Don't bury your head in the sand over life admin...

STAYING ON TOP OF THINGS HAS HUGE BENEFITS, NOT ONLY FOR YOUR MONEY BUT FOR YOUR MIND AS WELL.

- BY CAMILLA FOSTER

DON'T DELAY: Get cracking with your various admin jobs rather than putting them off

MANY of us are guilty of tiptoeing around life admin and putting it off to a day that never arrives, and new research suggests that this “head-in-the-sand” approach is very common.

A survey of 2,000 UK adults, conducted by Mortar Research on behalf of Starling Bank, found that 85% of respondents admitted that they struggle to sort out their life admin, despite devoting five hours every week to tackling it.

Further findings highlighted that the consequences of delaying these tasks can be significant.

Respondents reported paying an average of £346 in late payment fees and fines due to missed deadlines, and a third (33%) admitted they had even broken the law by neglecting important responsibilities such as booking an MOT, securing planning permission, or responding to a jury summons.

Financial psychotherapist Vicky Reynal highlights that there’s often underlying emotive reasons behind this procrastination.

"For some people, it can be really anxiety-provoking," says Vicky.

"Even the idea of opening their bank account and doing a simple transfer can bring up anxiety and a fear that they're not going to be OK and a sense of shame that they haven’t done well enough.

“Therefore, it’s understandable and only human that many of us want to avoid these deeper feelings and often employ psychological defences such as procrastination, vagueness, avoidance to put it off.”

However, seeing the piles of admin mount up can lead to a negative spiral, so here are some benefits of tackling it head on.