We all know that sinking feeling of having to deal with life admin tasks that are particularly challenging. It may be paying a licence, finding the right car insurance, or figuring out how to apply for a home loan.
In her book, Life Admin, author Elizabeth Emens calls life admin ‘office work of life’, requiring us to perform a never-ending slate of tasks. Different to chores like making dinner or buying groceries, life admin includes things like managing your finances, maintaining your car, sorting out your tax and paying bills – the kind of tasks an office manager would be sorting out at work.
Life admin tasks are seldom fun or exciting. We often view them as tedious and feel unmotivated to tackle them, or we may even become anxious if we don’t know how to sort them out. Luckily, more companies today are providing convenient online solutions to help us tick off life admin items on our To Do list.
Help with a TV licence
Remember that TV license advert from way-back-when telling you to “Pay your TV license; it’s the right thing to do”? Many people don’t pay their TV licenses – it’s a hassle, an extra cost, and is there really a point to it?
‘Indeed, there is,’ says Jonathan Hurvitz, CEO of Teljoy. ‘Many people don’t know that failing to pay your TV license can result in a bad credit score, accruing penalties, and hours of admin to try and sort everything out when the debt collectors come knocking.’
‘But Teljoy takes the pain out of the whole process. When you get a TV through Teljoy, not only do you have the flexibility and convenience of a monthly subscription, freeing up valuable budget for other things, but the TV license is automatically included in the subscription, along with set-up and maintenance of your TV. This ensures that your credit score is safe, you don’t have increasing penalties that you’ll have to pay down the line, and the only time you’ll need to spend on your TV is relaxing in front of it and watching your favourite movie.’
Car insurance made easy
We all know car insurance is a must-have, to financially protect us in case something unforeseen happens to our car. But, with the world of insurance a tricky one for most of us to understand, finding the right insurer can feel daunting.
Digitally based car insurer, MiWay Blink’s app makes it convenient for you to sign up to the insurer’s products and, more importantly, when dealing with a tight budget, to use the dynamic pricing aspect while you are toggling the app. This means that you can add extras like car hire, credit shortfall, car extras and change your excess on the app, so that your monthly premium suits your lifestyle and your pocket. Should you go over budget while making your purchase decision, you can adjust features according to the base premium you are presented with before taking up the policy.
The technology is also seamless and quick, reducing the time spent in a sign-up process – which typically would be a long phone call – to around five minutes.
Apply for a bond after dinner
No one has time these days to wait in queues or fill in onerous application forms, especially when it comes to the purchase of big items, such as a home. Bond originator BetterBond has streamlined the bond application process by making it possible to apply online for a bond 24/7. “Not only that, if you apply for a pre-approval online you also have a 95% chance of bond approval when BetterBond submits your application to several banks on your behalf,” says Carl Coetzee, CEO of BetterBond.
Pre-approval can be done online at no cost and because you submit the same documents as you would for a bond application, barring the actual signed offer, the information submitted will still be valid for up to three months. BetterBond also offers online calculators to help buyers work out their bond repayments, affordability and recommended deposit required before they start looking for a home, saving them time in the long run by narrowing their property search to homes they can realistically afford.
Save money without even noticing it
Upnup is a micro-savings and investing app that can help you save more on a regular basis. And given the country’s historically poor savings culture, many people might prefer to save and invest as they spend. ‘This is an approach that we support at upnup. After all, we’re spending constantly. So, what if we formed a habit to save as we spend? ‘ says MD of upnup, Tony Mallam
The concept of micro-investment apps are an easy way for new investors to enter the market,or to keep saving and investing despite challenging times.’With the upnup app users can save a small amount of money via their linked account every time they do a transaction, whether it’s for food, petrol, airtime, or anything else’ explains Mallam.
In the grand scheme of things, saving small amounts that add up is definitely preferable to saving nothing at all.
Your own personal assistant
Personal assistants are not only for the CEOs and MDs. Everyday people need help in life, too. From standing in line at the traffic department to sourcing accommodation or even just booking a plumber – there is so much life admin to do. And for the most part, there’s just no gap in the day to do it. This is where virtual assistants and concierge services can help. They will do all of this admin for you, so that you can focus on your day job, your family and living life.
Once you’ve sorted out the most urgent things on your To Do list, make sure you don’t allow tasks to pile up in future. Try an app like Todoist to help you stay on top of matters. Easy to use, it’s an effective task planner that assists in organising your life and work.
The quote that states: ‘Time is non-refundable, so use it with intention’ has never been more true than in today’s hurly burly world. By making use of companies and services that cleverly sort out chores and save you hours in your day, you’ll have more time left to spend on pursuits that you actually do enjoy!
Also: How to maintain a work-study-life balance
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