For Chloe Ng, catching up on bills or researching a potential career change after an eight-hour work day felt like drudgery — often leading to procrastination instead.
With a growing to-do list, Ng began searching the internet for a solution to her persistent procrastination and landed on an article about what some are calling “admin nights” — getting together with a friend or group of friends where each person checks off tasks, such as paying bills, answering personal emails and booking appointments.
Jeri Bittorf, a financial wellness co-ordinator with Resolve Counselling Services Canada, says it can be a way to stay accountable and motivated while also learning from one another.
For example, what if someone hasn’t filed their taxes in the last two or three years? They may not know how to proceed, Bittorf said. But someone from the group may have gone through the same situation and could offer help.
“Now, they’ve figured that out in about two minutes versus on their own struggling and getting overwhelmed and feeling like they’re the only ones to not file their taxes on time,” she said.
“This allows so much opportunity to share things with each other, to grow with each other.”
For Ng, an admin get-together was a one-stop solution to not only check off chores on her list but also meet new people in the area.
A Vancouver resident, Ng found a couple of interested people online and organized their first in-person hangout on a weekend afternoon at their neighbourhood café earlier this month.
“During that time, we actually were able to finish something together,” she said of the two hours spent at the café.
While two of her companions tackled their taxes and personal projects, Ng focused on tasks such as paying off bills and finally getting started on the gruelling process of switching careers.
She said there was no pressure to engage in conversation if someone in the group didn’t want to — and could just focus on getting things done.
Bittorf said it’s important to get organized and sort out all the things you want to accomplish before going into an admin night or hangout.
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“Write all those tasks down, the ones that are on your mind,” she said. “Then, you group them together into smaller actionable steps.”
For example, if you’re not paying your bills on time or having difficulty maintaining a budget, an actionable step could be going through last month’s bank statement and making a note of recurring bills and any late fees on them.
Then, mark those days on your calendar or set up automated payments during the admin sit-down, she said.
Shaliza Manji could see the benefits of having an admin-focused hangout with her friend, whom she hadn’t seen in a while.
The Calgary resident, who is juggling three jobs, often finds herself in a predicament — whether to catch up with friends or focus on a never-ending list of chores.
Her hangout was a mix of chit-chat, catching up and then getting down to business with her list of things to do during a five-hour sit-down at a local café.
“You’re making time for things that you wouldn’t necessarily make time for, in a more fun way,” Manji said.
While it might have been easy to spend the whole hangout chatting, Manji said she and her friend were determined to get through their to-do lists.
“That was the whole goal of the meeting,” she said.
Bittorf said admin nights can also be helpful for people who may be struggling with finances.
“Many of us are dealing with our financial situations in isolation, which is leading people to feel like they’re the only ones struggling, or they’re the only ones in this financial predicament,” she said.
Bittorf said group admin nights can help open up communication — about both hardships and success stories.
But it doesn’t necessarily mean sharing everything with people around you.
For example, reviewing your bank account, checking credit card statements and transferring money between accounts “could be a silent activity,” Bittorf said.
Things that could be shared with the group include comparing cellphone plans to see who has the best plan right now or talking about cancelling subscriptions to save money.
“Make it simple,” she said. “It doesn’t need to be this big, elaborate event.”
Bittorf said meeting at places such as a library, park or café can avoid putting pressure on the host to pre-plan. And keeping it simple can also mean accomplishing one or two tasks at a time — and not feeling overwhelmed by it.
Meeting at a park for a picnic, for example, but also carving out 20 minutes to open a savings account and set up automatic transfers might keep things from being too overwhelming.
For Ng, planning a rendezvous with strangers for admin hangouts is going to become a monthly event.
Her idea isn’t just to tick off obligations, but also to open up the possibility of board games or a hike with the people she met online.
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