In March I started incorporating a Life Admin Day into my monthly routines. A Life Admin day is a day that you schedule to get life things done, usually those which you’ve been avoiding, putting off, or might need some extra care, things that are more complex or annoying than a regular daily to do list. It’s like your “to do list extra”.

For me, these days have varied in task and execution, as well as results, but I really like the idea of making my own work, to dos, and tasks as much a priority as I would similar things at my job. A method that I find is working for me goes something like this:

Schedule the day before the month starts.
I usually do this when I’m migrating my monthly bullet journal calendar. Since I’m putting in other dates to be mindful about at this time, other appointments or obligations, it works well for me to also schedule the upcoming month’s life admin day.

Have my LAD early in the month.
I’ve found that I have had to push my life admin day back at times, like I might do with a oil change appointment, or work meeting. If I schedule this day early in them month then I feel like I have time to still get it done if it gets pushed back. Also, it feels nice to accomplish something early, instead of waiting until the last minute.

Make a list several days before.
If I make a list too early, I forget about it. If I make it the day of, it feels like a regular days to do list. By making my list a few days in advance, I can really think about the tasks I want to achieve. Ideally, this would also give me time to prioritize them, but I haven’t really gotten that good at it, yet.

Give myself a time limit to get things done.
On my life admin days, I try to keep it brief. I usually have these days on my only day off and I don’t want to spend the whole time doing work. I also tend to flit about and giving myself a time constraint is most productive for me.

Following these basic guidelines have helped me keep a LAD in my monthly routine.

June’s LAD was a little spotty for me. I ended up doing my tasks over two or three days. And of course, I didn’t get everything done. I still felt satisfied with what I got done. As usual with life admin days, I ended up with almost as many new tasks to get done as I got done.

Do you use a LAD? If so, share some tips! If not, can you suggest other methods to use to make life tasks a priority?