The Theme for June is: Money, Money, Money

Hello Hello,

It is June! The sun is out, it is getting hot and it seems like the calendar is filled with meetings, graduations, cook outs, weddings and all kinds of summer fun. 

This busy time of year can be a time when money starts to come into focus. We want to slip a bill into a graduation card, buy a new bathing suit, and meet friends after work. All of that can add up, and can get stressful. Instead of seeing this as a moment to totally revamp our finances, we are going to go easy on ourselves. Instead of a project this month, below are several Quick Tasks you can pick and choose from. Many things on this list might not apply to you. Pick what feels like it will make the best impact on you. Find a small window on your calendar each week, and knock off a task or two. 

This month’s playlist is all about the sun, to help us feel positive, resourced and abundant as we confront this tricky topic.

I am by no means a money or investing expert, so please approach these tasks as small ways to get a bit organized around money in your life and not as actual financial advice.

Quick Tasks

• Schedule time each month to review your budget and pay bills if you haven’t yet. Make a recurring calendar event at a time you are likely to have free. I do this at 9 am on the first Friday of each month and I have a quick check in each Sunday morning so I can go over the debits of the week

• Audit the due dates on your bills so you have a good idea of when everything is due. Some people like to pay these all at once, before they are all due while other people might use their pay day cycle to coordinate bill pay. Think about what works for you and set pings for yourself. 

• Go through your bank and credit card statements to check if there are any subscriptions you need to cancel. Either cancel them immediately or set a ping to do so

• While you're auditing those statements, notice how often you donate to gofundmes or other requests for aid. This is something we don’t always think of as a “utility” or bill, but we should consider as a part of our budget- and it can be helpful to know how much money to set aside for these situations

• Consider regular contributions to local mutual aid groups or Indigenous land tax collectives in your area, take some time to research and tap in

• If you have a checking and savings account, set a ping after you pay bills to see if you have “extra” money you can transfer to savings (If your finances are stable, you might choose to automate this)

Here are some Quick Tasks that might involve a bit of research. You might be able to ask someone you know who is good at finances if you can ask them for some advice on these tasks. There are also many financial advisors on social media, or who have published books/ host podcasts, who have free or low cost resources to support you. As will all things, vet these resources to make sure they are reputable and that their advice aligns with your values. If you don’t know where to begin with that, again, asking someone you know and trust where they get their advice from might be helpful 

• Some of the tasks above assume that you have a savings account and checking account, if you do not have bank accounts but want to, find someone you trust who can help you navigate that process

• Start a savings account for emergencies, this could be a High Yield Savings Account. Even small contributions add up

• If you have left jobs that had a 401k you might need to track them down and transfer them to a new account, set aside some time to figure that out

A note on dealing with finances.

It can be difficult to talk about money or to think about saving money, especially if you have experienced scarcity. Be gentle with yourself and prioritize getting the support you need. I am intentionally normalizing asking for help this month. Sometimes there can be judgement and shame around money topics, so another task for you to do this month is try to have some conversations with supportive friends that make this feel more comfortable.

Similarly, investing and retirement planning can be challenging for folks who have an anti-capitalist mindset. We need to find ways to personally thrive in systems that are stacked against us. That will look different for each of us. There are community-based ways to invest and well as ways to pool and save money outside of financial institutions. As with all things money related, prioritize trust and transparency.  

Tips and Tricks:

• Special treats! Treats and rewards can help us feel motivated to complete a task. There are loads of podcasts out there about how to leverage incentives to keep us engaged. Find one that works for you!

• One way to keep committed to a repetitive task is to have a reward in mind, like getting your favorite drink at a coffee shop, and flipping a coin when the task is done to decide if you get the treat. This keeps the reward random and motivation high.

• Another is to habit stack with a habit you already love. If you always go to get coffee on Friday mornings, could you make that the time you do your financial tasks for the week?

• Beyond treats, it is important to remember that schooling and some of our culture in general has made it so chores and tasks feel like drudge work, so we approach them as if they are punishment. Not helpful! How can you let go of that and find things that make you happy and in flow when you work? Jot down some of your favorite motivators and use them to support you.

The Theme for May is: Piles of Mail and Paperwork

The Project: Catch Up on Paperwork

Goal: Address any mail (or email) that has built up and develop a system for dealing with it in the future. 

What is the point of this: For some people, unopened mail or large paperwork tasks can pile up and begin to feel daunting. We are going to level set and move forward in a way that this feels more approachable. 

Notes:I will be talking mostly about how to manage physical mail, but a similar approach can be applied to email as well

Time to Set Aside: 2 separate half hour blocks, for phase 1 & phase 2. You might find you need to repeat either phase a few times and/ or repeat the process at a regular intervals to truly get to inbox zero

This Month’s playlist: A “Pure Moods” inspired list of 90’s New Age music to keep you motivated during the more boring parts of this task. Walk away when the list is over, then schedule some time to come back to it!

Begin:

Phase 1: Sort the paperwork. Set your timer for a half hour

1. Go around your living space and gather any outstanding paperwork or mail you are avoiding. We are talking: junk mail, snail mail, bills, parking tickets, random pieces of paperwork from things like doctors appointments, car maintenance, etc. [If you handle a lot of this electronically, you can take it easy this month, or spend some time organizing your digital information]

2. Get 3 containers to sort the pile. This is to keep everything in one place NOT to ultimately be how you organize the contents. A used shopping bag (as long as you won't accidentally throw it away) or shoebox are perfect.

3. WITHOUT OPENING ANYTHING or thinking to deeply, quickly sort the papers and envelopes into the following piles

• Trash

• Important

• Money Related

4. Throw out the trash pile :)

5. Self care- as the half hour winds down and your pile is now piles, plural, check to see what, if anything, was triggering for you. If anything made you feel angry, avoidant or upset try to be easy with yourself and find safe ways to experience those feelings. Maybe running, shaking or dancing to music could help. Get it out!

6. Decide if you will jump into phase 2 or do it later

Phase 2: Scheduling time to address to-dos and organize the piles. Again, try to approach this as a routine task. Note that we are not actually addressing or doing the paperwork at this time. Just assessing what needs more time, and scheduling it (and holding ourselves accountable to complete those tasks when they come along). Set your timer for a half hour. Decide how you want to proceed when the half hour is up and there is still work to do. Either take a break and dive in for another half hour, or schedule another half hour in the near future. 

1. Decide how you will schedule the work associated with the stack in front of you (for example, if you have parking tickets, you will be scheduling the time when you will actually pay them). Scheduling this directly on a calendar will probably be the most efficient, however if you have big stacks and feel overwhelmed it might be helpful to make a pen and paper list of all of your tasks, so that you can have a better understanding of how much work you have to do, and schedule that accordingly. (for example if you have parking tickets and utility bills, you could schedule a time to pay those all at once versus having random times for each).

2. Go through each pile (important and money related) and open each item and quickly assess if there is an associated action item (pay the bill, call customer service) and how much time that task would take. Write that down or immediately schedule it. 

3. As you do this, you might find that some items can be thrown out- do that!

4. Once you know how many tasks are on your to-do list, organize them by type (for example, items that need a phone call to customer service, items that are paying something on line, items that simply need to be filed)

5. Schedule that to-do work in a way that is approachable for you. It might be a 3 hour block of admin time for yourself to get everything done at once, or it could be a few half hour blocks to chip away at this. Do what feels manageable for you!

6. Decide how you want to keep this paperwork organized until you get to it. The bags or shoeboxes you used in phase 1 might still work, or you might decide you want to get folders or a binder to keep items straight. 

7. Commit to keeping all of your “money-related” paperwork together and start to notice how much time paying bills and budgeting actually takes, so that you can schedule this at a time that works best for you. More on this next month!

Quick Tasks:

• Set a receptacle near where you bring in mail to immediately dispose of junk/ unimportant mail

• Create a way to organize mail as it enters your home. There are products made for this (lots of cute mail sorters at the thrift!) but it could be as simple as a basket by the door for important/ money related items

• Set time into your schedule to regularly attend to paperwork. A goal could be to set aside bills and open them once a month at the time you have set aside to pay them, Try to combine tasks

• Make sure you work with housemates to find a strategy that works for all, and that the plan is clear. You don’t want someone accidentally putting the junk mail with the bill or vice versa.

• If you get mail for former residents, put the name of current residents on the mail box to keep things to a minimum

• For some people, it might make sense to make as much of this as possible paperless, however (!) ebills can actually be very difficult for some people to manage. If this is you, and having a paper bill helps keep you accountable, don’t sweat it! Just have a plan!

Tips and Tricks:

• Start a new habit! What can you do that will make this chore something more enjoyable? Can you set aside some time with a cup of coffee and music? Would doing it set up at a desk feel more professional? Could you set up a recurring date with a friend where you both take care of business?

The Theme for April is: Building Support Networks

The Project: Create in case of emergency document

Goal: Create an “About Me” document 

What is the point of this: Creating a network of support for yourself and others

Notes: This could feel heavy! Angela Garbes Guardian piece about writing a living will summed up a lot of my own fears about projects like this. Here is a secret: pretend it is just paper work. Just do the tasks, and be done. Let it make you feel confident and prepared, because you are!

Time to Set Aside: A half hour, more if you think you will need to take time finding information like doctor’s phone numbers or insurance policy numbers. 

Special little bonus: When you're done, information like doctor’s phone numbers and insurance policy info will be in one place so you won’t have to look for it again.

This Month’s Playlist: Some warm and cozy songs about feeling safe and being loved. A little shorter this time, so you can tend to this task in short bursts.

Begin:

1. Take time to reflect on the people you trust the most, as well as the people with whom you are in close community, and figure out if there is someone (or several people) who you could rely on in an “emergency”. I am putting emergency in quotes here because, yes, I do mean real emergencies, but once this information is exchanged, it might open up space to support each other through life’s minor emergencies as well. My neighbor called me the other day to check if they left a candle burning. They totally didn’t, but it felt nice to be able to give that piece of mind!

2. Check in with them to see if they have the capacity to be an emergency contact for you. One way to make this feel more equitable might be to choose folks who you have the capacity to offer to as well, and it can be an exchange. For many relationships, this might be a longer conversation than just a text, so schedule that convo right now. Maybe inviting them for coffee or something else relaxing could make this feel more like a regular task, and not something to avoid. See the first Quick Task for an idea on how to make this more robust.

3. Confront any challenges with this. If there is no one support person that pops into mind, or your closest relationships lack this level of trust consider the following:

• Do this task anyway! Print it out somewhere conspicuous in your home, in your wallet and save it on your phone. 

• Do this task, and then consider if there are many individuals who could have different pieces of this information. Consider that these people don’t have to be friends or family. Maybe a coworker or the person who waters the plants while you are away would also like to exchange some of this information.

4. Start the document! Make a list with ALL of this information and keep it somewhere that you can easily refer to it. A printed copy would be very useful. Once you are done, you can pare it down so that the information on the document is appropriate for the level of trust you have with the person you are sharing it with. (For example, you might feel more comfortable sharing your Insurance provider name but not the policy number with a neighbor). Here are some things to add to the document:

• Name

• Date of Birth

• Phone Number

• Important people to contact in an emergency

• Insurance information (Plan name, policy, etc)

• Provider (Doctor) info (think PCP, specialists, etc)

• If your medical info is on MyChart (or similar)

• Important Health info:

• Diagnoses

• Allergies (especially to medication)

• Current medications

• Dietary Restrictions

• Important Tasks to manage if you are unable:

• Pets

• Plants

• Family 

• For close friends and family consider adding more personal information as well

• Ways to comfort me if I am having a hard time

• Favorite comfort foods

5. Consider if there is some one who should have a spare key to your home, and get that made.

Quick Tasks:

• Find ways to provide support to others. List the people you are close to and the things that are important to them. Consider asking them on a “date” to interview them. Think birthdays, favorite foods, important holidays and celebrations, health challenges. Try asking “How would you like for me to show up for you if you are stressed or in a crisis?”

• Think about the ways you show up for your friends and schedule some time on your calendar for maintenance. For example, are your friend’s birthdays saved on your calendar? Could you set an alert to check in with them beforehand about plans? Should you write down some of their phone numbers in case you need to contact them without your cell phone?

• Widen the network. Consider regular investments in local mutual aid groups and taxes to Indigenous groups to stay in right relationship with your broader community. 

Tips and Tricks: 

• What a perfect time to try body doubling. There are many resources around body doubling from the ADHD community. Very broadly, this can be working with, or sometimes just around, someone else. This can be done physically, in person, and can also be done virtually. This can help with losing track of time and also increase motivation. It can also provide us with a person to co-regulate with if certain tasks feel stressful. Think about how much easier it is to fold laundry if you are chatting on the phone with a friend! 

• There are many ways to do this! One would be to ask a friend if they have similar tasks to accomplish and see if they want to literally do the same kind of work alongside you. For this month's Project, it could even be an individual or group of friends who all need to exchange this type of information.

• Another way to do this is with someone who has a different task to accomplish. You could be doing life admin while they read a book or write a paper.  

• For some projects, it might even be possible to enjoy some kind of media together while independently accomplishing your own tasks! This could look like watching a movie together while one person knits, and another folds the laundry. 

• You can be very creative with body doubling and you might find over time that it begins to take the edge off of all tasks that you perceive as chores or drudge work and makes them feel a bit lighter. Start with shorter blocks of time. Sometimes multitasking or having people present can be a distraction and that’s not the goal here. Notice what works for you and repeat it frequently!

The Theme for March is: Let’s look at the year ahead!

Lots of people make Resolutions and start fresh on New Year’s Day but you can start fresh and look ahead at any time! It’s March and the days are really starting to feel longer, let’s take advantage! 

Before we get started, here is a special treat for you for signing up for my newsletter. There will be Playlists each month to help get you in the headspace for your project. Many people find that music can be a way to keep pace during a project, and a playlist can be a nice container! When the music's over, you can wrap up and move on to something else!

The Project: The Boring Life Admin Calendar

Goal: Create an accurate understanding of all of your known responsibilities and schedule time to tend to them. 

What is the point of this: In order to not feel crushed by a seemingly never ending task list, it helps to schedule time into your life to tend to these responsibilities. While it can seem like there is no time for this kind of stuff, it can actually be harder to squeeze them in when we’re forced (see waiting in line at the DMV because you missed a deadline to file online).

Notes: These days, many of us use digital calendars to keep track of our commitments. If you use a digital calendar, you still might find it useful to use a pen and paper for the brainstorming component of this project.

Time to set aside: One hour, with flexibility depending on how detailed you get. If you are someone who can get engrossed in a task, it might be helpful to set a timer to go off every 15 minutes to help you stay on track.

This month’s playlist: BORING LIFE ADMIN #1 45 minutes of some mostly quiet, abstract noise to play in the background while you brainstorm, inspired by Alice Coltrane. When the music stops, give yourself time to wrap things up (if you have Spotify set to keep playing music, set a timer!). 

Begin:

1. Decide how you will take notes (pen and paper, notes app, directly in a calendar) and get set up somewhere you can focus. You will be making lists. 

2. Brainstorm your list of responsibilities for the year ahead and jot each item down, noting if it has a time it is “due”. Don’t get overwhelmed! Use the list below to help you

• Birthdays, holidays, vacations, or any other social tasks that require labor or planning on your part

• Taxes

• Insurance renewals (car, health, home)

• Utility bills (heat, water, electric, etc) note when they are due each month

• Rent/ Mortgage

• Car maintenance (oil changes, scheduled maintenance)

• Known doctor appointments

• Flip through the upcoming year and see what you already have scheduled

3. Note next to each item approximately how much time you need to prepare for and complete that task

4. Add each “due date” to your upcoming calendar along with a reminder to yourself to schedule time to prepare for that event. You should do this in a way that works for you. How do you know what works for you? Think about the tasks that you always accomplish and follow that model! It could be using the calendar on your phone, putting it on a paper calendar, or having a list you hang on your fridge! Here are some different ways you could make this work for you:

• Place an item on your calendar on the first of each month that has a reminder for all of the admin for that month with the time noted for each task. For example: April: Taxes (2 hours), Joe’s birthday (half hour), oil change (1 hour) then each month when the first rolls around, you can schedule the time for that admin, or

• Think of the ideal time for you to do each task, and just schedule it for yourself.   For example, if you know you want your taxes done by April 1st and you know they take 2 hours, make a 2 hour appointment for yourself on March 15. Try to choose days or times that you reasonably would be available to accomplish the task, and give yourself wiggle room so that if you happen to be booked the day it rolls around, you can “snooze” it until a time you are free, without missing your deadline, or

• ADD A REGULAR BORING LIFE ADMIN COMMITMENT TO YOUR CALENDAR- I hate to say it but the best way to actually confront boring life admin is to just set aside time as frequently as you can stand- weekly or monthly should cover it, and have a recurring appointment with yourself where you can drop in all of the tasks for the week or month. I know it seems daunting (and boring!) to do this, but the more time you alot for this stuff, the easier it is to tackle and the more it starts to feel like a mundane habit and not something awful hanging over your head. Looking at the year ahead is a perfect time to set this up. Choose a day of the week and time that tend to be less busy for you, make a recurring appointment, and then go through the year and slot in the tasks you just brainstormed. 

Quick Tasks: Here are a few low pain, high reward tasks that should only take a few moments but will make you feel closer to your Boring Life Admin Goals:

• Choose where you are going to keep all of your appointments for the upcoming year (paper calendar or digital calendar are the obvious choices, but make sure whatever it is actually works for you)

• If you have a friend that you work well with, ask them if they want to set up a co-working session where you could tackle some life admin together

• Start a Bucket List- since you just spent time thinking of all of the boring stuff you need to do in the upcoming year, spend some time brainstorming the FUN things you need to tend to as well. Start a running list. A notes app on a phone is practical, but doing this on a colorful piece of paper and hanging it on the fridge feels like inner child work

Tips & Tricks for this Month’s Boring Admin

• Be easy on yourself! Take breaks if you need!

• Set the mood! This doesn’t have to feel like punishment. Light a candle, put on some lofi beats (or the playlist!) or a comfort show if you have one

Some Deep Thoughts About Scheduling Time

It can be really hard to find the time for the things we actually want to do, nevermind things we are avoiding. What will it take for you to honor the time that you have scheduled for yourself for admin time for the upcoming year? Think about how you show up for the things in your life that really matter to you- how do you do that? Can you stretch that capacity to include time for yourself? Part of this is an existential question, but it’s also quite literal: how do you show up for the things that matter to you? Do you write it on a calendar, do you set a ping on your phone, do you make reminders on sticky notes? Notice where in your life you have successful workflows and repeat those habits!

Hello & Welcome

Hello and Welcome to the Boring Life Admin Newsletter. We are diving right in! Let me tell you what this is and what to expect: each newsletter will have one project designed to help you corral the Boring Life Admin in your life. We are talking: scheduling bills, making doctors appointments and confronting the looming pile of mail before it topples all over the kitchen table. I feel equipped to offer these ideas, tips and tricks because I am a project manager who sees a leaning tower of junk mail and also sees the 5 step process needed to sort through it. In my personal and professional life, I support others with these kinds of monotonous tasks. We live in a fast paced world with lots of responsibilities, and a seemingly endless list of horribly boring things to do. Let’s do what we can to make that list feel easily approachable and not so urgent and overwhelming that it takes time away from things we actually want to do! 

About the format: 

The Project: This will be a project that I break down into small steps. Don’t get overwhelmed if it looks like a lot of text! The projects are broken down into bites with bullet points so they can be as clear as possible. It takes more room on the “page” but should make the projects more manageable. Of course, how long these take is really hard to gauge, we all work at a different pace and don’t all have the same capacity. My goal is to create discreet projects someone could accomplish in one “focus block”. For me, that is about an hour that consists of 45 minutes of deep work and 15 minutes wrapping up. Some will be best approached as something to repeat when you can, until it is done. 

Quick Tasks: These are ideas aligned to the goal for the month that are only one or two steps and can be done in the moment without much prep. 

Tips & Tricks: Tools to support you as you work to accomplish your Boring Life Admin goals. 

As for the ideas that I will be sharing, these are methods I have discovered along the way, and might not work for everyone. Take what works for you and ignore the rest! I am not a certified coach, I am not a licensed therapist, this isn’t medical advice! Let’s do this!

If you want to continue to see these emails, add me to your trusted senders.

Look for the March email tomorrow!  

Love,

Bridge

The Boring Life Admin Archive can be found here