Life Admin Life Hacks

In this episode we interview Carly Jacobs, host of the Poductivity podcast, about the little habits that support a big life.

Carly Jacobs has written in the self-improvement space for well over a decade, and we talk to her about her experiments and habits related to life admin and household harmony.

During the interview, we chat with Carly about:

• how completing her tax return as a teenager started her love of organisation
• finally paying for a Dropbox account to store all her digital files (although she still has a concertina file)
• how wasting time is her biggest pet peeve
• using the Moleskin Time Page and Actions apps to manage her calendar and to-do lists
• bullet journalling
• managing each day with a work to-do List and personal to-do list
• using an hourly rate to value her time to decide what tasks to outsource
• her love of robot vacuums and AirPods
• using time blocking to make the most of your time
• how planning is more important when you live in the country.

• Poductivity podcast
• Smaggle – Carly’s blog
• Moleskin Digital 

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Dinah and Mia interview frequent flyer expert, Daniel Sciberras, from PointHacks.com on the best way to earn and redeem points for maximum value as well as credit card features that help build your balance fastest.

During the interview we chat with Daniel about:

• choosing which frequent flyer programs to belong to based on your own travel patterns
• understanding the value of your points based on how you will redeem them
• the value of using reward points for routes where there is no competition
• the flexibility of reward flights booking particularly during these COVID times
• the value of frequent flyer points and how it varies 
• earning points through spending “on the ground”
• the best way to earn points through premium credit card bonus offers
• swapping credit cards every three to four months to make the most of offers available
• what is a good earn rate for a points-linked credit card
• earning Qantas points while you sleep
• what to say when you call your bank to try to get them to waive the annual card fee
• keeping track of your expiring points and the difference between “hard” and “soft” expiries
• using the Qantas and Velocity shopping sites for online shopping to boost your point balance and keep your accounts active
• hacks to buy points from alliance airlines
• the future of reward points programs
• his spreadsheet to keep track of all his reward points accounts, balances, and expiry dates.

• Point Hacks website
• Qantas Wellbeing App
• Qantas shopping
• Velocity E store
• Point Hacks Email Course

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In this episode, we interview psychologist and host of the Potential Psychology podcast, Ellen Jackson.

About Ellen Jackson

Ellen Jackson is a psychologist, host of the Potential Psychology Podcast, internationally published writer, speaker, coach and consultant to organisations Australia-wide.

Ellen has a personal passion for self-care and individual wellbeing to beat stress and help you to live your best life. Her work includes one-on-one coaching, and everything she teaches is supported by scientific research so we know it works.

Ellen's 6 Word Purpose Statement is: Help others live, learn and flourish.

What we talk about

During the interview, we chat with Ellen about:

• how the arrival of children intensifies the life admin load
• managing your mindset to let go of control and allow others to contribute and solve problems
• letting go of unnecessary standards or preferences when sharing the load
• training your children to be grown-ups
• how feeling calm and having peace of mind is important to her
• the big five personality traits and the impact this has on how you might approach life admin
• how being aware of your personality traits can help you understand how best to approach life admin
• playing to your strengths 
• understanding that your standards and rules are usually self-imposed and you can let them go
• valuing your time to help make decisions around outsourcing
• motivation and how rewards and punishment don’t work in the long run (for our kids or for ourselves)
• the three key elements to motivation (autonomy, relatedness, competence)

• Potential Psychology Podcast

• Potential Psychology Episode  - Why Everything You Know About Motivation Is Wron‪g‬

• Potential.com.au

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In this episode we interview productivity and innovation expert,  Dr Amantha Imber, about how she manages her life admin. She gives us her top hacks on scheduling, to-do lists  and outsourcing

This episode is the first in a series of interviews where we will be interviewing others to see how they tackle their life admin.

About Dr Amantha Imber

Dr Amantha Imber is an organisational psychologist and founder of behavioural science consultancy Inventium. where she helps companies such as Google, Apple, Disney, LEGO, Atlassian, Commonwealth Bank and many others innovate more successfully and reinvent the way they approach their work.

In 2019, Amantha was named as one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence. Amantha is also the host of the number one ranking business podcast How I Work, and new podcast How To Date  where she interviews some of the world’s leading innovators about their habits, rituals and strategies for structuring their day.

Amantha’s thoughts have appeared in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Entrepreneur and Fast Company and she is the author of two best-selling books: “The Creativity Formula” and “The Innovation Formula”. 

What we talk about

During the interview we chat with Amantha about:

• how she plans her time to reflect her values
• outsourcing cutting her weekly vegetables using Airtasker so she can spend her time doing things that are more fulfilling
• the importance of planning her social life to make sure she is getting the nourishing time that close friends provide
• using time boxing (scheduling) for exercise and any other priority things important in her life
• how she delegates things to others who are better qualified for areas such as financial matters
• her love of to-do lists and how she uses Siri and Apple Reminders
• how to get more out of your software by taking the time to earning shortcuts and other features
• teaching her daughter how to batch prepare her own school snacks
• how she will teach her daughter the importance of using her time to live her life in line with what is important to her
• how she enjoys online shopping from independent grocers
• outsourcing tasks she doesn’t enjoy like cleaning.

RESOURCES

Airtasker

How I Work Podcast

Online grocery shopping in Melbourne - Your Grocer

Episode 22 - Outsourcing personal and household tasks

How to Date - Podcast

SHARE

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This episode will give you the tops hacks to make your next move as harmonious as possible

Moving house is on the list of life change events that stress people out. This year, due to covid-19 more of you may be moving or thinking about moving due to a change in income or for a tree/sea change as remote working becomes a more viable option for many.

Mia and Dinah talk about the four key phases of moving house:

• Planning (many weeks before)
• Preparing (few weeks before)
• Moving (the week of moving)
• Settling in.

The key to a successful move is all about checklists and systematically working through them.

The key considerations in the planning phase are:

• selecting a date (consider mid-week which is cheaper and can be much easier if your children are in childcare or school)
• considering the opportunity to declutter before you move
• selecting a mover including any specialist movers for things like a piano
• organising the utility, internet and phone connection and disconnection
• contacting your insurance providers to ensure you are covered
• preparing for mail redirection - don’t forget things like subscriptions, car registration, pet registration, electoral role 
• start making sure you try and use up as much food as possible before the move
• backing up your computer.
• applying for a parking permit
• organising a cleaner
• sourcing boxes (try local facebook groups or consider renting boxes) and a tape dispenser

Some hacks in the preparing/packing phase are:

• take some photos of your home as a memento
• packing by room at the destination
• while your clothes are still hanging in the closet, put them inside a rubbish bag to make unpacking simpler.
• in lieu of bubble wrap, protect your dishes and fragile items with clothing and linens
• as you disassemble furniture, keep all screws and hardware in a plastic bag - label the bag and tape it to the furniture itself, or designate a separate box with hardware for all your furniture.
• take a picture of the back of your TV and other electronic devices - that way, you know exactly which wires go where when you're setting up in the new place!
• let the kids pack a few of their own moving boxes
• pack an “essentials box” or boxes which contains things you will need for the first day/night (including a knife to open boxes, essential crockery, linen, phone charger, clothing and toiletries for the next day, cleaning products, tools, tv remotes etc)
• ensure you keep track of valuable items and important papers.

On moving day:

• meditate - go with the flow, be kind - it can be easy to get impatient and frazzled
• ensure you have cleaning supplies to hand (particularly a dustpan and brush)
• put labels on rooms at the destination so movers/friends know where to put boxes
• focus on setting up the beds first and bedrooms for children

This episode will talk you through the practical life admin issues you will need to address if you embark on the path of separating from your partner

There have been media reports that the divorce rate is expected to spike due to COVID-19. Search engine data for divorce usually increases after Christmas and New Year, but Google has revealed that people are already considering their choices, which is unsurprising given the stresses of homeschooling, lockdown, job loss and income loss.

They talk about seeing a lawyer to seek initial advice (ideally prior to separation). If you are looking for a lawyer:

• many lawyers experienced in family law will give you an initial free or reduced-rate consultation
• ask for recommendations from friends who have gone through the same situation 
• check to see if you are eligible for Legal Aid
• contact your state law society or law institute.

They talk about making the most of a meeting with lawyers including preparing information ahead of time such as:

• the history of your relationship
• a list of your assets - including rough values and details of any debts 
• preparing some written questions including an estimate of costs at each stage. You might want to consider taking a friend with you to the meeting to take notes.

Mia talks about the steps she went through to prepare for her separation including:

Mia and Dinah give you top hacks for planning for Christmas in the time of COVID-19.

They talk about how coronavirus will likely impact our plans for Christmas this year including:  

• budgets being impacted due to the job and income loss facing many families
• limits to numbers of people at indoor and outdoor parties and events
• unprecedented demand for online shopping and likely postage delays
• travel restrictions changing who you may be able to spend Christmas with
• more time at home.

Mia and Dinah refer back to earlier podcast episodes on Preparing for Christmas (ep 21) and Simplifying Gift Giving (ep 16)  to reflect on key things that help smooth the way including:

• planning early to reduce the stress
• establishing and refreshing Christmas tradition reference lists
• drawing on established life admin techniques including to-do lists, scheduling and decluttering.

They also discuss that for some people preparing for Christmas may feel really overwhelming due to the professional and personal burnout they have been facing this year. It will be important for people to complete the 'stress cycle' to rejuvenate before starting their Christmas preparations.

Dinah talks about her plans so far including:

• making a contingency travel plan in case travel restrictions remain
• making a gift spreadsheet including all the people she needs to buy for, what to buy, who will buy and the budget per person
• starting her shopping for the kids
• putting together an album of photos on her phone to start making some photo gifts 
• having a family discussion about the traditions her family want to keep and making sure the traditions they are keen on are scheduled or put in her to-do list
• scheduling a time in her shared calendar for putting up the Christmas tree and making a gingerbread house
• making sure she has enough Christmas cards so she is not tempted to buy any more
• adding a to-do list task for making homemade Christmas baked good for her neighbours.

Mia talks about her plans so far including:

• thinking about the likely plans for hosting Christmas lunch
• planning to buy decorations for her new home since she separated with her husband
• setting up a gift spreadsheet together with her ex-husband to start thinking about what to buy family members
• ordering some new Christmas books
• making a Christmas movie reference list so she can start adding movies for her to watch with her children in the lead up to Christmas.

• Episode 21 - Preparing for Christmas
• Episode 16 - Simplifying Gift Giving 
• Podcast - Unlocking Us - Brené with Emily and Amelia Nagoski on Burnout and How to Complete the Stress Cycle
• Book - Letters from Father Christmas - J. R. R. Tolkein
• Book - Joy

This episode gives you top hacks for maximising the value of your pay TV and streaming services.

There are more than 36 streaming platforms in Australia including Crunchyroll (Japanese anime and manga), GuideDoc (documentaries), Mubi (cult classics), Shudder (horror), CGood positive life-affirming), Acorn (mystery, drama and thrillers). If you like a particular genre see if there is a cheaper, dedicated streaming service rather than using a mainstream platform.

Mia and Dinah talk about what you should know about streaming services including:

• The three types of streaming services:subscription services (like Netflix, Stan, Binge)
  rent/buy services (like Google Play or iTunes)
  catch-up (free-to-air services) .
  

Their hacks for finding shows and films that suit your taste and mood are:

• Have reference lists on your phone and add to them when others make recommendations or you read reviews
• Have separate reference lists for different types of viewing rather than one long mixed list (e.g. educational shows to watch with the kids, date night films)
• Use a service like Just Watch or Google Watch List to find things available on the streaming platforms you have
• Create separate streaming platform profiles for different types of watching, based on moods, themes or audiences (eg family viewing, documentaries, guilty pleasures, international cinema) so that the streaming algorithm suggests up the same type of content
• Browse the full catalogues of streaming services (eg Netflix Catalogue) to discover content in specific genres (e.g. American 80s comedies, Belgian mysteries), rather than the standard category options.

They talk about the options to view streaming services including:

• Using a harware device (like Chromecast) to stream from your phone, tablet or computer
• Using a media streamer or a hub (like Fetch or Telstra TV) – some of these also allow recording of free-to-air TV
• Using a game console (like Xbox or Playstation)
• Smart tvs.

They also talk about how to decide what streaming services you should subscribe to by:

• Making sure free trials don’t become lurking subscriptions by unsubscribing straight away or adding a reminder in your to-do list
• Consulting your reference list to see which services have more of the things you want to watch
• Reviewing the free to air streaming services to see if there is enough content available for free
• Consider unsubscribing from all services and then adding back as you need.

• Services to help decide what to watch Just Watch and Google Watch List
• Netflix Catalogue

Please head to the Life Admin Life Hacks Facebook page to connect with listeners and share your thoughts, questions or suggestions.

This episode will give you Mia and Dinah’s top hacks for sorting out your household insurances including house and contents insurance, landlord insurance and renters insurance

It is easy to slip into a set and forget mode for house and contents insurance and let your policy tick along for years, but this is an area where an annual review is a must.

The key considerations and hacks Mia and Dinah discuss for contents insurance are:

• Make sure you have adequately estimated the value of your contents including items like pot plants, items in your backyard, software, music, movies and food spoilage
• Consider using a contents inventory calculator like the one on the Insurance Council of Australia’s website
• Save a copy of your contents inventory on your cloud storage to make it quick to review each year
• Keep a record of receipts and/or photos of new purchases and major items such as furniture and appliances in your cloud storage to help substantiate any potential claim
• Consider increasing the excess on your insurance to reduce your premiums
• Consider the limits policies placed on specified items and if they are insured outside your home
• If you have a renters insurance policy for a share house, all your housemates’ contents need to be covered under the policy.

The key considerations and hacks they discuss for building insurance are:

• Most policies cover storms, cyclones and bushfires, but not all insurers offer flood insurance
• Insurers often place embargoes on insurance policies to prevent people from buying insurance when the risks are elevated
• Make sure you have adequate cover for your house as building costs and standards change. Find out the cost of rebuilding your property by asking a builder or a valuer.

They also discuss landlord insurance and considerations including:

• Considering contents that need to be insured such as carpets and curtains
• If missed rental payments will cause you financial stress, look for a condition in your insurance policy that will cover you for missed rental payments
• Another option under landlord insurance policies includes covering your legal expenses if you have to take action against a bad tenant.
• Insurance needs if you rent out a property for short term rentals on sites like Airbnb.

Other hacks include:

• consider calling your current insurer to see if you can get a better deal by telling them you are shopping around or by increasing your excess
• make sure you reconsider your value insured if you renovate your home, upgrade appliances, make other major purchases or have kids
• save your certificate of insurance in your cloud storage drive together with premium notices
• there are comparison websites for home insurance but they’re all commercial and so get a commission.

Insurance Council of Australia – Contents Calculator

Insurance for Short Term Lets – Share Cover

Choice Magazine – Comparison of House and Contents Insurers

Find an insurance broker

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This episode will help transform your smartphone into your biggest productivity weapon to make your life admin easier.

Most Australians hang on to their smartphone for more than three years, so it's really worth your while to learn your phone’s features and install must-have apps to minimise and optimise your life admin.

Mia and Dinah’s top hacks are:

• Clean up your home screen so that the apps you want to use the most are on the first screen you see when you unlock your phone, so your environment supports good habits.
• Set up text replacement shortcuts in your settings for your frequently typed information such as your email address
• Use Do not Disturb including the automatic features for turning it off when a meeting finishes or you leave a location
• Use your phone’s camera to scan documents and add them to your cloud storage so you can eliminate paper
• Use Shared albums to collect photos of shared experiences from multiple users to create photo books etc.
• If you use the Reminders app (iPhone) for To-Do Lists, add smart alerts linked to your location or your contacts to nudge you to perform the task when you arrive or leave somewhere, or when you're messaging a certain person.
• Use Screentime (iPhone) or Digital Wellbeing (Android) to limit the time you spend on social media or games, so you can use your time in ways that align with your values.
• Use the Notes app (iPhone) for Reference Lists and to scan documents
• Use the Timer (iPhone) in the Clock app on your phone to set a time limit that automatically turns off music or a podcast when your time is up: perfect for time boxing life admin tasks.
• Set up mobile payment capability, like Apple Pay or Google Pay so that you can pay for things on the fly
• Set up a password manager like Lastpass or Keeper to be able to securely access your passwords on any of your devices, wherever you may be.
• Use the Tripit app to store your holiday itineraries
• Use the Pocketmoney app Spriggy to take the hassle out of managing pocket money
• Customise Google Maps with your frequently visited locations
• Download apps for your favourite catalogues to reduce paper clutter. Mia uses the Loop app to buy books for her kids, which raises funds for their school.

• Apps for To-Do Lists - Reminders (iPhone), Todoist
• Settings to limit your screen time - Screentime (iPhone), Digital Wellbeing (Android) 
• Apps for Reference Lists - Notes
• Calendar and Mail App - Outlook
• Password Manager App - Lastpass or Keeper
• App for Holiday Itineraries  - Tripit
• Pocketmoney App - Spriggy
• Reci