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Life Admin Life Hacks

Life Admin Life Hacks

Life Admin Life Hacks

Tools, techniques and tips to tackle your life admin with efficiency. Dinah Rowe-Roberts and Mia Northrop introduce ways to drop your mental load, save you time and money, create peace of mind and restore harmony in your household.

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Top 10 Life Admin Life Hacks Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Life Admin Life Hacks episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Life Admin Life Hacks for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Life Admin Life Hacks episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Life Admin Life Hacks - 018: Controlling digital safety  and screen time
play

06/20/19 • 28 min

This episode will clarify the options you have to manage how you and your children use their screens.

There are all kinds of connected devices in our homes: tablets, smartphones, laptops, televisions, gaming consoles and more. Dinah and Mia give you some tools and tips to help keep your children safer online and also help provide screen time limits.

Mia and Dinah talk about resources like Common Sense Media that you can use to decide on which games and apps to download for your children. They also discuss how as your children get older it is more important to make sure you have enabled the parental controls on all the devices they access.

They discuss tips relating to:

  • Setting up individual profiles for your children and using family sharing settings for Apple and Google
  • Using Screentime in Apple devices (iOS 9 and above)
  • Using Content & Privacy Restrictions in older Apple devices
  • Using parental controls for your PC and gaming consoles
  • Setting up profiles for Netflix and other streaming accounts
  • Password protection and staying one step ahead of your digital native children.

They also discuss some options for improving security at the router level including upgrading your router or adding additional gadgets to control all the devices connected to your home internet connection.

LIFE ADMIN HIGHS OF THE WEEK

Dinah’s daughter had cooked dinner based on the family meal planner without being asked

Mia is currently applying for a new role at work and she is able to use the CV she had prepared by an outsourcer earlier this year

LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK

Dinah talks about channel confusion caused when groups of friends move between various communication channels like email, WhatsApp and text messages.

POWER TOOL

10% Happier Podcast Episode on Digital Minimalism When - The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink

RESOURCES

Australian Parents Council - Recommended Screentime Raising Children - digital safety and screen time strategies eSafety - Office of the e-safety commissioners Common Sense Media - Aged Based Media Reviews Guide to Screentime functionality for Apple Devices Parental controls for older Apple devices that don't support Screen Time Circle - Screen time management and parental control device that controls wifi access and displays usage history

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Life Admin Life Hacks - 068: Managing investments

068: Managing investments

Life Admin Life Hacks

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06/16/22 • 35 min

In this ep, Mia and Dinah talk to an expert about the life admin side of investing - it's a great way to build your wealth but also comes with paperwork and passwords. While anyone of working age has investments through their superannuation, in the last two years there’s been a surge of first-time share investors.

About Sophie Dicker

Sophie Dicker is an M&A consultant by day and the co-host of You're in Good Company (YIGC), a podcast that aims to make investing accessible to anyone, by night. Although working in finance, she had no idea about investing until her partner encouraged her to start. Her investing goal is to build the freedom to do things that she's passionate about - whether it be starting a business, donating to causes close to her, or taking time out of the workforce to start a family. The ultimate goal of YIGC is to build a community of like-minded people right alongside.

In this episode we talk about:

  • the challenges of getting into the property market in Australia and other factors leading to an influx of younger investors in the share market
  • developing an investment strategy and the importance of understanding your money type and risk tolerance
  • why you might want to engage a financial adviser and how to find one
  • where to find information from experts to guide you on your investment journey
  • micro-investing: investing small amounts regularly through apps like Spaceship and Raiz
  • ETFs: a bundle of shares that provide exposure to a range of companies listed on the stock market, allowing you to diversify your investments more easily
  • finding an online trading platform that works for you and testing out the apps
  • managing the paperwork that comes with investing by adopting a folder structure to keep all the paperwork for purchases and dividends
  • the importance of your HIN on CHESS statements and making sure you keep these in a secure place like your password manager
  • managing your account and password with the share registry
  • the process of setting up an online share trading account
  • the benefits of developing a consistent investment routine
  • setting up investment goals (short, medium and long term)
  • considering auto investing - a regular direct debit into an ETF
  • using your Hours of Power to do the initial research and education into investing so that ongoing investing can become a Ten Minute Timekiller task in the long run.
RESOURCES SHARE

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Life Admin Life Hacks - 036: Pay tv and streaming

036: Pay tv and streaming

Life Admin Life Hacks

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10/20/20 • 24 min

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.

LIFE ADMIN RESOURCES

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Life Admin Life Hacks - 027: Taking on admin for family members
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03/18/20 • 45 min

This episode will help you understand why you may need to help others with their life admin and some of the legal and practical considerations you need to consider if you take on that role.

We consider some of the things you need to think about when you need to help someone else with their life admin, including:

  • what the signs are or the events that may happen that trigger your need to assist someone with their life admin
  • the types of life admin you may need to help with
  • how to avoid family conflict and maintain family harmony.

Mia interviews Stephanie Rendell, a lawyer who works in elder care planning and talks about:

  • what life admin you can do informally and when you need to put formal documents like Powers of Attorney in place
  • things to consider when appointing a third-party financial administrator
  • considerations for reimbursement and remuneration in Power of Attorney activities
  • record keeping obligations if you take on someone’s Power of Attorney
  • services that Elder Care Lawyers can provide including Substitute decision-makers, Caring agreements, Advanced Care Directives, Wills and Elder Care abuse.

Mia and Dinah talk about some of the practical things you can do to make it easier to manage and share the work of taking on someone else’s life admin including:

  • Establishing a shared digital calendar for medical and other appointments
  • Establishing a shared email address for bills and statements, to create transparency among family members
  • Establishing shared password management systems
  • Establishing shared To Do Lists to allocate and track tasks
  • Setting up roster systems and
  • Scheduling monthly teleconferences to discuss the situation and share the activities.
LIFE ADMIN HIGH OF THE WEEK
  • Dinah talks about securing her favourite shopping list and meal planners to restore order to her fridge.
  • Mia talks about how easy it was to nominate the days she wanted to take as purchased annual leave by using her shared calendar and the relief of having all the childcare over the school holidays for the year sorted.
LIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK
  • Dinah talks about how she has still failed to manage to establish a system for the digital photos from a recent long trip.
POWER TOOL

Podcast - The One You Feed

RESOURCES

Stephanie Rendell, Associate - Head Of Wills And Estates, RNG Lawyers

Episode 1 - Shared Calendars

Episode 2 - Going paperless

Episode 3 - Managing passwords and form filling data

Episode 4 - Mastering To Do Lists

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Life Admin Life Hacks - 054: Daycare and school transitions
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11/16/21 • 46 min

This episode explores why transitions can be stressful, the key tools and processes you need to have humming to support daycare and school admin, and Mia and Dinah's top hacks for saving time, money and sharing the load.

Mia and Dinah reveal that in a survey they conducted earlier this year, one in three respondents reported that their child starting at daycare or school generated a significant amount of life admin.

Mia discusses how transitions, particularly when starting at a new daycare or school, can be hard for both parents and kids because we are letting go of the familiar and need to adjust to new ways, people and routines. We are hard-wired to resist change and it can trigger a stress response. There can be a sense of loss of what was, wishing things could stay the same and perhaps some fear and anxiety about what’s to come. Transitions are also an opportunity to lean on our strengths, reach a new equilibrium and bring a sense of renewal and growth. We can let go of old beliefs and assumptions with excitement and enthusiasm.

Given the potential emotion of the transition to a new daycare or school, ensuring your life admin is sorted is a tangible way you can make the change easier and reduce the stress for everyone.

Dinah discusses the key foundational life admin systems to have in place to make the transition easier:

  • Have one central dedicated shared document or checklist for you and your partner to store all the information, to-dos or discussion points with your partner and child. It's important to get all that detail out of your head to reduce your mental load.
  • Set up a folder in your cloud storage to file all documents related to the daycare or school when you enrol, so that you can file as you go, making filing a Two Minutes Too Easy task
  • Use a shared life admin email address so all school communication can go there, and agree on a system for sharing the management of this inbox with your partner.
  • Ensure your password manager is installed across all your devices, so you can easily store the multiple passwords needed for school portals, uniform and book ordering etc.
  • Add frequently used form filling data to your password manager once so you can speed up the process of the endless form-filling.
  • Set up informal communication networks like a WhatsApp group with other parents.
  • Plan any traditions that are important to you (eg photo on the first day) so that you don't forget and it is calm and intentional, rather than rushed and last minute.
  • Consider the costs of a new school, such as fees, uniforms, books, technology, excursions and camps, so you can budget in advance and plan ahead if you prefer to buy second hand.

Mia talks about morning and evening routines, considering which things will change and what will stay the same. Some continuity is reassuring. You can preview what the new routine will look like by replicating the new schedule ahead of time as practice.

In terms of daycare transitions, particular life admin tasks to consider are:

  • putting your child on the waiting list which may be more than one year in advance
  • filling in enrolment forms including information about your child’s wellbeing such as sleeping patterns, emotional and social preferences, family circumstances and comfort items
  • proof of immunisation status - download a PDF from MyGov and consult GP if need catch -up vaccinations
  • procuring a second copy of your child’s comfort item in case it gets misplaced at daycare
  • applying for child care benefits via Centrelink
  • getting a Working with Children Check if you want to volunteer or spend time in the daycare
  • dress cod
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Life Admin Life Hacks - 035 House and contents Insurance
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10/09/20 • 29 min

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.

LIFE ADMIN RESOURCES

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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Life Admin Life Hacks - 038: Separating from your partner
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11/18/20 • 33 min

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:

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Life Admin Life Hacks - 074: Managing your career admin

074: Managing your career admin

Life Admin Life Hacks

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07/25/23 • 27 min

In this episode, we interview executive coach and recruitment expert June Parker.

June Parker is an executive coach, people strategist and facilitator with 20 years of experience working in recruitment, HR consultancy, career coaching and technology development.
She has been a general manager, a business owner and now heads up the career coaching and transition practice at CLA where she leads a team and provides executive coaching to a range of clients from individual contributors to CEOs. Her clients span a broad section of private, public and not-for-profit organisations.

We loved chatting with June Parker in this episode about all things career. The topics we covered included:

  • June’s experience that peace of mind is vital for her in her role, which is a fast-paced and intensive job. She attributes her peace of mind at work to being organized at home and emphasises the importance of finding work-life balance.
  • the changing dynamics of the job market during the pandemic and how people are reevaluating their career paths, leading to questions about job satisfaction, work expectations, and potential career changes.
  • when considering a career change, the importance of understanding what career means to each individual, considering life stage, financial commitments, and personal aspirations.
  • the importance of self-awareness in identifying your skills, passions, and values.
  • using skills assessments and seeking feedback from others to recognize your strengths and potential career options.
  • how to manage the administrative aspects of changing jobs, including CV formatting and keeping track of job applications.
  • creating a master CV that includes all career accomplishments and achievements to easily tailor CVs for different job applications.
  • the importance keeping records of professional development and any positive feedback or commendations received.
  • the significance of LinkedIn for networking and job searching.
  • not spending excessive time researching each company before applying and focusing on quality applications tailored to specific roles.
  • reaching out to recruiters for assistance and maintaining connections through networking.
  • how job selection processes have evolved, with an increased focus on cultural fit, behavioral assessments, and personality profiling.
  • practicing cognitive tests to feel more comfortable during assessments balanced with the importance of not over-researching and stressing over the process.
  • the need for continuous adaptation and learning in today’s job market, where individuals may have multiple careers and various jobs over their working lives.

LIFE ADMIN RESOURCES

Your Career – Government website

Seek – Career Advice

CLA Solutions

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Life Admin Life Hacks - 084: Gift giving guide with Ali Linz
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11/30/23 • 32 min

Discover gift-giving hacks for the festive season to save money, reduce your mental load and and buy group gifts efficiently.

In this episode, we interview Ali Linz, co-founder of Group Together, about the benefits of group gifts, common mistakes when buying gifts, and the benefits of a systematic approach to gift buying.

Resources

For the full shownotes, head to Life Admin Life Hacks.

Follow the latest tips and hacks on:

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Life Admin Life Hacks - 065: Navigating aged care

065: Navigating aged care

Life Admin Life Hacks

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05/04/22 • 40 min

At some stage, we all have to navigate appropriate aged care for ourselves or a loved one, so in this episode we turned to aged care expert Grace Petherick to demystify it for us all.

Many of us are in the sandwich generation, and are the support people for parents as well as young children. Some of us are also of an age where we’re having to investigate aged care services for ourselves or our partner.

This can be an overwhelming task because, let’s face it, the aged care system in Australia is complex, unfamiliar and bureaucratic, and if your family member is suffering poor health or has had a health incident, it's all the more anxiety-triggering.

About Grace Petherick

Global experience in service industries and the shock of accessing aged care for her grandparents sparked Grace Petherick’s passion to revolutionise an industry.

It became clear for her that what her grandparents had suffered was unacceptable, and it was time to shake up 100 years of unchanged service standards in aged care.

Her visionary and innovative approach has attracted extensive investor and media attention, including placing as a finalist in the current Telstra Business Awards and winning a City of Melbourne Innovative Business Grant, for her business Age Up Health.

Our recent survey revealed that one in three of our listeners is doing life admin for a parent or elderly relative and that often includes researching aged care services. In this episode we discuss:

  • how the aged care system is very complex and waiting lists can create a lot of stress for families
  • that you shouldn’t wait until a crisis occurs to investigate aged care - as soon as everyday things feel harder you should consider investigating options
  • the preventive measures you can put in place - allied health to improve balance, ramps and handrails
  • the differing roles for Residential Aged Care - including temporary respite and rehabilitation after a hospital stay
  • how to fund aged care - the first step should be the government website - My Aged Care
  • you can also find information on aged care provider websites and there are paid aged care advisers you can access
  • the range of services and products that Home Care Package funding can be used for including home modifications, cooking and meal delivery, supplements, companionship and social support - anything to keep you safe and well at home
  • the assessment process for Home Care Packages - government assessors come to your home and consider what support/funding you are eligible for - a letter of support from a GP can be helpful
  • after your Home Care Package is approved - means testing is conducted by Services Australia to determine what (if any) income tested fee you will need to pay (there is an income and asset test similar to that for the Aged pension - the maximum contribution you can make is $40 per day)
  • after an assessment you receive a notification of your level of funding and estimated the waiting time until the funding will be available
  • the wait list for a Home Care Package can be up to 9 months - while you are waiting you may be able to access CHSP or other organisations that may provide support - Carers Gateway and some providers provide limited free support while you wait
  • after the funding comes though you need to select from one of 900 providers within 56 days or you will lose the funding
  • 3 months before your funding is allocated you will receive notification and this is a good time to start selecting a provider
  • things to think about when selecting a provider include: what support you need, what level of admin you are
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FAQ

How many episodes does Life Admin Life Hacks have?

Life Admin Life Hacks currently has 100 episodes available.

What topics does Life Admin Life Hacks cover?

The podcast is about Selfhelp, How To, Productivity, Podcasts, Self-Improvement and Education.

What is the most popular episode on Life Admin Life Hacks?

The episode title '030: Sorting out life insurance' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Life Admin Life Hacks?

The average episode length on Life Admin Life Hacks is 33 minutes.

How often are episodes of Life Admin Life Hacks released?

Episodes of Life Admin Life Hacks are typically released every 13 days, 23 hours.

When was the first episode of Life Admin Life Hacks?

The first episode of Life Admin Life Hacks was released on Nov 1, 2018.

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