The ChatGPT Revolution, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 6At home

When my friend divorced her husband, making her a single working mother of two teenagers, she was confronted with the challenge that everything was now all on her. All the major decisions, support and administrative tasks that had been shared in the past were now wholly her responsibility.

It wasn't just the change of dealing with a divorce and raising two teenagers on her own that weighed heavily on my friend; it was the never‐ending list of life admin tasks that seemed to pile up every day. From paying bills and managing finances to scheduling appointments and keeping track of important paperwork, it felt like there was never enough time in the day to get everything done.

And she did this all while holding down a demanding, senior executive role in a large bank.

As her friend, I watched as she worked hard to balance work, parenting and life admin. She was mostly able to stay on top of everything, but sometimes felt overwhelmed, isolated and like she never had enough time or energy to do it all.

She was not alone in feeling like this.

Elizabeth Emens, in her book The Art of Life Admin, explains that managing our personal lives and households entails performing a never‐ending list of tasks, from nurturing relationships with friends and family to caring for children and maintaining our homes and bodies. However, just like work‐related admin, ‘life admin’ tasks are often our least favourite and most‐procrastinated‐about tasks. Despite this, completing them is ...