Why the ironing basket is my greatest enemy...And other life admin struggles.

So here I am again, staring at the pile of clothes on the chair. You know the one.

It started as a couple of school uniform bits that could do with a whizz over with the iron, and now it has morphed into a textile mountain that seemingly has its own ecosystem. Why can't i do a little often? Why when I know I need to re-book my dentist appointment that I missed last week coz I had the flu, I need to go out and get something for tea and text my mate as her little girl has been in hospital.

Instead of doing that, I find myself scrolling through Instagram, watching a stranger organise their pantry (who even has a pantry), or watch a girl take a 5 day learn to plaster course and then go on to plaster her front room with a weird mix of admiration, and shame as its now 11am on a Sunday and I don't really have a plan again!

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If this sounds like your Sunday morning (or Tuesday night, let's be honest), you are not alone. For us Type B personalities, "life admin" is the absolute bane of our existence. It isn't the big, scary work projects that trip us up; it's the little, mundane, repetitive tasks. The laundry. The bathroom sink. The endless cycle of figuring out what to eat for dinner. It feels overwhelming because it never actually stops. But I'm learning, slowly, imperfectly, that I don't need to be a robots to get things done. We just need to find a way to navigate the chaos without losing myself...in fact this is why im writing this blog...to try and help me find myself again.

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Why we avoid the boring stuff

I have spent a lot of time sitting with a coffee, questioning why I can have a burst of creative energy at 11 pm but cannot bring myself to wipe down the bathroom mirror. It turns out, there is a reason beyond just "being lazy" (which is a label we need to stop using, by the way).

For people like us, who prefer flow and flexibility, rigid life admin feels like a cage. We don't like strict schedules. We like to move when the inspiration strikes. The problem is, inspiration rarely strikes for scrubbing the toilet or weeding the garden.

There is also the overwhelm factor. When I look at the house, I don't just see "wash the dishes". I see a never-ending loop of wash, dry, put away, dirty again. It feels pointless. It feels boring. And when our brains aren't stimulated, they check out. We crave dopamine, and let me tell you, writing a grocery list provides zero dopamine. Doomscrolling, however? That provides plenty. So we retreat to our phones, the world's most effective numbing device, to avoid the discomfort of boredom.

Stop beating yourself up

We need to have a serious chat about the guilt. I have a tendency for a two-week streak of being a domestic goddess—meal prepping chia seed breakfasts, vacuuming on a Wednesday, the works, and then, as quickly as it comes... it goes! The motivation vanishes, the mess returns, and the self-criticism starts.

The first step to actually getting anything done is to stop being so mean to yourself. Beating yourself up drains the energy you could actually use to do the laundry. We have to shift from "I need to be perfect" to "I just need to make this livable".

Progress is better than perfection. A half-loaded dishwasher is better than a sink full of mouldy plates. A quick wipe of the sink is better than waiting until the whole bathroom needs a deep clean. We need to accept that our version of "tidy" might look different to a minimalist influencer's, and that is absolutely fine.

Small Steps For The Chaos-Averse

Okay, so how do we actually trick our brains into doing the stuff we hate? I have been trying a few things. Some stick, some don't. But these are the ones that feel gentle enough for a Type B Girly.

The gentle art of "Time-Blocking"

I used to try and schedule my whole Saturday for "cleaning". Disaster. Absolute disaster. By 10 am I would rebel against my own plan and end up watching Netflix, or writing to do lists about something totally unrelated that I will never do. Now, I try gentle, short blocks. Just twenty minutes.

I put on a podcast or a playlist, and I just do what I can in twenty minutes, I'll ask Alexa to set a timer. When the time is up, I can stop. Usually, once I have started, I keep going for a bit longer, but the permission to stop is key. It takes the pressure off.

Pairing is caring

I never just "clean". That sounds awful. I listen to an audiobook while I clean. I call my mate while I fold clothes. I watch selling sunset while I do the ironing. By pairing a boring task with something I actually love, it becomes bearable. It almost becomes... me-time? Okay, maybe that is a stretch, but it's definitely better than silence and the sound of my own procrastination.

It is okay to slip up

Here is the thing I am learning: consistency isn't about never messing up. It is about not giving up when you do.

There will be weeks where the laundry basket wins. There will be days where you order takeaway because the idea of cooking makes you want to cry. There will be times where the "life admin" piles up and you feel like a failure.

You aren't a failure. You are human. You are navigating a world that demands a lot of executive function, and sometimes you just run out of steam. That is okay. You have done enough today.

When you slip up, don't spiral. Just reset. Tomorrow is a new day. You can wash one plate. You can pick up one sock. You don't have to fix everything at once. Just do one small thing to be kind to your future self.

Finding Your Own Rhythm

We aren't trying to change who we are. I will never be the person with the perfectly colour-coded calendar and the inbox at zero - and that isn't even a thing, you will never achieve it so don't worry.

And I think I am making peace with that. I sit and I think and I question, I journal the same things again and again, and I do the bare minimum sometimes. But I am learning that taking small, imperfect steps is better than standing still.