But there's a tool to help you make the most of it.

Is this a wildly creative and productive time for you?

If the answer is no, you are not alone. I keep hearing people say they intended to treat sheltering in place as a writer’s retreat or high-productivity period—a chance to create that thing they’ve been meaning to create—but it just isn't happening.

If you are super productive right now, good for you. I love you anyway.

Ever get annoyed at someone for using their device? Me, too.

“Please put your phone away.” The teacher’s voice cut loud and sharp through the spacious yoga studio.

I looked up from my downward-dog pose. A woman was kneeling on her mat, right in the middle of the room, typing into her phone. The woman paused to glance at the teacher.

“Yes, you,” the teacher added, nodding in her direction.

Wow, I thought. This woman is actually using her phone during yoga class.

Then I had another thought: This woman is being phone-shamed.

Someone else’s admin is probably way worse than yours—but yours still counts.

If you told me any person’s top-five forms of life admin, I could identify the person pretty precisely. Or at least I could tell you a lot about the person.

Our admin differs. In many ways.

Do you avoid challenges like "life admin?" Use ideas from activities you enjoy.

My friend Susan taught me something this week.

She taught me that we can borrow techniques from something we love—for her, music—and apply them to something we find more challenging—for her, writing. This idea, it strikes me, holds promise for dealing with our life admin.

Gentle accountability can help get things done without getting overwhelmed.

Admin Study Hall changed my life. Literally. Several times a week I meet a friend or colleague—virtually, by videoconference—to set intentions and follow through on them. That gentle accountability frequently enables my most productive window of the day.

When we see life admin, we begin to see our loved ones better.

Yesterday, after I gave a talk about life admin, I had the kind of conversation that makes me happy I wrote the book that led me to that event.

The conversation went something like this.

Want more ease, happiness, and success? Find out your life admin personality

Do you want to improve your ease at home and at work, your happiness in your relationships, and your success at achieving any goal that matters to you? 

Then it’s time to find out your Life Admin Personality.

Saying thank you for gifts doesn’t have to be a dreaded holiday hangover.

Do you dread a holiday hangover — not from sugar or alcohol, but from the good fortune of receiving gifts? If you struggle with whether and how to say thank you for gifts, you are not alone.

Is a fictional character getting credit for your work? We can choose to make holiday labor less laborious.

We’ve reached the season of lights and merriment. Which also means we’ve reached the season of invisible labor.

Every year we hear about the huge outlays of money on holiday gifts as a boost to the economy. But what about the huge outlays of time and energy? 

Do you know what invisible work is consuming your time? Let’s make admin visible, and make it better.

Life admin is all of the office-type work it takes to run a life and a household. From dealing with routine aggravations like broken technology, to making daily decisions about what to eat and how to cook it or find it, to managing big life-cycle events like a wedding, a pregnancy, or the funeral of a loved one.