There are a few things in life that are seemingly never-ending: taxes, bills and housework, for example. According to research by the Association of Accounting Technicians, adults carry out an average of 109 life-admin tasks a year. The poll, which surveyed 2,000 Britons, found more than half of those taking part struggle to keep up with household paperwork and failed to complete everything by the required date.
It also found that four urgent and important tasks are always in the pipeline. Mustering the effort to get them done is another issue altogether, but putting in a bit of effort can save a lot of time – and stress – in the long run. Here are some tips on how to keep on top of things.
Offload meal prep
Even with an Instagram-worthy pantry, sometimes just deciding what to eat for dinner can be a drain. Luckily, in the past few years, there has been a boom in subscription services. Companies such as HelloFresh allow you to choose up to five meals a week and have all the ingredients and recipes delivered to your door. Allplants is similar but caters to vegans, while Graze will sort out your snacks, and Naked Wines will make sure to deliver some nice wine to enjoy with whatever you cook.
Get reminders whenever you can save money on bills
Compare the Market has made it simple with EnergyCheck, a service that automatically checks if you could get a better deal than your current energy supplier. Tell them your gas and electricity usage once and you’ll never have to overpay again. Choose your ideal saving amount (£50 or £100, for example) and update your preferences on the go. You’ll get alerts to let you know if you can save, or if you’re still on a great deal – and you can switch energy providers simply.
Cut time on managing bills
Managing bills and paying them on time is one of the most common life-admin tasks and one that can have expensive consequences if they are not dealt with on time. Apps such as Splitwise help split bills between groups – such as housemates – so everyone pays a fair share and knows exactly what they owe. WonderBill gets all your household bills in one place, so there is no sifting through piles of paperwork or old emails to figure out which one needs to be paid and when.
Automate your savings
Saving money can be a strain if you’re struggling to budget. But bank apps and money bots are great for finding ways to stockpile your piggy bank. Some allow users to set up savings “pots”, which automatically round up purchases to the nearest pound and collect the leftover change, which adds up surprisingly quickly. Then there are AI chatbots such as Cleo or Plum, which take the thinking out of money management by learning their users’ spending habits and sending out personalised prompts that remind them to put a little bit away for a rainy day.
Make the most of your apps
Having all your devices sync together and talk seamlessly can save you a lot of time. If This Then That (IFTTT) is a platform that helps make this a reality. It allows you to create customised “applets” and use ones others have created to make day-to-day tasks a little bit easier. It works on the premise of “if this happens, then that happens”. So, for example, if you complete a workout on a fitness app then Google logs it in your calendar.
Clean up your computer
One way to save time before you even begin a life-admin task is having everything properly organised – including on your computer. But, with all the photos, files, and apps that gradually pile up, organising your laptop can be a major life-admin task in itself. Using apps such as Hazel will help automatically organise files based on name, date and file type – plus you can have it rename files and sort them into subfolders so they can be accessed, deleted or backed up.
To start automating your life, download the Meerkat app and set up EnergyCheck so you’ll never have to spend time searching for better energy deals again. Customers of Compare the Market can also use the app to get two-for-one at restaurants and cinemas for a whole year.
