As an attorney, I deal with “administrative stress” quite a bit.
FWIW here are my suggestions:
First: If possible, have a work space which is organized to let you deal with administrative tasks comfortably and conveniently. For example, if you have a nice desk with a comfortable chair, a computer with an internet connection, a speakerphone, a fax machine, a scanner, etc. all within easy reach, it will subtract a bit from the mental exertion required to get each task done. Over time, this can make you a lot more efficient.
Note that it’s common for bureaucracies to erect mental exertion barriers, for example by requiring things to be in writing or by making you wait on hold for a while. If you are set up to send out letters with minimal effort or to wait on hold with a speakerphone while you surf the internet, then you will be able to overcome these barriers more easily.
Second: Invest in a good scanner and scan every piece of paper you send or receive. Organize them on your computer. It requires a fair amount of mental exertion to get going with this, but in the long run its a good investment of mental energy since you will end up spending far less time rummaging through files to find stuff.
Third: Take notes of each conversation. The easiest way to do this is to just send yourself an e-mail which you type up during or after the conversation. The e-mail system itself will save the date and time and you will easily be able to retrieve it later. You just make a note of the name of the person you spoke to and what they said. When you are dealing with bureaucracies, it’s often very effective to be able to say something like “When I spoke to John Jones on March 15 at 9:45 am, he told me X . . . . why are you telling me something different now?”
As an attorney, I deal with “administrative stress” quite a bit.
FWIW here are my suggestions:
First: If possible, have a work space which is organized to let you deal with administrative tasks comfortably and conveniently. For example, if you have a nice desk with a comfortable chair, a computer with an internet connection, a speakerphone, a fax machine, a scanner, etc. all within easy reach, it will subtract a bit from the mental exertion required to get each task done. Over time, this can make you a lot more efficient.
Note that it’s common for bureaucracies to erect mental exertion barriers, for example by requiring things to be in writing or by making you wait on hold for a while. If you are set up to send out letters with minimal effort or to wait on hold with a speakerphone while you surf the internet, then you will be able to overcome these barriers more easily.
Second: Invest in a good scanner and scan every piece of paper you send or receive. Organize them on your computer. It requires a fair amount of mental exertion to get going with this, but in the long run its a good investment of mental energy since you will end up spending far less time rummaging through files to find stuff.
Third: Take notes of each conversation. The easiest way to do this is to just send yourself an e-mail which you type up during or after the conversation. The e-mail system itself will save the date and time and you will easily be able to retrieve it later. You just make a note of the name of the person you spoke to and what they said. When you are dealing with bureaucracies, it’s often very effective to be able to say something like “When I spoke to John Jones on March 15 at 9:45 am, he told me X . . . . why are you telling me something different now?”