Admin Night

There was a Wall Street Journal article making its way around the internet about a group of friends who started something they called “admin night.” Once a month, they got together and committed to taking things off their to-do list. Filling out forms, balancing their checking account, or dealing with the insurance company. The tasks everyone puts off because they’re unpleasant to do. She writes:

Right away we marveled at how productive we were. Having friends hammer away beside you, faces lighted by the same bureaucratic glow, somehow makes dreaded tasks manageable. Little projects postponed for years—closing a checking account, updating a will—become approachable when you’ve got a squad. We even start sharing wisdom: how to roll over a 401(k), how to get that refund. (Guessing a CEO’s email address, we’ve found, can be surprisingly effective.)

It’s a brilliant idea, and it clearly works for this group, but I think it would only work if everyone committed to the night — whether or not they have any tasks to do. It’s something I’ve noticed a lot on group calls. There are the people who show up every time (or almost every time), and the ones who only show up when they need the call. Life happens, of course, but group calls or group gatherings don’t work unless people prioritize them.

What do you think?