, getting divorced, beginning to date, post-surgery, post-baby, or getting ready for an event of a lifetime such as a wedding or anniversary.
In this fun-filled chat we discuss:
- that most people don’t have a strategy for managing their wardrobe, often leading them to wearing 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time, and buying multiple copies of similar items
- that you should think about how you want to feel in your clothes - consider writing down three words to keep in mind when shopping and decluttering
- most wardrobes don’t have the basics
- you need to make sure your wardrobe considers your lifestyle and how you spend your 7 days each week - for many people this has changed considerably and yet their wardrobe has not kept up
- for each item you buy consider what three items you already own you can wear this with - how can you 'outfit it'
- fashion maths - consider how often you will wear something (cost per wear)
- spending money on buying quality clothes that you will wear most of the time
- the risk of buying items on sale - just because they are cheap
- researching online to find outfits you like and then using this as inspiration of where to shop
- scheduling time to go shopping and try things on rather than buy things in a rush
- culling your wardrobe - consider how long since you have worn something and letting go of the guilt that you spent money on clothes
- organising your wardrobe in sections (ie pants, tops, dresses) and then by colours so it makes it easier to visualise what you have - if you can’t see it you won't wear it
- swapping over your wardrobe at the end of summer/winter
- the importance of keeping on top of decluttering your kids wardrobes
- teaching your kids to look after their clothes, that they should only have the clothes they need - working with them at the end of each season to identify what no longer fits them
- having a system to manage hand me downs for your children
- storing your clothes to protect them and treating your wardrobe like it is your fashion collection - use wooden or felt hangers and trousers on clip hangers, fold knitwear
- selling clothes on facebook marketplace or in groups and selling kids clothes in bundles or as outfits
- setting up systems to make it easy to sell or declutter so that items don’t languish around your homes
- consider, dying, tailoring or upcycling clothes and handbags
RESOURCES Instagram - Lisa Stockman (@lisastockmansylist)
Lisa stockman website
Facebook Marketplace
Dress for Success
Uniqlo - clothes recycling
Zara - clothes recycling
H&M - clothes recycling
Country road - clothes recycling
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There are more than three million homes across Australia that have rooftop solar, but with installation costs in the thousands, it can be difficult to figure out if it makes sense for you. This ep gives you all the shortcuts to figure it out, including how to optimise your investment if you already have a system.
The first thing Mia and Dinah discuss is that if you are thinking about getting solar, get clear on why you are considering it. Is it an economic decision only or for the environmental impact or for some other reasons?
It's also important to do some basic research about solar so you know what you should consider.
- Dinah recommends using the Clean Energy Councils’s solar buying guide to get some basic understanding (Link in Resources below).
- Understanding if your house has the appropriate conditions - north facing and slope of the roof - is important to know.
- Understand your energy consumption - as this is the main source of savings as feed-in tariffs are much lower than they used to be.
- Know yourself - will you be willing to change your energy patterns to make the most of your system?
- Think about how long you are planning to stay in your home to take into account as part of your investment decision.
- How are you going to fund the purchase and what other costs will there be?
Once you have decided to explore it, get a couple of quotes to compare. You can use a service like Solar Quotes to get a number of quotes from providers that are accredited by the Clean Energy Council. Providers will also help you with rebates available to support the system purchase.
The things the quotes should include are:
- a site-specific system design (which takes into account shade at different times of the year)
- a performance estimate
- an itemised list of components/products
- a clear breakdown of costs, including the total value of any discounts or rebates
- warranty (including STC snd state-based rebates)
- full terms and conditions of sale.
The providers will provide a return on investment calculation but make sure you think about:
- the time horizon - do you plan to live in the house for that time period?
- will your energy consumption patterns change?
- what other costs will there be (eg buying more roof tiles)?
- what else you would do with the money?
You may also wish to consider a battery, however, for most people, this doesn’t make economic sense and fewer than 10% of new installations include a battery. The costs start around $4k plus installation costs. You need to consider the same factors and you need to make sure the battery can be fully charged from your solar panels even in winter. In addition, for most people, the time to make a return is longer than the warranty period, so this is probably not something to do for purely economic reasons.
For both solar PV and batteries, those that make the best returns are those that are willing to change their behaviour by downloading the apps and optimising your usage.
If you already have solar, it's important to understand the feed-in tariff and the implications when choosing an electricity provider and a plan. The feed-in tariffs have been falling across the board in the past few years.
The higher the solar feed-in tariff (i.e. what you get for ‘exporting’ power), the lower the discount on electricity the household draws from the grid (i.e. what you pay for ‘importing’ power).
In order to secure the highest solar feed-in tariff, you will need to choose the plan that offers the lowest discount on electricity imported from the grid.
This means that if you usually export a lot of power to the grid, you should go for the highest feed-in tariff.
If you end up using most of the power your system generates and only export a little bit on occasion, you should go for the highest discount.
For comparison shopping, Canstar seems to have the most comprehensive list of the feed-in tariffs on offer by the various retailers in each state (make sure you scroll to the bottom past the promoted results and you’ll see the complete lists for each state).
You can also use the government comparison sites but they are a bit confusing when it comes to taking into account the feed-in tariff and therefore their results may be a bit hard to understand.
RESOURCES Clean Energy Council - Solar Buying Guide
Solar Quotes - get 3 quotes on a PV system
Energy.gov.au - Available rebates
Canstar - compare feed-in tariffs
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If you’re looking for the motivation, apps, and process to get your digital photos sorted once and for all, this ep where we interview Carly Michael is for you.
About Carly Michael Carly Michael has spent her whole life surrounded by photos having grown up in her family's camera store - Michaels Camera Video and Digital in Melbourne's CBD. When covid hit, the family decided to close the store so she took the opportunity to become a professional photo organiser - something she had developed a passion for during her time managing the family's photo lab. She now spends her days organising both physical and digital photos, helping people get back in control of their photo mess!
Digital photos made the top five life admin pain points in our 2021 community survey and while Dinah has had her photos sorted for some time until we recorded this ep Mia felt like there would never be enough time or motivation in the world for her to get her photos into a format that other people can actually access and enjoy.
After the interview Mia downloaded the apps suggested, they did their magic, and her photos are finally organised.
Carly starts the interview by talking about her background and how she became interested in the digital dark age. The digital dark age is a concern that, as technology advances, we will lose access to photos and other data as our current media (including hard drives and USBs) are not designed to last.
Mia and Carly discuss how setting yourself a deadline and having a photo project as a goal will give you the motivation
Carly discussed the key characteristics of an organised photosystem being:
- organised - chronologically is the easiest
- centralised
- accessible - ideally on your phone
- backed up (consider the 3-2-1 system - 3 copies of your photos, stored in 2 locations with 1 of those being off site)
Carly discusses the risks around cloud storage (eg Google's recent change to its terms and conditions that states If you're inactive for two years Google may delete the content. She also discusses the importance of distinguishing between a back-up and a sync.
The key steps to get your photos organised are:
- Gather - Make a list of all your photos (including on devices and in the cloud)and gather them into one physical location
- Centralise - Put all your digital photos into a central hub - ideally using a hard drive. If you have issues extracting photos consider using Dropbox. It is also useful as a backup
- Back Up - Carly recommends using BackBlaze
- Deduplicate - Get rid of duplicates - Carly recommends using Photosweeper for a Mac and Duplicate Cleaner Pro for a PC
- Organise your photos (folderise them) - Carly recommends using Big Mean Folder Machine for Macs and Photomove for PC. If you run into issues with dates you can use Adobe Bridge to assist with finding the original dates
- Maintain - consider using dropbox to make a backup of your photos from your phone (not a sync) until you reorganise them. Then create a habit (perhaps by pairing with another regular task) to make sure you oragnise your folders on a regular basis. Also consider changing your behaviour to curate your collection as you go. Adopt the same mindset as you had when you took photos with film.
Carly also discusses scanning hardcopy photos - noting that if you are going to scan photos you want to scan once and to the quality you want. You can scan photos using your phone with apps such as photomyne, however, the quality will be limited. She notes that if you are going to scan you want to organise as you scan.
Carly also recommends changing your photo setting on your iPhone from HEIC to JPG and not using the Live feature.
RESOURCES PhotoGenie - Digital Reset Service
Back Blaze - Backup service
Photosweeper - to deduplicate photos on a Mac
Duplicate Cleaner Pro - to deduplicate photos on a PC
Big Mean Photo Machine - to organise photos on a Mac
Photomove - to organise photos on a PC
Adobe Bridge
Dropbox Camera upload
Photomyne - app to scan photos from your phone
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It is important to have a mental model of what life admin is in order to be able to approach it in a more systematic way
Mia and Dinah start the episode by discussing how:
- for most people, life admin is a blurry amorphous bundle of tasks - and with no mental model of the different categories and types of tasks is can be difficult to approach or share the tasks in a systematic way
- their definition of Life admin - that it is not housework or parenting but it often overlaps; housework is defined as cooking, cleaning and laundry, parenting is about child-rearing and supports the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of your child; life admin is the third piece of the domestic labour puzzle - it includes the scheduling, booking, shopping, paperwork, and planning that often facilitates housework and parenting tasks, but also has its own areas of responsibility.
- life admin is often conflated with housework and parenting and that can be problematic because it can become hidden which is a big issue as life admin generates a significant portion of the mental load
- life admin often gets more complex and time-consuming at the precise time you have less time to manage it - particularly having children generates a significant amount of life admin
- their recent survey of more than 300 Australians revealed that
- the average Australian does almost 500 life admin tasks each year
- parents grapple with 33% more life admin tasks than households without dependents
- 37% of people do life admin tasks for a parent or adult relative
- most people think the reason their life admin is out of control is their lack of motivation and/or time - but usually, the problem is not having the know-how or system and/or the lack of a scheduled time to do life admin
They discuss the cost of not having your life admin in control including:
- spending more time than is necessary on it
- wasting money - it has been estimated that Australians are paying more than $11 billion in ‘loyalty tax’ by not shopping around.
- cognitive load - stress, anxiety, overwhelm - worrying, scared of forgetting, monkey mind, brain chatter.
- relationship friction - their survey showed that life admin causes friction in 85% of two-parent households
Mia and Dinah describe their framework for life admin:
- that there are two types of life admin - everyday life admin that occurs cyclically or seasonally and event-based life admin (eg getting married)
- that there are four categories of life admin and that these can help you prioritise and determine how you will share them in your household
- household operations eg meal planning, decluttering, paying bills
- personal affairs such as tax, super, other investments wills and health checks
- comparison shopping for plans and policies
- leisure and social planning eg holidays, Xmas, social life, kids extracurricular
- think about life admin tasks by how much time is required to get them done -
- Hour of Power - recurring slot in the schedule for chunky life admin tasks
- 2 Minutes Too Easy - tasks to complete as they arise
- 10 Minute Time Killer - tasks to complete in idle time - include them in a to-do list
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It's hard to keep up with best practices for technology and the latest apps, so in this episode we chat to expert Lynette Coulston to get her tips on essential digital life admin tools.
About Lynette Coulston
Lynette Coulston had a 30+ year career in software development and IT but in 2012 she left that all behind to create iTandCoffee, a business focussed on offering technology support and education to residents of her local area, through relaxed, social gatherings and individualised support - where technology topics could be discussed and explained in a friendly, understanding environment, over a cuppa!
Over the years this has extended to include support and training for those in small business, for parents struggling to manage the family’s technology, for those returning to the workforce or study, and for those who just want to better understand how their technology can help them manage their day-to-day life.
This episode is full of practical tips and recommendations including:
- the importance of having a digital filing system and understanding where your files are saved - this is important to teach kids too!
- using inbuilt functionality on your computer (eg Time Machine for a Mac) to make sure you backup your files
- using apps like Reminders to remind you of important life admin tasks
- making the most of Voice Assistants to add reminders on the go (Siri or Google Assistant)
- selecting a calendar app that works best for you - Lynette uses Fantastical and WeekCal
- when you are helping others with their technology ask them to read to you what they see on the screen or use the share screen feature in programs like Zoom
- setting up parental controls like Screen Time before you give children a device
- setting up a home router that can restrict internet access for each device to supplement parental controls
- making sure you have good scanning apps on your phone to scan straighten, crop, clarify documents - Lynette recommends Scannable, Office Lens, Adobe Fill & Sign and Photomyne
- making sure you have strong and different passwords to reduce the risk of phishing, Lynette recommends using a password manager (Last Pass, One Password, Dashlane) or a secure note.
We also discuss the curve of forgetting and how people can become easily frustrated when trying to use technology, particularly when they compare themselves to others. Lynette discusses the curve of forgetting and that it will be difficult to retain how to use technology unless you use it on a regular basis.
RESOURCES IT and Coffee - Lynette’s support and training business
Time Machine - for backing up Apple computers
Siri Voice Assistant
Reminders App
Fantastical Calendar App
WeekCal - iPhone App
Setting up screentime on an iPad/iPhone
Parental control routers
Scanning Apps - Scannable by Evernote, Office lens, Photomyne photo scanning app, Adobe - Fill and sign
Have I been pwned? - check you credentials for data breaches
Password Managers - Last Pass, One Password, Dashlane
The curve of forgetting - how information is lost over time when there is no attempt to retain it.
Episode 2 Going paperless - cloud storage
Episode 4 - Mastering To Do Lists
Episode 3 Managing passwords and form filling data
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This episode explores why transitions can be stressful, the key tools and processes you need to have humming to support daycare and school admin, and Mia and Dinah's top hacks for saving time, money and sharing the load.
Mia and Dinah reveal that in a survey they conducted earlier this year, one in three respondents reported that their child starting at daycare or school generated a significant amount of life admin.
Mia discusses how transitions, particularly when starting at a new daycare or school, can be hard for both parents and kids because we are letting go of the familiar and need to adjust to new ways, people and routines. We are hard-wired to resist change and it can trigger a stress response. There can be a sense of loss of what was, wishing things could stay the same and perhaps some fear and anxiety about what’s to come. Transitions are also an opportunity to lean on our strengths, reach a new equilibrium and bring a sense of renewal and growth. We can let go of old beliefs and assumptions with excitement and enthusiasm.
Given the potential emotion of the transition to a new daycare or school, ensuring your life admin is sorted is a tangible way you can make the change easier and reduce the stress for everyone.
Dinah discusses the key foundational life admin systems to have in place to make the transition easier:
- Have one central dedicated shared document or checklist for you and your partner to store all the information, to-dos or discussion points with your partner and child. It's important to get all that detail out of your head to reduce your mental load.
- Set up a folder in your cloud storage to file all documents related to the daycare or school when you enrol, so that you can file as you go, making filing a Two Minutes Too Easy task
- Use a shared life admin email address so all school communication can go there, and agree on a system for sharing the management of this inbox with your partner.
- Ensure your password manager is installed across all your devices, so you can easily store the multiple passwords needed for school portals, uniform and book ordering etc.
- Add frequently used form filling data to your password manager once so you can speed up the process of the endless form-filling.
- Set up informal communication networks like a WhatsApp group with other parents.
- Plan any traditions that are important to you (eg photo on the first day) so that you don't forget and it is calm and intentional, rather than rushed and last minute.
- Consider the costs of a new school, such as fees, uniforms, books, technology, excursions and camps, so you can budget in advance and plan ahead if you prefer to buy second hand.
Mia talks about morning and evening routines, considering which things will change and what will stay the same. Some continuity is reassuring. You can preview what the new routine will look like by replicating the new schedule ahead of time as practice.
In terms of daycare transitions, particular life admin tasks to consider are:
- putting your child on the waiting list which may be more than one year in advance
-
filling in enrolment forms including information about your child’s wellbeing such as sleeping patterns, emotional and social preferences, family circumstances and comfort items
-
proof of immunisation status - download a PDF from MyGov and consult GP if need catch -up vaccinations
- procuring a second copy of your child’s comfort item in case it gets misplaced at daycare
- applying for child care benefits via Centrelink
- getting a Working with Children Check if you want to volunteer or spend time in the daycare
- dress code & wardrobe - you might need to do some shopping
- adding the new schedule and any key dates like centre closures to your family calendar including orientation dates
- adding everyone who might potentially collect your child as authorised contacts
- borrowing or buying picture books about the transition to share with your child ahead of time
- ordering personalised labels and labelling belongings
- creating a checklist for what needs to be packed in the daycare bag
- adding passwords for sign-in apps and parent portals to your password manager.
In terms of primary school transitions, make time for life admin tasks such as:
- selecting the school based on what is important to you
- having all the paperwork you need for the enrolment form
- fostering friendships with children going to the same school
- planning for daily lunchboxes (particularly if your daycare has provided food), Mia created a lunchbox matrix, Dinah made lunches the night before
- practice how long it takes to get to school: walking/biking/driving beforehand
- consider making time to explore the school grounds and showing your child the options of where they will be collected and where after school care is held
- get feedback from your informal networks of other parents about what uniform items are actually essential and how strict the school is about uniform compliance
- explore what the second-hand uniform options are so you know where to buy and sell
- make sure you have two sun hats (a spare) as this is usually a compulsory item to play outisde during sunny school terms
- consider having your surname only on any personalised name labels you order, so all your children can use the same labels
- buy school shoes in advance so you can get the style/size you want and there is enough time to wear them in.
In terms of secondary school transitions, prioritise these life admin tasks:
- you need to enrol by April/May of the final year of primary school or many years in advance for independent schools with longer waiting lists
- start planning for the new transport arrangements - consider scheduling in some practive runs ahead of time
- consider how homework will work - where they will do homework and what their afternoons will look like
- if there are more pieces of uniform, work with your child to set up a system so they can remember what uniform items to take on which days
- consider having an adult at home in the afternoons for the first few weeks of high school to check in with your child
- allow time to assist them with their technology set up and help them safely store their passwords
- consider when you will give your child a mobile phone - this might be something you want to do several months in advance
- find out the options for school canteen and cafes - they might need a debit card or an account to purchase items.
RESOURCES * Episode 4 - Mastering To-Do Lists * Episode 3 Managing passwords and form filling data * Episode 2 Going paperless - cloud storage * Episode 52 - An Hour of Power and the Monthly Momentum Meeting - Two Minutes Too Easy Task * Raising Children - Starting Childcare * Raising Children - Choosing, Starting or Moving Schools * Raising Children - Starting Secondary School
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In this episode, we interview Tina Paterson, remote working and productivity expert, about burnout and how to avoid the ultimate level of exhaustion.
About Tina Paterson
Tina Paterson has worked across nine industries and 12 countries over the past 20+ years. She has led large departments, governed billions of dollars of assets and her teams have delivered Transformation Programs and Projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
She has achieved all this while raising two kids with her husband James, running marathons, raising a million dollars for charity and taking 3-month sabbaticals every 5 years with her family.
Following her own story of burnout (where she ended up in the local Emergency Department due to being at work with pneumonia), she now partners with large organisations to help their leaders embed the strategies she has learned, lives and breathes.
What we talk about
During the interview, we chat about:
- what burnout is - a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress
- Tina’s story of burnout and how it slowly crept up on her
- that people often abandon their self-care right at the time they need it the most
- how Tina’s burnout was the impetus to do things differently
- that the mental load of parenting and household management contributed to her burnout
- that reducing the number of decisions she has to make is an important contributor to relieving the mental load
- how she relies on friends to make recommendations about what to buy to save herself the time to do the research
- that 'being busy' is not a badge of honour
- that doing a time audit of your 168 hours per week can help you consciously see what you are spending time on and how you can swap your hours to activities more in line with what is important to you
- that it’s common to get out of touch with what’s actually fun for you
- setting up your environment to make the things you enjoy easier to do
- how Tina shares the load with her husband and kids - by having a regular family meeting and agreeing who owns what and ensuring end to end accountability
- how watching Teenage Boss inspired Tina and her husband to put their kids in control of the family budget for a month to provide a real lesson in the value of money
- how she has a chart to help navigate what fruit and vegetables her kids enjoy to simplify family dinnertime.
RESOURCES * Tina Paterson’s website * Tina Paterson on LinkedIn * Time to Breathe : Navigating Life and Work for Energy, Success and Happiness, Dr Bill Micthell * 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, Laura Vanderkam * Teenage Boss * Money Brilliant App
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We chatted with parenting expert Michael Grose about how we can get our kids to contribute more, relieve the life admin burden and grow up to be efficient at their own life admin.
Michael Grose, the founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators, informing and inspiring audiences in Australia and around the world for more than 20 years.
Micheal is a former primary school teacher with 15 years of experience. He holds a Master of Educational Studies specialising in parenting education and is the father of three children
He is a bestselling author of 12 books for parents including Spoonfed Generation, Thriving!, Anxious Kids and his latest re-release Why First Borns Rule the World and Later Borns Want to Change It.
Michael has had parenting segments on The Project, The Today Show, Weekend Sunrise, ABC radio and more. He has contributed to Huff Post, Kidspot and Mamamia, and is a former columnist with both News Ltd and Fairfax newspapers.
What we talk about Our recent survey of over 300 Australians revealed that parents do 33% more life admin than those without kids, and they are twice as likely to struggle for time. During the interview, we chat with Michael about:
- how parents often underestimate what their kids can do by up to three years
- that we should never regularly do for our kids what they are capable of doing for themselves
- that kids want more autonomy and independence
- that as family sizes have shrunk we know more about each of our children, and so we give them less space to become more independent
- being aware of developing independence and providing small opportunities for kids to feel and be useful
- starting where your kids are at and pushing them along over time
- developing a 'junior version of the game' (eg like Auskick for AFL) for life admin and housework and setting the standards based on their age and stage
- that we need to not rescue kids so they can learn from their experience
- accepting what kids do as a reasonable standard if they have tried their best
- that pocket money is a great way to increase autonomy and independence and you can start from age 5
- deciding what your benchmark will be in your family for handing over responsibility for a task (eg when they make their own lunch)
- thinking about sharing the 'jobs and the joy' and wealth within your family
- using a roster to allocate chores to create the sense that the roster is creating the “ask” rather than the parents
- when kids start asking for more independence we can look at ways that we can make it happen by giving them the skills they need to do at least part of the task
- pets are great to teach kids what it is like to have someone else reliant on them
- thinking less about the amount of time that kids are spending on screens and more on what they are consuming and what the opportunity cost is (what else could they be doing)
- teenagers need parents who will challenge them
- that gender and birth order can create different expectations
- girls are often more organised at a younger age and boys may need more coaching, due to the way the brain develops differently between the genders
- firstborns tend to be more detail-orientated and introverted
- there are three aspects to consider when parenting - a child's genetics & temperament, birth order and the family frame that sets the landscape for everything else.
Resources Parenting Ideas website
Michael’s books
Dr Kristy Goodwin - Michael Grose's collaborator and colleague
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Get up to speed with the good, bad and ugly state of Mia and Dinah's life admin.
Since Mia and Dinah have been writing their Life Admin Life Hacks book they have optimised their life admin processes even further. In this episode they bring you up to speed on their life admin systems with a focus on the foundational tools: password manager, cloud storage and dedicated email, scheduling, lists and budgeting.
A password manager is an essential foundation for life admin. Dinah has continued to use Last Pass Families and Mia uses Keeper. They recommend:
- if you don’t have a password manager you should start a free trial
- if you need some help setting up your password manager you can watch YouTube videos to step you through the process.
- installing a Chrome browser extension on your computer to make it much easier to access passwords on your PC or Mac and allow auto-filling of login details
- all important documents (eg copies of passports and Medicare Cards) are uploaded to your password manager, given its high security and encryption
- setting up a legacy contact in your password manager so that if you become incapicated or die your passwords can be accessed to manage your digital estate.
The second foundational life admin tool is having cloud storage and a dedicated life admin email. Mia and Dinah both continue to use Google Drive. They recommend:
- a separate dedicated email for life admin to keep life admin in a separate, defined space and to more easily share the load with your partner or coparent
- if you have had a cloud storage setup for some time it might be time for a digital declutter to get rid of anything no longer required.
- trying different mail apps on your phone to make it easier to save things into your cloud storage - Dinah uses the Gmail app to make it seamless to save files into her life admin Google Drive.
Another foundational life admin element is a shared digital calendar and scheduling. Mia and Dinah both use Google Calendar but Dinah uses the Outlook app on her phone to make it easier to view her work and family calendar together.
Mia loves lists! She uses:
- the iPhone Reminder app for her to-do lists
- the iPhone Notes app for reference Llsts including her meal plan and shopping list
- to-do lists that are categorised by the duration of the task: “Ten Minute Time Killer” tasks and “Hour of Power” for more complex tasks
Dinah also uses the Reminders app as she can easily share the lists with her husband and use Siri to easily add to the lists on the go.
Budgeting is the final element of the life admin system and is essential given its links to comparison shopping for household bills. Mia uses the Money Brilliant app while Dinah uses defined bank accounts to help live within her targeted savings goals.
There have been quite a number of changes to other areas of life since the various episodes were recorded. These include:
- Home loans - lowest interest rates since the 1970s - make sure you compare the rate you’re paying against the average interest rate on Moneysmart.gov.au. If your rate looks high at a minimum, call your bank and ask whether they can offer you something more competitive. If you want to invest more time and reap more savings then call a mortgage broker.
- Energy - always on comparison services are now possible such as Energy Umpire. Most contracts no longer have exit fees and so shopping around each year is critical to get a good deal
- Internet - the NBN rollout is now complete and contracts have reduced in time to 6 months. There are 35 providers to choose from and you can probably get a better deal if you have been with your ISP for a while
- Mobile phones - this market has changed considerably with 5G now rolling out. It is now generally cheaper to shop around and buy a handset on sale, and then sign up with a SIM-only contract. If you are now working from home more, you may no longer need as much data so you might be able to downgrade to get a better deal.
RESOURCES Last Pass - Dinah’s password manager
Keeper - Mia’s password manager
Episode 3 Managing passwords and form filling data
Episode 44 - Planning your digital estate
Episode 5 - Scheduling the Inevitable, the Inspirational and an Hour of Power
Episode 4 - Mastering To Do Lists
Episode 25 - Embracing Budgeting
Money Brilliant App
Money Smart - Home Loan average rate
Energy Umpire
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This episode will give you Mia and Dinah’s top hacks for fuelling the admin for your car maintenance and repair.
The average two-car household in Australia spends around $17,000 or 13-14% of their income per year on car-related costs, so keeping on top of all your car admin not only saves you money but also gives you peace of mind that your car is in good repair.
In this episode Mia and Dinah discuss:
- Car registration (“rego”)
- Insurance
- Service and repairs.
In recent years, all states of Australia have abolished car registration stickers and so it is important to ensure you have a good system to make sure you receive your registration payment reminder so you don’t inadvertently drive without. You can set up your preferred method of bill notification by logging into your state's vehicle registration organisation, such as Vicroads or Transport for NSW.
When thinking about car insurance, Mia and Dinah discuss the things you need to consider:
- if you need comprehensive or third party insurance
- if you want to insure for agreed value or market value
- cover for personal property (eg child seats in the car)
- road assistance to be included
- how far you will drive as you may be able to get a cheaper premium
- if choice of repairer and provision of rental car is important to you
- who will be the primary driver - this does not need to be the owner
- increasing your excess can be a great way to reduce your premium
- paying annually in advance is another good way to reduce your premium.
The comparison sites Mia and Dinah recommend to compare car insurers are Canstar, Choice and Finder.
When getting your car serviced things to keep in mind are:
- you don’t need to go to the authorised dealer to get your car serviced - any qualified mechanic can service your car and fill out the log book as long as they're using quality parts
- it is important to do your regular service to keep your car in good working order and save $ in the long run even if you aren’t regularly using your car
- add a reminder to you to-do list for 6-8 weeks before the service is due to book your car in so you can get the day/time of your choice and have the best chance of securing a loan vehicle (if available)
- capped price servicing often does not include critical service items and may not provide the best value.
For regular car maintenance:
- check your car owners manual to see how often and what regular checks you should do on your car (eg checking oil, tyre pressure, tyre tread)
- establish a system of when you will check, consider pairing it with something else or adding it to a to-do list
- buy a tyre pressure gauge so you can check you pressure at home and it will be more accurate that the gauges available in petrol stations
- consider getting your tyres rotated and balanced every 5,000kms to lengthen their life.
You can also consider if you need to own a car or have two cars in your household. Car share services like GoGet, Flexicar, Popcar and ride share services like Uber may provide a viable alternative for you.
RESOURCES Get Reminded App - App to set reminders for when bills are due
Choice
Canstar
Finder
Stella - Car Insurer for Women
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This episode will give you Mia and Dinah’s top hacks for navigating Australia’s government payments and allowances.
There are over 26 different payments and benefits available from Centrelink. Mia and Dinah talk about the 8 broad categories of payments available:
- families with children
- age pensions
- disability support
- carer support
- study-related support
- unemployment support
- crisis and special benefits
- concession cards and bonus payments.
They discuss the best place to start to assess if you are available for any payments or benefits is the Centrelink Payment and Service Finder. This service available on the Centrelink website allows you to enter your details and then suggests what payments you should investigate. It also suggests other supports such as help lines, community groups, advocacy networks and associations that may be relevant to your situation. In particular other services which you may be eligible which are relevant to life admin include:
- Financial counselling
- Department of Human Services Financial Information Service
- Legal aid
- Microfinance small loans
Mia and Dinah talk about some of the payments you may be eligible for including:
- Family Tax Benefit Part A and Part B - tax benefit for single parents or couples with children based on your income level and number of children
- Paid Parental Pay - pay to help parents spend time at home with a newborn or recently adopted child
- Child Care Subsidy - assists families with the cost of approved child care
- Carer Payment - supplement paid to someone who provides daily care and attention at home to a person with a disability or medical condition
- Austudy - payment for those 25+ returning to university to do a degree
- Jobseeker - financial help if you're between 22 and Age Pension age and looking for work
Mia and Dinah talk about some of their top hacks for navigation the system including:
- if you know your circumstances are going to change, plan ahead to assess what you need to do to be eligible for relevant payments or services
- if you need to call the Centrelink call centre don’t call on Monday - the best times are usually Wednesday and Thursday in the morning
- if you have a complicated situation do your research, collect all your documentation and then make an appointment to see a Centrelink representative
- keep all your records accessible in your life admin system to make ongoing management of the payment easier.
RESOURCES Services Australia - Guide to Government Payments
Centrelink - Payment and Service Finder
ATO - Government payments, pensions and allowances that must be declared on your tax return
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This episode will give you Mia and Dinah’s top hacks for managing maintenance and repairs to your home.
While completing home maintenance and repairs is not life admin, planning it, scheduling it, organising equipment and supplies and finding and engaging tradespeople are all squarely life admin tasks you have to do.
Mia and Dinah start the ep by discussing how you can get motivated to tackle this. Strategies they discuss include:
- reframing home maintenance as a quest for beauty within the sanctuary of your home to elevate it from the humdrum
- considering the costs you will save by attending to small maintenance items before they result in a need for major repairs
- improving household harmony by establishing a system so you can share responsibilities with your partner
- ensuring the safety of your home
- considering the environmental impact saving energy can have.
Mia and Dinah discuss hacks for:
- establishing seasonal reference lists for household and garden maintenance
- having a to-do list for minor repairs so you can batch them
- scheduling in your important recurring maintenance tasks
- establishing the minimal acceptable standard for tasks so you can minimise disagreements with your partner and more easily share the load
- making sure you understand what is included within your home insurance including possible access to home assist services
- considering subscribing to home assist services like RACV Home Assist to get easier access to tradespeople 24/7
- learning how to do repairs and maintenance by using Youtube or doing a course
- having a list of contacts for tradespeople and other outsourced suppliers so you can readily access an outsourced provider when needed.
They also discuss the equipment you may need for home repairs and maintenance and that you don’t need to buy to save money and storage space. Other options include:
- borrowing from neighbours, friends and family
- community tool libraries
- peer to peer services like toolmates.com.au
- renting from hardware stores.
RESOURCES * The Architecture of Happiness - Alain De Botton * Fair Play - guidance on establishing a minimum acceptable standard * Home Maintenance schedule example * Ep 4 - Mastering To-Do Lists * Ep 022: Outsourcing personal and household tasks * Tool Mates
Note that the Open Shed tool sharing app mentioned in the episode is unforutnately no longer available.
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We interview Tracey Spicer, longtime broadcaster and recent NSW Premier's Woman of the Year, on how she and her partner organise and share their home life and careers.
Tracey Spicer AM is a multiple Walkley Award-winning author, journalist and broadcaster who has anchored national programs and in 2018 was chosen as one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence . In 2019 she was named the NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year, accepted the Sydney Peace Prize alongside Tarana Burke for the Me Too movement, and won the national award for Excellence in Women’s Leadership through Women & Leadership Australia. Her first book, The Good Girl Stripped Bare, became a bestseller within weeks of publication, while her TEDx Talk, The Lady Stripped Bare, has attracted more than six million views worldwide.
What we talk about
During the interview, we chat with Tracey about:
- organising holiday care for children
- how Tracey enlisted her seven-year-old daughter to help her with tax receipts
- enlisting the children to assist with life admin, cooking and other household chores
- how she is determined to teach non-traditional gender roles to her children
- how her husband has taken control of house cleaning and comparison shopping in their household
- how habit, necessity and seeking advice has helped her take control of her taxes
- her approach to what she is happy to outsource
- the importance of having a conversation with your partner to reset expectations
- how her kids take responsibility for planning, shopping and cooking one meal each week
- investing the effort and time to upskill your children into contributing to your household life admin
- using a shared digital calendar to coordinate family logistics
- simplifying life to reduce the number of decisions she needs to make.
RESOURCES * TEDx - The Lady Stripped Bare * Tracey Spicer’s website
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In this episode, we interview Anna Hacker, the host of the ‘What Happens When I Die?’ podcast, about digital estate planning.
Anna Hacker is the National Manager of Estate Planning in the Trustees Services arm of Australian Unity. She trained as a lawyer and is an accredited specialist in Wills & Estates.
She hosts the popular podcast “What Happens When I Die?” which explores the legal outcomes of dying. In each episode, Anna is joined by guests to discuss what happens to your kids, your superannuation, your stuff and even your body after you pass away
What we talk about
During the interview, we chat with Anna about:
- The complexities of your digital footprint including photos, access to banking, digital files in the cloud, email accounts, passwords, social media accounts
- The rules for different email providers on how to access email accounts after you have died
- Making sure you don’t put passwords in your will as it becomes a public document
- Ghosting - identity theft after you die
- Appointing a digital executor - to ensure they have the skills needed to deal with digital assets
- Preparing a Digital register to include with your statement of wishes, including the location of digital assets and making sure it is kept updated
- Using a password manager to grant access to a loved one in case of death or incapacitation
- Understanding the rules of the various social media platforms and setting up a legacy contact on Facebook
- Sorting out your files and photos and having a conversation/death talk about what is important and where they can be found
- Making sure you update your will when there are key life events or changes.
RESOURCES * Podcast: What happens when I die * Setting up a Facebook Legacy Contact * Episode 11: Drafting Wills and Powers of Attorney
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Dinah and Mia interview frequent flyer expert, Daniel Sciberras, from PointHacks.com on the best way to earn and redeem points for maximum value as well as credit card features that help build your balance fastest.
During the interview we chat with Daniel about:
- choosing which frequent flyer programs to belong to based on your own travel patterns
- understanding the value of your points based on how you will redeem them
- the value of using reward points for routes where there is no competition
- the flexibility of reward flights booking particularly during these COVID times
- the value of frequent flyer points and how it varies
- earning points through spending “on the ground”
- the best way to earn points through premium credit card bonus offers
- swapping credit cards every three to four months to make the most of offers available
- what is a good earn rate for a points-linked credit card
- earning Qantas points while you sleep
- what to say when you call your bank to try to get them to waive the annual card fee
- keeping track of your expiring points and the difference between “hard” and “soft” expiries
- using the Qantas and Velocity shopping sites for online shopping to boost your point balance and keep your accounts active
- hacks to buy points from alliance airlines
- the future of reward points programs
- his spreadsheet to keep track of all his reward points accounts, balances, and expiry dates.
RESOURCES * Point Hacks website * Qantas Wellbeing App * Qantas shopping * Velocity E store * Point Hacks Email Course
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In this episode, we interview psychologist and host of the Potential Psychology podcast, Ellen Jackson.
About Ellen Jackson
Ellen Jackson is a psychologist, host of the Potential Psychology Podcast, internationally published writer, speaker, coach and consultant to organisations Australia-wide.
Ellen has a personal passion for self-care and individual wellbeing to beat stress and help you to live your best life. Her work includes one-on-one coaching, and everything she teaches is supported by scientific research so we know it works.
Ellen's 6 Word Purpose Statement is: Help others live, learn and flourish.
What we talk about
During the interview, we chat with Ellen about:
- how the arrival of children intensifies the life admin load
- managing your mindset to let go of control and allow others to contribute and solve problems
- letting go of unnecessary standards or preferences when sharing the load
- training your children to be grown-ups
- how feeling calm and having peace of mind is important to her
- the big five personality traits and the impact this has on how you might approach life admin
- how being aware of your personality traits can help you understand how best to approach life admin
- playing to your strengths
- understanding that your standards and rules are usually self-imposed and you can let them go
- valuing your time to help make decisions around outsourcing
- motivation and how rewards and punishment don’t work in the long run (for our kids or for ourselves)
- the three key elements to motivation (autonomy, relatedness, competence)
RESOURCES * Potential Psychology Podcast
-
Potential Psychology Episode - Why Everything You Know About Motivation Is Wrong
-
Potential.com.au
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In this episode we interview productivity and innovation expert, Dr Amantha Imber, about how she manages her life admin. She gives us her top hacks on scheduling, to-do lists and outsourcing
This episode is the first in a series of interviews where we will be interviewing others to see how they tackle their life admin.
About Dr Amantha Imber
Dr Amantha Imber is an organisational psychologist and founder of behavioural science consultancy Inventium. where she helps companies such as Google, Apple, Disney, LEGO, Atlassian, Commonwealth Bank and many others innovate more successfully and reinvent the way they approach their work.
In 2019, Amantha was named as one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence. Amantha is also the host of the number one ranking business podcast How I Work, and new podcast How To Date where she interviews some of the world’s leading innovators about their habits, rituals and strategies for structuring their day.
Amantha’s thoughts have appeared in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Entrepreneur and Fast Company and she is the author of two best-selling books: “The Creativity Formula” and “The Innovation Formula”.
What we talk about
During the interview we chat with Amantha about:
- how she plans her time to reflect her values
- outsourcing cutting her weekly vegetables using Airtasker so she can spend her time doing things that are more fulfilling
- the importance of planning her social life to make sure she is getting the nourishing time that close friends provide
- using time boxing (scheduling) for exercise and any other priority things important in her life
- how she delegates things to others who are better qualified for areas such as financial matters
- her love of to-do lists and how she uses Siri and Apple Reminders
- how to get more out of your software by taking the time to earning shortcuts and other features
- teaching her daughter how to batch prepare her own school snacks
- how she will teach her daughter the importance of using her time to live her life in line with what is important to her
- how she enjoys online shopping from independent grocers
- outsourcing tasks she doesn’t enjoy like cleaning.
RESOURCES
Airtasker
How I Work Podcast
Online grocery shopping in Melbourne - Your Grocer
Episode 22 - Outsourcing personal and household tasks
How to Date - Podcast
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This episode will give you the tops hacks to make your next move as harmonious as possible
Moving house is on the list of life change events that stress people out. This year, due to covid-19 more of you may be moving or thinking about moving due to a change in income or for a tree/sea change as remote working becomes a more viable option for many.
Mia and Dinah talk about the four key phases of moving house:
- Planning (many weeks before)
- Preparing (few weeks before)
- Moving (the week of moving)
- Settling in.
The key to a successful move is all about checklists and systematically working through them.
The key considerations in the planning phase are:
- selecting a date (consider mid-week which is cheaper and can be much easier if your children are in childcare or school)
- considering the opportunity to declutter before you move
- selecting a mover including any specialist movers for things like a piano
- organising the utility, internet and phone connection and disconnection
- contacting your insurance providers to ensure you are covered
- preparing for mail redirection - don’t forget things like subscriptions, car registration, pet registration, electoral role
- start making sure you try and use up as much food as possible before the move
- backing up your computer.
- applying for a parking permit
- organising a cleaner
- sourcing boxes (try local facebook groups or consider renting boxes) and a tape dispenser
Some hacks in the preparing/packing phase are:
- take some photos of your home as a memento
- packing by room at the destination
- while your clothes are still hanging in the closet, put them inside a rubbish bag to make unpacking simpler.
- in lieu of bubble wrap, protect your dishes and fragile items with clothing and linens
- as you disassemble furniture, keep all screws and hardware in a plastic bag - label the bag and tape it to the furniture itself, or designate a separate box with hardware for all your furniture.
- take a picture of the back of your TV and other electronic devices - that way, you know exactly which wires go where when you're setting up in the new place!
- let the kids pack a few of their own moving boxes
- pack an “essentials box” or boxes which contains things you will need for the first day/night (including a knife to open boxes, essential crockery, linen, phone charger, clothing and toiletries for the next day, cleaning products, tools, tv remotes etc)
- ensure you keep track of valuable items and important papers.
On moving day:
- meditate - go with the flow, be kind - it can be easy to get impatient and frazzled
- ensure you have cleaning supplies to hand (particularly a dustpan and brush)
- put labels on rooms at the destination so movers/friends know where to put boxes
- focus on setting up the beds first and bedrooms for children
- consider getting takeaway for the first night
- consider having someone else look after your pets or even put your dog in a kennel for one night so the place is more orderly when they arrive.
When moving day is over it’s time to settle in:
-
pay it forward with boxes and wrap - post it on a neighbourhood Facebook page
-
look at your new council’s website new residents’ checklist
- finalise any changes of address
- unpack everything in the first few weeks otherwise will languish for years
- make it home - get the pictures up on walls (consider outsourcing this).
RESOURCES
Episode 4 Mastering To Do Lists
Moving House Checklist
Hiring Boxes
Muval - Platform that connects you with removal companies
My Connect - Utility connection service
Episode 13 - Choosing a broadband plan
Episode 14 - Selecting energy plans
SHARE
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*This episode will talk you through the practical life admin issues you will need to address if you embark on the path of separating from your partner*
There have been media reports that the divorce rate is expected to spike due to COVID-19. Search engine data for divorce usually increases after Christmas and New Year, but Google has revealed that people are already considering their choices, which is unsurprising given the stresses of homeschooling, lockdown, job loss and income loss.
They talk about seeing a lawyer to seek initial advice (ideally prior to separation). If you are looking for a lawyer:
- many lawyers experienced in family law will give you an initial free or reduced-rate consultation
- ask for recommendations from friends who have gone through the same situation
- check to see if you are eligible for Legal Aid
- contact your state law society or law institute.
They talk about making the most of a meeting with lawyers including preparing information ahead of time such as:
- the history of your relationship
- a list of your assets - including rough values and details of any debts
- preparing some written questions including an estimate of costs at each stage. You might want to consider taking a friend with you to the meeting to take notes.
Mia talks about the steps she went through to prepare for her separation including:
- ensuring all family admin systems were streamlined and shared including to-do lists, checklists and references lists, shared calendar, cloud storage with important documents scanned, password manager with access to bank and provider accounts, paperless billing and direct debits for as much as possible
- establishing her separate financial arrangements including securing employment and applying for her own credit card
- ensuring the house was organised, decluttered, and in good repair
- establishing a support network and scheduling appointments including tapping into her employer’s Employee Assistance Program
- compiling a checklist of things she would need to furnish a new home
- research on co-parenting arrangements
- establishing a budget and then researching and securing a rental property to move into.
They also talk about some of the organisations you may need to contact when you separate including:
- Services Australia - to identify payments you may be eligible for or need to make
- Medicare
- Superannuation
- Banks
- Employer including emergency contact information
- Wills and Powers of Attorney.
They also briefly discuss the two formal options for parenting arrangements:
- Parenting Order (an order, filed in court)
- Parenting Plan (an agreement, not filed in court) .
RESOURCES Book: Conscious Uncoupling: 5 Steps to Living Happily Even After, Katherine Woodward Thomas
Relationships Australia - Separation or divorce advice sheets
Relationships Australia Parenting Plan booklet
Services Australia - Information about payments and services for separated parents providing financial support to children
Womens Legal Service Victoria
MensLine Australia
Legal Aid
New Home checklist
CustodyXchange website
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Mia and Dinah give you top hacks for planning for Christmas in the time of COVID-19.
They talk about how coronavirus will likely impact our plans for Christmas this year including:
- budgets being impacted due to the job and income loss facing many families
- limits to numbers of people at indoor and outdoor parties and events
- unprecedented demand for online shopping and likely postage delays
- travel restrictions changing who you may be able to spend Christmas with
- more time at home.
Mia and Dinah refer back to earlier podcast episodes on Preparing for Christmas (ep 21) and Simplifying Gift Giving (ep 16) to reflect on key things that help smooth the way including:
- planning early to reduce the stress
- establishing and refreshing Christmas tradition reference lists
- drawing on established life admin techniques including to-do lists, scheduling and decluttering.
They also discuss that for some people preparing for Christmas may feel really overwhelming due to the professional and personal burnout they have been facing this year. It will be important for people to complete the 'stress cycle' to rejuvenate before starting their Christmas preparations.
Dinah talks about her plans so far including:
- making a contingency travel plan in case travel restrictions remain
- making a gift spreadsheet including all the people she needs to buy for, what to buy, who will buy and the budget per person
- starting her shopping for the kids
- putting together an album of photos on her phone to start making some photo gifts
- having a family discussion about the traditions her family want to keep and making sure the traditions they are keen on are scheduled or put in her to-do list
- scheduling a time in her shared calendar for putting up the Christmas tree and making a gingerbread house
- making sure she has enough Christmas cards so she is not tempted to buy any more
- adding a to-do list task for making homemade Christmas baked good for her neighbours.
Mia talks about her plans so far including:
- thinking about the likely plans for hosting Christmas lunch
- planning to buy decorations for her new home since she separated with her husband
- setting up a gift spreadsheet together with her ex-husband to start thinking about what to buy family members
- ordering some new Christmas books
- making a Christmas movie reference list so she can start adding movies for her to watch with her children in the lead up to Christmas.
RESOURCES * Episode 21 - Preparing for Christmas * Episode 16 - Simplifying Gift Giving * Podcast - Unlocking Us - Brené with Emily and Amelia Nagoski on Burnout and How to Complete the Stress Cycle * Book - Letters from Father Christmas - J. R. R. Tolkein * Book - Joy at Work, Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein
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This episode will help transform your smartphone into your biggest productivity weapon to make your life admin easier.
Most Australians hang on to their smartphone for more than three years, so it's really worth your while to learn your phone’s features and install must-have apps to minimise and optimise your life admin.
Mia and Dinah’s top hacks are:
- Clean up your home screen so that the apps you want to use the most are on the first screen you see when you unlock your phone, so your environment supports good habits.
- Set up text replacement shortcuts in your settings for your frequently typed information such as your email address
- Use Do not Disturb including the automatic features for turning it off when a meeting finishes or you leave a location
- Use your phone’s camera to scan documents and add them to your cloud storage so you can eliminate paper
- Use Shared albums to collect photos of shared experiences from multiple users to create photo books etc.
- If you use the Reminders app (iPhone) for To-Do Lists, add smart alerts linked to your location or your contacts to nudge you to perform the task when you arrive or leave somewhere, or when you're messaging a certain person.
- Use Screentime (iPhone) or Digital Wellbeing (Android) to limit the time you spend on social media or games, so you can use your time in ways that align with your values.
- Use the Notes app (iPhone) for Reference Lists and to scan documents
- Use the Timer (iPhone) in the Clock app on your phone to set a time limit that automatically turns off music or a podcast when your time is up: perfect for time boxing life admin tasks.
- Set up mobile payment capability, like Apple Pay or Google Pay so that you can pay for things on the fly
- Set up a password manager like Lastpass or Keeper to be able to securely access your passwords on any of your devices, wherever you may be.
- Use the Tripit app to store your holiday itineraries
- Use the Pocketmoney app Spriggy to take the hassle out of managing pocket money
- Customise Google Maps with your frequently visited locations
- Download apps for your favourite catalogues to reduce paper clutter. Mia uses the Loop app to buy books for her kids, which raises funds for their school.
RESOURCES * Apps for To-Do Lists - Reminders (iPhone), Todoist * Settings to limit your screen time - Screentime (iPhone), Digital Wellbeing (Android) * Apps for Reference Lists - Notes * Calendar and Mail App - Outlook * Password Manager App - Lastpass or Keeper * App for Holiday Itineraries - Tripit * Pocketmoney App - Spriggy * Recipe App - Paprika
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This episode will give you all the hacks to ensure your pets are a stress reducer not a stress inducer
Looking after a pet properly is a long term proposition. Cats and dogs live on average 10 human years and the responsibility of their welfare adds up over time. It's important to think about how to make it easier for yourself and use your life admin systems to share it with other members of your family.
Mia and Dinah discuss:
- all the admin related to pet ownership, including:
- pet registration
- purchasing pet food
- veterinarian visits
- pet insurance
- grooming
- obedience training
- exercise
- pet daycare
- putting together a pet emergency kit
- holiday care.
- how to use your life admin systems including cloud storage, shared calendars, To-Do Lists and Reference Lists to make all your pet admin as simple as possible
- other hacks including pet supply subscription services, online options for obedience training and sharing the load with friends with pets.
RESOURCES Money Smart advice on pet ownership including pet insurance
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This episode will inspire you to find the small steps necessary to hack your life admin in challenging times.
This episode addresses the challenges introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the dilemma of feeling like extra time at home should lead to some major life admin overhauls versus the economic, emotional and physical impact of living in this limbo state.
They acknowledge that the answer may be small steps and incremental change, which build over time to something substantial.
Mia and Dinah discuss:
- using the current crisis as a time to think about what you wish to change and becoming clear on your aspirations
- the key steps in BJ Fogg’s book Tiny Habits and how these habit formation principles can apply to life admin
- how motivation, ability and triggers work to form new habits, and that realising you first need to learn a new skill and simply practising it can be a huge first step
- the small steps they have been taking to improve their life admin during isolation including changes to scheduling, meal planning and digital photos.
RESOURCES Podcast: The One You Feed, Eric Zimmer
Book: Tiny Habits, BJ Fogg
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Find out how much life insurance cover you need and what to do if you need to get some more.
This episode talks about how to find out how much cover you already have, how to estimate how much cover you need and how to get the best deal on insurance if you need to make some changes.
Mia and Dinah discuss:
- four key types of insurance: Life Insurance, Total & Permanent Disability, Trauma Cover, and Income Protection Insurance
- the importance of knowing how much insurance you have both inside and outside of your superannuation
- the importance of updating your “Binding Nomination” regularly if you hold your Insurance inside your Superannuation policy
- recent changes to legislation which could automatically cancel your insurance within superannuation
- how to estimate how much insurance you need including where to find online calculators
- when you might need to contact a FInancial Advisor for more advice.
LIFE ADMIN HIGH OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about the benefits of using Paypal for online shopping to speed up the checkout process.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Mia talks about how she has received letters relating to her superannuation that she doesn’t understand and the challenges in understanding the complex language * Dinah talks about how she a shared calendar faux pas.
RESOURCES Life Insurance Calculator - Money Smart, Noble Oak
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This episode will help you understand your mobile phone bill and switch plans in under an hour!
This episode talks about the paradox of choice when it comes to choosing from the more than 300 mobile phone plans available.
Mia and Dinah talk about the things you need to consider including:
- Network reliability
- Network coverage
- Value for money
- Contracts or Pay as You Go
- Phone included or Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
- Data limits.
Dinah talks about the steps she went through to change plans including:
- Looking at usage information for the past few months to assess what plan she needed
- Assessing what networks she was willing to consider.
- How she used comparison a site to quickly choose the best plan
- Assessing if getting a new phone as part of a plan was good value for money.
LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK * Mia talks about using the secure vault in her Password Manager to fill in Immigration and Customs forms while she was on the plane.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about she needed to reinstall her Password Manager on her computer and that it made her realise how much she how relies on it.
POWER TOOL Trip it - Travel itinerary app
RESOURCES Open Signal - website providing information about network reliability
Whistle Out - website comparing mobile phone plans
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Prioritise and plan your social life.
This episode talks about some of the things you need to think about when you are organising your social life including:
- the value of social connection
- consciously organsing your social life
- prioritising how to spend your time to nurture your important friendships
- people priority vs event priority
- tools to help make organising your social life less of an admin burden.
Mia talks about the evidence on the value of social connection and research around the number of real friendships.
Dinah talks about the framework she uses to organise her social life with reference lists and her shared calendar at the core.
Mia talks about how to get ideas for what to do and where to go and her strategy to having regular and traditional events to keep her social life on track.
LIFE ADMIN HIGH OF THE WEEK * Mia talks about using Airtasker to outsource some of her admin.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about how she organised a group gift and that she is chasing payment from others.
POWER TOOL Hurry Slowly Podcast - Episode on Errand Paralysis
RESOURCES Doodle poll - to pick the best choice for a group of people
Whats App - to setup groups to making organising group events easier
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Decide if you need a credit card and if so, choose the best one for your purchasing and payment habits.
There are over 200 credit cards on offer in Australia, and this episode talks about how you can get the right credit card for you. Things to consider include:
- your spending habits
- your ability to pay off the outstanding balance each month
- your credit score
- the types of credit cards and benefits available.
Mia and Dinah share their top tips including:
- knowing yourself and your spending habits
- considering how much effort it takes to maximise rewards and benefits
- comparing the key features including annual fees, interest rates, sign on and ongoing benefits, and taking into account traps like capped monthly points
- putting reminders in your calendar for the best time to review your credit card arrangements
- calling your bank to see if you can get a better deal to avoid shopping around
- using comparison sites to quickly compare and choose a new credit card that is better than your current one
- setting up a direct debit to pay the statement amount automatically each month.
LIFE ADMIN HIGH OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about how her Password Manager made it much simple to find her son’s lost school iPad * Mia talks about her daughter’s netball coach's website and WhatsApp groups he has set up to organise games and training like a pro.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about a school app that duplicates content and has a really poor user experience.
POWER TOOL Dinah talks about the Pineapple Project podcast, an ABC podcast hosted by Claire Hooper and in particular Series 3 - Tidy.
RESOURCES MoneySmart.gov.au - criteria to help compare and choose
Credit Score - Ways to access your credit score for free
Credit Card Comparison Site - Canstar
Credit Card Comparisons - Frequent Flyer Rewards - Choice
Podcast - Pineapple Project - Series 3 - Tidy
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This episode will help you understand why you may need to help others with their life admin and some of the legal and practical considerations you need to consider if you take on that role.
We consider some of the things you need to think about when you need to help someone else with their life admin, including:
- what the signs are or the events that may happen that trigger your need to assist someone with their life admin
- the types of life admin you may need to help with
- how to avoid family conflict and maintain family harmony.
Mia interviews Stephanie Rendell, a lawyer who works in elder care planning and talks about:
- what life admin you can do informally and when you need to put formal documents like Powers of Attorney in place
- things to consider when appointing a third-party financial administrator
- considerations for reimbursement and remuneration in Power of Attorney activities
- record keeping obligations if you take on someone’s Power of Attorney
- services that Elder Care Lawyers can provide including Substitute decision-makers, Caring agreements, Advanced Care Directives, Wills and Elder Care abuse.
Mia and Dinah talk about some of the practical things you can do to make it easier to manage and share the work of taking on someone else’s life admin including:
- Establishing a shared digital calendar for medical and other appointments
- Establishing a shared email address for bills and statements, to create transparency among family members
- Establishing shared password management systems
- Establishing shared To Do Lists to allocate and track tasks
- Setting up roster systems and
- Scheduling monthly teleconferences to discuss the situation and share the activities.
LIFE ADMIN HIGH OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about securing her favourite shopping list and meal planners to restore order to her fridge. * Mia talks about how easy it was to nominate the days she wanted to take as purchased annual leave by using her shared calendar and the relief of having all the childcare over the school holidays for the year sorted.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about how she has still failed to manage to establish a system for the digital photos from a recent long trip.
POWER TOOL Podcast - The One You Feed
RESOURCES Stephanie Rendell, Associate - Head Of Wills And Estates, RNG Lawyers
Episode 1 - Shared Calendars
Episode 2 - Going paperless
Episode 3 - Managing passwords and form filling data
Episode 4 - Mastering To Do Lists
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Deal with the admin generated by and organised for children, which starts as soon as you get pregnant and never seems to end.
This episode talks about how you can address the many admin tasks you need to sort when you have kids, including:
- health
- daycare, school and school holidays
- social life including birthday parties
- extracurricular activities
- decluttering their stuff - clothes, toys, books, artworks, craft.
Mia and Dinah share their top tips including:
- having a launchpad and visible weekly schedule
- systems to deal with arts & craft and keepsake items
- using a form filling app to make filling forms a breeze
- using WhatsApp groups for school and team communication
- scheduling out the school holidays using your shared calendar
- using apps for sporting team management
- using checklists for birthday party organisation.
LIFE ADMIN HIGH OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about a scavenger hunt birthday party she has organised for her daughter which was fun admin * Mia talks about sorting out her superannuation at work
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about the challenge of organising visas for an upcoming trip
POWER TOOL Mia talks about using the iOs shortcuts app to develop automated sequences on her phone and the Files App to scan documents to cloud storage.
RESOURCES Episode 1 - Shared Calendars
Episode 2 - Going paperless
Episode 3 - Managing passwords and form filling data
Episode 4 - Mastering To Do Lists
Episodes 6,7 & 8 - Decluttering
School Holiday Program - online web directory
Team Stuff & Team App - sporting team apps
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This episode will help you understand what sort of budget you need, get it done more efficiently and actually stick to it!
This episode talks about the reasons you need a budget, the tools you can use to prepare a budget, and how to monitor your budget once you have set it up.
Mia and Dinah talk about the range of reasons why preparing a budget is important and how it can help you make better decisions about other areas of your life admin.
Dinah talks about how it is important to understand you past expenditure in order to set a realistic budget going forward. They talk about the various options to easily get this information including trying out tools within internet banking and apps that automatically extract data from your bank accounts.
They explore how you can set-up a budget based on your expected expenditure and your goals. They also talk about the reality of sticking to a budget and some of the hacks to make it easier to stay on track.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Mia talks about how she needs to visit her bank to sort out access to one online banking for one of her bank accounts.
LIFE ADMIN HIGH OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about how she has created a spreadsheet of Christmas presents and already bought most of them using online shopping.
RESOURCES Pocketbook - budgeting app
Money Brilliant - budget app that also recommends product changes
The Barefoot Investor - popular money guide
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This episode will help decide what you should outsource and how to do it so that it actually saves you time and improves your household harmony
Mia and Dinah talk about some of the reasons you may want to outsource some of your life admin including:
- lack of expertise or skill
- tasks not getting done due to lack of time
- relationship friction caused by workload imbalance or tasks not getting done.
They outline ten steps to help you decide if you should outsource some of your life admin including both the emotional and logical considerations.
They also explain where you can look to find outsourcing providers including:
- task request websites
- franchise services/agencies; and
- word-of-mouth recommendations.
LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK * Mia talks about resubscribing to newsletters in advance of Christmas to make sure she can access sale information but has put in place email filters so they don’t clutter up her Inbox * Dinah talks about embracing the digital wallet on her phone
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Mia talks about how she has been procrastinating assembling some furniture and she knows she should outsource the task
RESOURCES James Clear, Value of Time
Laura Vanderkam - Free Time Makeover
Task request websites:
- Airtasker
- Fiverr
- Oneflare
Fillable PDF template for Outsourced Suppliers, Services and Trades contact details
- Use the following sample message to send an email to those whose recommendations you trust to help you source a network of useful contacts.
Subject: Your recommendations, please.
Hi everyone,
I'm making a list of suppliers, tradespeople and service providers to help out with some household and personal tasks. If you're happy to recommend somebody who has provided you with great service in the past, I'd really appreciate it. I'm looking for your trusted:
- Cleaner
- Accountant
- Gardener
- Dog walker....
Thanks for helping me out.
Cheers, [Name]
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This episode will help make planning and preparing for your holiday more efficient so you can get away smoothly and make the most of your time away
While many of the listener survey respondents didn’t feel that booking holidays was life admin, Dinah and Mia firmly believe it qualifies, given all the research, comparing, booking, planning, communicating and organisation involved.
This episode includes a heap of hacks in four areas relating to holidays: planning, booking, preparing and enjoying a holiday.
Mia and Dinah give tips on planning a holiday including:
- booking in advance and taking into consideration public holiday opportunities
- setting a budget and saving to meet your goal
- websites to use to assess the impact of timing on costs
- how to efficiently plan trips with friends and family.
They discuss tips to do with:
- Using frequent flyer points
- using travel insurance provided with credit card accounts
- Using boutique travel agencies that really know your destination
- storing all your holiday booking info.
When preparing for a holiday Mia and Dinah talk about all the hacks they use to make leaving the house as stress-free as possible including:
- Packing Lists and other To Do Lists
- packing techniques
- Making the most of the facilities in a hotel
- How to remember all the things you need to do before you head out
- Getting activities for your kids organised before you leave.
While on holiday they discuss Dinah’s hack of giving an allowance to her kids at the beginning of the holiday.
LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about finally embracing Siri to add to reminders on her phone * Mia talks about reserving library books online to encourage her to read more and foster her daughter's reading habit
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about the hassles or returning internet shopping including her dread of the post office
POWER TOOL * Google Maps Commute
RESOURCES * The Art of Travel - Alain de Botton * Point hacks website - website on how to earn and make the most of frequent flyer points * Seat Guru website - website to find the best seat on planes * Life Admin Life Hacks episode on Scheduling * Life Admin Life Hacks episode on To Do Lists * Life Admin Life Hacks episode on Shared Cloud Storage - Going Paperless * Tripit - App to store travel itineraries * Lonely Pets Club - Pet Sitting Service
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This episode will help you set up your systems to make tax time as minimal as possible.
People whose lives are otherwise in good shape can suffer a mental block when it comes to tax. This episode will give you tips to get motivated and preparing your tax return more efficient.
Mia and Dinah discuss:
- motivations for doing your tax by the deadline
- the benefits of using an accountant or tax agent
- why you might want to see your accountant before tax time
- thinking about your tax refund as a payment for the work you need to do
- options for setting up an online filing system to keep tax records
- using scheduling to set aside a time to do your tax return
- rewarding yourself when you get your tax return done.
LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK * Mia discusses how she organised her son’s birthday in one Power Hour : finalised the guest list, booked the venue, bought gifts and invited family for a separate get together * Dinah talks about how she cleared out the 16,000 unread emails in her personal email account
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Mia talks about a visit to Centrelink to sort out her Child Care Subsidy * Dinah talks about the difficulty in banking a cheque
POWER TOOL Book - Mentors: How to Help and be Helped by Russell Brand
RESOURCES myDeductions - ATO app to save your receipts
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This episode will clarify the options you have to manage how you and your children use their screens.
There are all kinds of connected devices in our homes: tablets, smartphones, laptops, televisions, gaming consoles and more. Dinah and Mia give you some tools and tips to help keep your children safer online and also help provide screen time limits.
Mia and Dinah talk about resources like Common Sense Media that you can use to decide on which games and apps to download for your children.
They also discuss how as your children get older it is more important to make sure you have enabled the parental controls on all the devices they access.
They discuss tips relating to:
- Setting up individual profiles for your children and using family sharing settings for Apple and Google
- Using Screentime in Apple devices (iOS 9 and above)
- Using Content & Privacy Restrictions in older Apple devices
- Using parental controls for your PC and gaming consoles
- Setting up profiles for Netflix and other streaming accounts
- Password protection and staying one step ahead of your digital native children.
They also discuss some options for improving security at the router level including upgrading your router or adding additional gadgets to control all the devices connected to your home internet connection.
LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK Dinah’s daughter had cooked dinner based on the family meal planner without being asked
Mia is currently applying for a new role at work and she is able to use the CV she had prepared by an outsourcer earlier this year
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK Dinah talks about channel confusion caused when groups of friends move between various communication channels like email, WhatsApp and text messages.
POWER TOOL 10% Happier Podcast Episode on Digital Minimalism
When - The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink
RESOURCES Australian Parents Council - Recommended Screentime
Raising Children - digital safety and screen time strategies
eSafety - Office of the e-safety commissioners
Common Sense Media - Aged Based Media Reviews
Guide to Screentime functionality for Apple Devices
Parental controls for older Apple devices that don't support Screen Time Circle - Screen time management and parental control device that controls wifi access and displays usage history
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Mia and Dinah explore how to find inspiration, get motivated and set goals to change your approach to life admin.
Mia and Dinah talk about the difference between motivation and insinspiration and potential sources of both. They discuss how you might approaches behaviour and habit change, which are required to address your life admin system.
They detail many different ways of setting goals and suggest that first its important to know how you are wired before choosing a method that will work for you. They outline options for goal setting including:
- SMARTER goals
- setting one personal goal
- the Desire Map
- one one word for the year.
Dinah shares how she got motivated to make a change by having Mia and this podcast as her accountability partner. Mia says she is very goal orientated and has embraced the ‘one word’ and Desire Map approaches.
RESOURCES Motivation and Behaviour Change
Fogg Behaviour Change Model
Smarter Faster Better, Charles Duhigg
Know Yourself
Gretchin Rubin’s, Four Tendency Quiz
The Cycle of Years, Stratejoy
What makes your brain happy and why you should do the opposite, David Disalvo
Goal Setting
One word for the year
One personal goal approach, Nicole Avery
The Desire Map, Danielle Laporte
Smarter Faster Better, Charles Duhigg
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Mia and Dinah talk about their own decluttering journeys and give listeners their top tips.
Mia and Dinah share their family backgrounds and reflect how that often links to your approach to holding onto belongings. They talk about the process they have gone through for both:
- Reducing the inflow of stuff: being a better gatekeeper of what enters the house and buying less.
- Working on the outflow of stuff: a work in progress for both of them.
Dinah’s top 5 tips for decluttering are: * Get some quick wins by starting with an area of the house that is not sentimental and where your decluttering can have an immediate impact. * Get buy-in from the rest of your family. * Remember that giving things away gives joy to others and yourself. * Embrace the 'cost per use' mentality and choose quality and long term use. * Someday never comes. If you haven't used it recently you probably never will.
Mia’s top 5 tips for decluttering are: * Make handing on items easier by having a dedicated space to put donations and dedicated recipients to pass things on to. * Embrace the '1 in 1 out' rule not just for clothes but for most things in your house. * Declutter as you play by going through your kids’ toys, books, stationery, crafts and clothes regularly when playing, reading or hanging out with them. * Let go of obscure ingredients in your pantry and fridge that are unlikely to be used again. * Store non-season clothes and shoes away from your wardrobe and take the opportunity to cull when you retrieve them.
RESOURCES * Places to donate items: + Australian charity store listing - Opshop.org + Toy Libraries Australia + Reuse centres and trade & exchange programs - Planet Ark Recycling
- Places to sell preloved items:
- eBay
- Gumtree
- Facebook Marketplace
- Australian auction house listings for luxury, fine design pieces, collectibles and antiques - ABC Auction Room
- Straight and Curly podcast episode on decluttering
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This episode covers another foundation for establishing a robust Life Admin system: scheduling.
Mia and Dinah discuss how most people have no set time when they do their Life Admin tasks, which often means doing only the ‘urgent’ and not the ‘important’. The important tasks weigh on your mind, yet you never complete them. Mia and her partner refer to these tasks as ‘blockers’: tasks you spend more time thinking about than they would actually take to do it.
They discuss how many of us have routines for our personal life but usually only schedule tasks and commitments at work. However, scheduling can be very useful for Life Admin. At its essence, scheduling embraces the idea that if it’s on the calendar it gets done.
They discuss three aspects of scheduling:
- To Do List tasks. Tasks can be divided into three types:
- ‘Hour of Power’ - requiring a focused effort. They recommend scheduling in an Hour of Power to tackle challenging tasks.
- ‘Two Minutes Too Easy’ - can be done as they arise.
- ‘Ten Minute Time Killers’ - chunky tasks that can be done in idle time.
- Inevitable tasks and activities - Tasks we know that will arise on a regular basis such as car servicing, hairdressing and dentist visits. Proactively schedule them in when it is convenient to you, rather than reacting to them.
- Inspirational and fun activities - Make time for what you want more of like movie nights, mountain bike riding, trips away with friends, gardening, book club and date nights.
Scheduling is a natural extension of using the shared calendar and To Do lists tackled in previous episodes.
The benefits of scheduling include:
- making time to get the important, distracting tasks done so you no longer have to dwell on them
- forcing you to make choices about how to best spend your time
- helping make new habits stick.
LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK * Mia talks about having an ‘unsubscribe festival’ - taking the time to unsubscribe from regular e-newsletters to eliminate the noise in her inbox. * Dinah talks about cleaning the lingering paperwork from the desk in her study which makes it a much more inviting place to work.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about how she needed to renew her passport but she failed to get to the post office within the month required on the paperwork and so she now needs to redo it. Scheduling would’ve helped! * Mia planned to start working on her digital photo backlog over the weekend but found the activity pairing strategy she employed didn’t work.
BOOK REVIEW Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown - book about evaluating what is essential in your life to regain control of your choices and focus on things that really matter.
RESOURCES The Fly Lady - free daily, weekly and monthly routines and coaching for house cleaning and organisation.
Mia and Dinah talk about the benefits of To Do Lists and the steps they followed to optimise their To Do List systems.
This episode discusses how To Do Lists allow you to get clarity on what needs to be done and the pros of centralising your lists on one digital tool that can be shared with other family members.
They outline the difference among:
- To Do Lists - are actionable, time-bound, contain verbs
- Checklists (eg prepping the house for holidays) - help you remember how to do something efficiently and comprehensively
- Reference Lists (eg movies I want to watch) - capture suggestions, recommendations and sources of info
These lists are all worthwhile but can often be confused.
They talk about the various online tools available and what they use. Dinah is using Wunderlist. Mia is using Reminders in her iPhone for her To Do list and Notes for checklists and references. She mentions that she uses voice commands for Siri to add items to both.
Mia and Dinah discuss the various options of categorising and prioritising lists and how they refreshed and reorganised their To Do lists systems.
LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about how easy it was to go on holiday with all her bookings saved on her Google Drive. * Mia talks about how she has already started her Christmas shopping online using wishlists she has added to during the year, and a spreadsheet saved on Google Drive.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about failing to complete her online grocery shopping. * Mia talks about having technical hiccups with her shared calendar system and its inability to synchronise frequently.
POWER TOOL * Doodle – free online scheduling app to simplify choosing an event date or time for multiple people.
RESOURCES * David Allen’s book Getting Things Done * James Clear – Talks about prioritization and habit formation * How I Work – Amantha Imber podcast
To Do List apps include:
- Wunderlist
- Todoist
- ASANA
- Trello
- Google Tasks
- Evernote
- Microsoft to do
- Onenote
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This episode covers two more important foundation elements for a life admin system: having a password manager and collating data frequently used when filling out forms.
Mia and Dinah discuss how many passwords they need to manage life admin, and how difficult it is to have a fail-proof and secure system to store them all. They also consider how many forms they need to fill out with the same data over and over again. Mia admits to having a password book which put her at risk of identity theft.
They talk about the benefits of password managers, which can generate strong passwords for new accounts, store passwords securely, and autofill login forms with one master password. They operate on your computer as a browser extension and an app on your smart phone.
They go through how they approached choosing and setting up a password manager. They also outline how valuable the secure document storage and form filling functions of the apps are.
The benefits of a password manager include:
- Ability to generate and store strong passwords
- Eliminating the need to remember passwords
- Allowing you to easily access account passwords to allow you to complete your life admin wherever you are
- Ability to store form filling data, including credit card details, making online form filling much faster and simpler.
LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about how easy it was to buy tennis tickets quickly and easily with convenient access to her shared calendar and passwords on her phone – allowing a purchase of the tickets to happen within 5 minutes during a train ride. * Mia talks about how she cleared out the deep clutter of her recipe folder, removing all useless and distracting things so can enjoy using the useful recipes that remain.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about how she had changed credit cards to maximise her frequent flyer points but has found that the online app is so cumbersome that it makes managing the account too difficult and not worth the extra points.
POWER TOOL * Gretchin Rubin’s quiz on The Four Tendencies – Helps give you better insight into how to change and maintain new habits, by understanding how you respond to the inner and outer expectations placed on you.
RESOURCES Last Pass password manager
Keeper password manager
Nicole Avery’s family productivity and organisation blog - Planning with Kids
Gretchin Rubin’s book on The Four Tendencies
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This episode talks about the second key foundation of an efficient life admin system: going paperless.
The hosts, Mia and Dinah, describe the five steps they went through to go paperless:
- Setting up a dedicated admin email address and cloud storage account for life admin.
- Setting up a password manager to remember and protect online accounts.
- Opting out of paper billing, statements and notifications.
- Throwing out existing paper they no longer needed.
- Scanning the remaining papers and uploading them to the cloud storage drive.
They talk about the criteria they used to decide what to keep, including tax records.
The benefits of going paperless include:
- reducing clutter
- minimising the need and effort to do filing or recycling
- providing remote access to key documents to allow you to share information or do life admin tasks whenever are wherever you like
- reducing paper consumption to support environmental sustainability.
LIFE ADMIN HIGH OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about the joy of visiting the orthodontist and scanning and filing the contract in Google Drive while still at the office, eliminating the need to bring more paper into her home. * Mia talks about the peace of mind of removing of the paper clutter from her home and the extra space and focus that emerged.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK Dinah talks about the firehose of paper that's still coming into her house relating to her children’s school and extracurricular activities.
POWER TOOL Dinah talks about how Brian Tracy's book Eat That Frog directs readers to focus on critical tasks and not get bogged down in the less important, quicker tasks.
RESOURCES * Tidying expert Marie Kondo: + The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - Book + Tidy up your home: The KonMari Method - Online Training Course * Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast episode 172: Toss Unnecessary Papers * Brian Tracy's book on procrastinating and prioritising: Eat That Frog
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This episode introduces the first of several foundations to a great life admin system: a shared family calendar.
Mia and Dinah discuss how they previously both used multiple calendars and that there was no single point of truth of what was happening. They describe how they went about setting up a shared family calendar available on all their devices, Mia using Apple iOS and Outlook and Dinah using Google Calendar. They include all family activities and recurring household tasks in this one calendar and share it with their partners, creating a single view of all family events.
The benefits of a shared calendar include:
- creating a single point of truth of what's happening when
- sharing the responsibility of all family activities without separate complicated instructions for your partner or children
- allowing both adults in the household to easily arrange their own social life and events.
LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK * Dinah talks about setting rules for her calendar to reinforce the use of it in her family. * Mia talks about how she efficiently managed the photos from her son’s 5th birthday party to produce a photobook effortlessly within days of the event.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK Mia talks about meeting with her financial planner and the difficulty of preparing a budget based on all the scattered and incomplete information sources for their expenses.
POWER TOOL Dinah talks about her new printer/scanner which allows documents to be scanned directly to a cloud storage drive and how this is making a transition to a paperless house so much easier.
RESOURCES Gretchen Rubin's book on habit formation: Better Than Before
David Allen's book on productivity: Getting Things Done
Barry Schwartz's book on decision making: The Paradox of Choice: Why more is less
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This episode provides an introduction to the Life Admin Life Hacks podcast, a podcast that gives you techniques, tips and tools to tackle your life admin more efficiently to save you time, your money and improve your household harmony.
This episode provides a definition of Life Admin including some data from a survey the podcast hosts, Mia and Dinah, conducted.
Mia and Dinah discuss their motivation to start this project: that as their lives have got more complex and technology has moved on their old systems are no longer meeting the demands of Life Admin for a modern family.
They're driven to use their expertise in user experience design and finance to develop a new Life Admin system, which can help save time, money, improve your peace of mind and provide more household harmony.
Tools and Resources The Mental Load - You should have asked, Emma, 2017
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