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The Art of Life Admin by Elizabeth Emens
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The Art of Life Admin

How To Do Less, Do It Better, and Live More
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Narrator Elizabeth Emens

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Length 6 hours 47 minutes
Language English
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Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Art of Life Admin, written and read by Elizabeth Emens.

This book will give you many hours of your life back.

Every day, an unseen form of labour creeps into our lives, stealing precious moments of free time, placing a strain on our schedules and relationships, and earning neither appreciation nor compensation in return. Scheduling doctor's appointments. Planning a party. Buying a present. Filling out paperwork. This labour is 'life admin' - the kind of secretarial and managerial work necessary to run a life and a household.

Elizabeth Emens was a working mother with two young children, swamped like so many of us, when she realised that life admin was consuming her. Desperate to survive and to help others along the way, she gathered favourite tips and tricks, admin confessions, and the secrets of admin-happy households.

Drawing on her research and writing in a wholly original manner, Emens shows how this form of labour is created and how it affects our lives; how we might reduce, redistribute and even prevent it; what 'admin personalities' we might have; and how to deal with admin in relationships.

The Art of Life Admin is the book that will teach us all how to do less of it, and to do it better.

Elizabeth F. Emens is Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. She was educated at Yale and Cambridge, where she earned her PhD. She lives in New York City.

Elizabeth F. Emens is Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. She was educated at Yale and Cambridge, where she earned her PhD. She lives in New York City.

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Reviews

This practical proven book shows you how to immediately take control of your life, clarify your goals and concentrate on the most valuable use of your time every minute Ms Emens' tips for working through admin knots have given me lots of ideas, especially for clearing the "murky admin" that has been on my list for too long . . . I'm also making another list - fun things to do with all the time I've saved Reading The Art of Life Admin is like sitting down with a friend who knows exactly how it feels to be drowning in your To Do list, and throws you a very welcome lifeline to help you to make your way out This book is a must-read for anyone who feels overwhelmed by admin at home Life admin is apparently invisible even to the authors of most time management books, which is what makes Emens's book so refreshing . . . solid advice Shift up, Marie Kondo . . . Elizabeth Emens is on to something with her analysis of the time-gobbling role that admin now plays in our days . . . When she describes it to others they tell her she is seeing into their marriages and minds . . . She has instant practical suggestions . . . Emens' book is a call to distinguish what we must do from what can be minimised . . . In our uncertain world at least we can deal with the small stuff This clever book is for both the lovers and the haters of admin! Most importantly for me, reading about the practical solutions on how to simplify your admin, is the biggest pull of all In her illuminating book Elizabeth Emens maps why life admin weighs us down and how, practically, we can shed the load. It's a must read for everyone burdened with to-do lists and searching for more time to do the things they really want Expand reviews
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