Many of us are guilty of tiptoeing around life admin and putting it off to a day that never arrives, and new research suggests that this “head-in-the-sand” approach is very common.
A survey of 2,000 UK adults, conducted by Mortar Research on behalf of Starling Bank, found that 85% of respondents admitted that they struggle to sort out their life admin, despite devoting five hours every week to tackling it.
However, further findings highlighted that the consequences of delaying these tasks can be significant.
Respondents reported paying an average of £346 in late payment fees and fines due to missed deadlines, and a third (33%) admitted they had even broken the law by neglecting important responsibilities such as booking an MOT, securing planning permission, or responding to a jury summons.
Financial psychotherapist Vicky Reynal highlights that there’s often underlying emotive reasons behind this procrastination.
“For some people, it can be really anxiety-provoking,” says Reynal. “Even the idea of opening their bank account and doing a simple transfer can bring up anxiety and a fear that they’re not going to be OK and a sense of shame that they haven’t done well enough.
“Therefore, it’s understandable and only human that many of us want to avoid these deeper feelings and often employ psychological defences such as procrastination, vagueness, avoidance to put it off.”
However, seeing the piles of admin mount up can lead to a negative spiral, so here are some benefits of tackling it head on.
Provides peace of mind
“In the short-term, I think completing tasks can provide a sense of relief and peace of mind that it has been dealt with,” says Reynal.
“Having a dedicated time on a Sunday, for example, to look at your life admin can help you feel calmer, as it helps you avoid that anxiety and irritability build-up that can happen, and that misalignment with how you should be living your life.”
Regain a sense of control
“When the list in the back of your mind keeps getting longer and longer, people tend to sink into a more defeated place where they feel less able to have any agency or impact on their future,” says Reynal.
However, taking small steps to address your admin can help people build confidence over time and feel more in control.
“It can help you feel more hopeful about your future, because you can see that you can have agency,” says Reynal.
Improves relationships
“When people feel more in control of their lives and more aligned with the person they want to be, then they tend to be more pleasant to be around,” says Reynal.
“This is because people often feel ashamed when they are behind and withdraw from others because they aren’t comfortable with themselves.”
Financial anxiety can often present in mood changes.
“Sometimes people start to snap at their partners and become quite defensive, so there’s different ways in which it can interfere in a relationship, therefore it would be a shame not to address it,” says Reynal.
Creates a foundation for self care
“Tackling admin helps create a culture of self care for yourself in the long-term,” says Reynal.
The financial psychotherapist says that ticking off life admin tasks can prompt a positive shift in other areas of life too.
“I often see a ripple effect with my clients,” notes Reynal. “When they start looking after their finances, they often begin to look after themselves in other ways too. For example, when they start being more responsible with their admin, and they might start exercising in parallel too.
“It can generate a cycle in which they can see that they have a choice in how they lead their life.”
Here are effective ways to help you start tackling your admin today…
Acceptance
“The first step is to accept that it isn’t meant to be fun, and that it’s normal and human to not want to do it,” says Reynal. “I think there’s something quite liberating about accepting that.”
Start small
Remember that you don’t have to address your entire to-do list in one go.
“Ticking off just one small, manageable objective a day can initiate a cycle in which you start to feel like you’ve achieved something which gives you a little bit of confidence that the next thing might not be as hard as you envisioned,” says Reynal.
Utilise tools
“Banks are increasingly making it easy for people to keep track of their finances and automate most processes like saving and budgeting, so utilise these tools,” says Reynal. “The more friction you eliminate from the process, the easier it is to keep it up as a habit.”
Host an admin night
Hosting an ‘admin night’ is a trend Starling Bank is championing, which involves bringing friends together to collectively tackle mundane life tasks that you have been avoiding.
According to the bank’s survey, the majority of admin night attendees (94%) reported benefits such as saving money and boosting their productivity.
“Doing life admin with other people can add lots of joy to tasks that often seem boring and tedious,” says Reynal. “There’s something about socialising that’s innately and humanly rewarding. It releases endorphins, our feel-good hormones, and oxytocin, which is all about bonding.”
Set up reward systems
“Many people come up with their own reward systems and might save a treat for once they finish their admin list on a particular day every week,” says Reynal. “This can help turn it into something that you look forward to, rather than something that you just dread doing.”
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