The Blueprint for My Life Admin Day

I take a full day off every few months to get my life (outside of work) together. Here's exactly how I do it (and a printable checklist for you).

There is a specific kind of tired that has nothing to do with sleep. It’s the tired that comes from carrying a list in the back of your brain for weeks — the dry cleaning that’s been sitting there since October, the doctor’s appointment you keep meaning to schedule, the package on your counter that needs to be returned, the gift you still haven’t bought for the birthday that’s now three days away.

You’re not behind on your work. You’re behind on your life. And somehow that’s worse — because life doesn’t send you an overdue task reminder (I love Asana so much). It just quietly piles up until you’re lying awake at 1am mentally tallying everything you haven’t done. I could write for days about all the world requires of women today, but that’s a story for another time.

A few years ago, I started taking what I now call a Life Admin Day. Once every few months — when the pile gets big enough — I take a full weekday, arrange coverage for my kids, put up an out-of-office, and spend the day moving through every errand, scheduling every appointment, and checking off every task that has been quietly nagging at me.

I don’t do it secretly. I tell everyone I’m doing it, mostly so they’ll leave me alone and let me actually get through the list. No guilt. No apology. Just a full day dedicated to catching up on my own life.

The result is almost hard to describe. I start the day feeling behind — sometimes months behind. By the time I get home (to a deep-cleaned house, because I schedule to happen while I’m gone that too), I feel ahead. Not just caught up. AHEAD. (I know… doesn’t that sound heavenly).

In February, I escaped to the lake house to do this bc most of my life admin was computer based. The location doesn’t matter as much as the intention: this day is for the tasks that never make it to the top of your work to-do list but drain your energy every single day they go undone.

Paid subscribers: your free printable checklist is below — three pages, beautifully designed, ready to print and take with you. It covers everything from the night before through every category of errand, with space to add your own. The checklist covers six categories — here’s a preview of what’s inside:

Two important Life Admin Day rules:

Number one, only put tasks on your list that can be completed in 30 minutes or less. This is not the day to get your car repaired. This IS the day to hit the drive-through oil change place and be out in 10 minutes. Quick in, quick out. Check it off the list.

Number two, you MUST write your list on paper the night before. Not your phone — you’ll get distracted opening it to check things off. Pen and paper only. I’ve broke it down into six categories for you to consider as you plan your own Life Admin Day and put it all in a cute three page printable for you. Here’s a peek at what’s inside (I’ve included a lot to help jog your memory so you can truly get ahead).

1. To do the night before: Arrange kid coverage, load the car, write your list, set your OOO, fill your car with gas

2. Errands & Logistics: Dry cleaner, pharmacy, post office, returns, donations, oil change, grocery store