It’s the never-ending list of errands that you have to do to keep your household ticking, but you that don’t get paid for.
From filing your tax return, managing the household bills and sorting out meals for the week – more than half of Australians Compare the Market surveyed said they’ve experienced life admin stress.
The data revealed Millennials are the most stressed-out generation (75%), followed by Gen Z (68%), Gen X (59%), and then Boomers (38%).
Compare the Market’s Economic Director, David Koch, said ‘errand paralysis’ seems to be creeping in on everyone’s lives.
“It’s a combination of boring appointments, managing household finances and coordinating social events – It’s not just one big thing, it’s all the little things that add up,” Mr Koch said.
“Life admin stress might be the most overwhelming anxiety of our age”.
Meanwhile, over half of Aussies get anxious when they need to call someone, and 16% said they’d only choose companies with chat functions to avoid embarrassment.
Almost a third of respondents let their insurance auto-renew to avoid stress, and 32% said they’re just too time-poor to deal with bills.
A further 14% said they get someone else to manage their bills to avoid stress.
| Which of the following types of stress do you experience when it comes to tackling your bills? | Gen Z | Millennials | Gen X | Boomers | Total |
| I get anxiety if I have to call someone | 62.4% | 56.3% | 55.4% | 52.9% | 56.2% |
| I’m too time-poor for life admin (including a busy work life, busy social life, etc) | 40.0% | 42.3% | 26.1% | 14.0% | 31.8% |
| I will get someone else to manage my bills for me to avoid stress | 11.8% | 17.6% | 14.0% | 9.1% | 14.0% |
| I just auto-renew to avoid the stress | 23.5% | 29.7% | 32.5% | 38.0% | 31.3% |
| I’ll only choose companies with an online chat function to avoid embarrassment | 22.4% | 20.3% | 15.9% | 5.0% | 16.2% |
Survey of 1,005 Australian adults, conducted in September 2023.
“The insidious thing about most life admin is that it can be pretty easy to write a shopping list, pay your car rego or call customer support, but we put it off.
“We procrastinate because the small, simple stuff can seem harder than tackling the big, important stuff”.
Kochie’s top tips for decreasing life admin stress
Organise and prioritise
If you find yourself inundated with emails, bills, filing your taxes, and RSVPing to social events, make sure you have a good system in place to set yourself up for success, not stress.
Create a folder for everything! For example, instead of getting burned out at tax time, create a folder called Tax 2024 (for next year) in your email inbox. Take a photo of every receipt you need to claim and put it in that folder. Physical receipts fade, and you may need to hold onto receipts for at least five years, so you may as well digitise everything. There’s no Ctrl ‘F’ to find what you’re looking for in the old shoe box that’s under your bed – which is probably already overflowing. Technology can help you become more organised and less stressed, so why not take advantage of it?
Say goodbye to to-do lists
Block out time in your calendar to get on top of your life admin. If you don’t know where to begin, just start by scheduling 30 minutes to an hour out of your day to tackle one task. This way, you don’t feel overwhelmed by the long list of to-dos and are able to focus on one task at a time. If you set a specific time and day in your calendar, you’ll also be less likely to put it off and become more organised.
Take advantage of modern technology
When it comes to bills, we can set up automatic transfers of direct debits thanks to modern technology – I like to call that stress-free money management.
If you are worried about how expensive bills are getting, there’s a range of comparison websites that can help you make sure you’re on a good deal. Websites like Compare the Market take all the hard work out of having to do your own research. Some people think shopping around can take a long time but must have never tried it themselves. Sometimes, it can only be 30 minutes or an hour, and the savings can be substantial.
Hire a professional or delegate the task to someone else (if you can)
If you’re feeling overwhelmed and burned out, it might be a good idea to employ a professional to help you refinance, do your tax return, or plan a wedding. A professional will hopefully be able to do the task you’re trying to do a lot faster and more efficiently because it’s usually what they’re trained to do. Although it costs money, you will have more time to tackle the smaller life admin tasks that keep niggling away at you.
Another option is delegating the smaller tasks to family or a friend who is willing to help. From party planning to chores around the house, if you’re really stressed out and too-time poor to do it yourself, it’s okay to ask for help.
*Survey of 1,005 Australian adults, conducted in September 2023.
For more information, please contact:
Natasha Innes | 0416 705 514 | [email protected]
Compare the Market is a comparison service that takes the hard work out of shopping around. We make it Simples for Australians to quickly and easily compare and buy insurance, energy, travel and home loan products from a range of providers. Our easy-to-use comparison tool helps you look for a range of products that may suit your needs and benefit your back pocket.
