Online hacks to help you handle all your admin

 I spent most of last week dealing with ridiculous admin. You know the type – you spend most of your day in queues, printing out documents and signing stuff. It is such a waste of time and tends to overwhelm you. If I have to initial one more contract or print out another bank statement I may completely lose my mind.

Are you tired of having to find service providers, get documents dropped and generally spend all your time running around like a headless chicken micromanaging stuff? Yup, me too. That’s why I have these great online hacks to help you handle all your admin.

Granted I’ve never used this online hack before, but their card was in a Girl Geek Dinners’ Goodie Bag and that lot have not led me astray ever. Ask My PA is an online service where you can book a PA for the day. They can help you with all the admin you can’t get to, from grocery shopping, meeting the plumber at your place, cleaning the house, booking appointments and processing applications and claims – they do it all. They even have a car service where they’ll drop of and collect your vehicle for services. They’ll deal with the admin so you can get down to real work!

Crazy work week ahead so of course your geyser decides to burst. Maybe with all the power ons and offs you’ve blown a plug point somewhere. Now you need to find a plumber or electrician to sort it out…. I’ve had bad experiences using the yellow pages and hunting down someone who comes via word of mouth isn’t always easy. That’s why Fix My Life is a great online hack. It’s a free website service (you can also ring them) that puts you in touch with vetted and industry-accredited artisans and trademen. All the service providers are checked out my a well known local security company before being listed on the site. Fix My Life isn’t just a list of electricians, plumbers and the like. You can run the whole process through the site – from booking to paying. If the service turns into a disaster you also have a source to complain to. Rather than screaming at a shrugging plumber while he stands in a pile of wet ceiling that has deposited itself on your bathroom floor (I’m talking from experience here).

Government is going to start replacing our green ID books with new smart ID cards. When I heard this in 2013 I let out a big sigh. Anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes in Home Affairs know that you DO NOT want to have to enter through those doors unless you absolutely have to. While this isn’t an online hack, it is definitely going to help you handle this particular admin job. Standard Bank and FNB have signed an agreement with the government to supply Home Affairs kiosks at your nearest branch so that you can apply for your Smart ID there. I spoke to the folks at Standard Bank and they plan to start their pilot in March. If you’re a Standard Bank customer you’ll be invited by appointment (so no queues) to enrol for your smart card ID. You’ll be able to get your photo taken and fingerprints taken at the bank. The only not so nice bit? You’re going to have to collect your new smart card ID from either the Rosebank or Simmonds Street Offices if you’re a Standard Bank customer… and you have to collect them in person. Mission.