10 Things To Do At The Start Of Every Month!
Reading Time: 5 minutes First things first, happy new month and a happy new year!
The beginning of every month is a great time to reflect on the month that just passed and get ready to conquer your goals for the new month ahead of you.
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Starting your month on the right foot will keep you more organized and on top of your tasks, spending less time wondering what to do and more time getting things done.
You plan in the direction you want your life to go, and the plan outlines how you will get there.
Leaving things for the last minute can cost you time, money, and, most importantly, your sanity!
So, here are 10 things to do at the start of every month in order to get prepared for an organized and productive month ahead.
1. Evaluate The Previous Month.
At the start of every month, it’s essential to have an evaluation of the previous month. This concept is used by multibillion-dollar corporations, so why not apply it to our personal lives?
Look back at the month that just passed and reflect on what went wrong and what went right, if you met or missed your goals, and what you can change.
This gives very valuable information to outline our mistakes and identify areas in our lives where we can do better.
2. Plan Out Your Month.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Without a plan, you set yourself up to encounter errors, waste, and delays.
A plan, on the other hand, helps you organize resources and activities efficiently and effectively to achieve your goals.
So, write down all of your deadlines, events, tasks, projects, or anything else that needs planning!
Preparing and planning out your month ahead will save you tons of time and stress down the road.
See: 9 Things To Do Every Sunday For A Productive Week
3. Set Your Goals For This Month.
Setting goals at the begging of the month can be a great motivator to achieve your long-term goals.
Goals help motivate us to develop strategies that will enable us to perform at the required goal level.
What do you need to put more focus on this month? Be more fit and healthy, spend more time with your kids or loved ones? Achieve a certain milestone at school or work?
This is the time to think about the goals you want to achieve and divide them into smaller, actionable steps.
Read: How To Plan A Monthly CEO Day.
4. Have A Decluttering Session.
The environment that you work and live in has a massive impact on your overall mood, energy levels, mental clarity, and thus overall productivity and ability to function properly.
Decluttering is mostly about ridding yourself of what you don’t need, but it’s also a great chance to organize, tidy and clean your home – and leave it looking incredible.
And once it looks the way you want it to, you’ll want to keep it that way.
A cluttered home/space means a cluttered mind, so make time each and every month to have a decluttering and deep cleaning session.
5. Have A Digital Declutter.
Yes, this is a totally different aspect of decluttering that deserved its own place on this list.
Just like with your home and workspace, the digital devices you use can be caught up with unnecessary stuff that clutters them.
The most important stuff to declutter is your phone and laptop.
- Apps, web extensions, and programs that you don’t longer need.
- Clean out your email inbox and unsubscribe from unwanted and spam emails.
- Organize your computer files into smaller folders rather than having everything in one big folder.
- Go through your photo album and delete any screenshots or photos you don’t longer want/need.
- Turn off notifications for any apps you don’t want to receive.
The whole point of a digital declutter is to help you generally stay organized and have more productive days by spending less time searching for things and by minimizing distractions on your devices.
6. Make A Budget.
If you don’t have a financial budget yet, make sure to make one now!
A budget is your financial roadmap. It tells you what to spend your money on and what not to spend your money on.
A very simple budget planner is to make 2 columns.
In one column, you list all of the expected expenses of your month, such as car payment, mortgage, rent, groceries, and entertainment, and in the other column, you list your expected income.
7. Choose A Book For The Month.
It’s incredible to know that despite being so busy, Bill Gates dedicates a whole lot of time to actually reading 52 books a year, which equals one book per week!
Elon Musk learned to design and build rockets by reading books.
These examples show us that we all should read books to become successful in our life.
The combination of the books you read will shape you into the person you will become. Reading books is a great way to acquire knowledge from other people’s experiences.
My book for this following month is called: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Garry Keller and Jay Papasan. I’m really excited to read this book.
You can get two audiobooks of your choice for FREE by signing up for an Amazon Audible 30-day free trial here.
8. Schedule Your Appointments.
You’ve got a haircut coming up? Or your typical doctor’s and dentist’s appointments? Schedule it ahead of time.
The sooner you know when everything will be taking place, the better for your organization and your mind.
Getting all of your appointments scheduled at the beginning of the month and writing them down in your planner helps you prevent any unnecessary worrying and stress.
9. Answer Some Self-Reflection Questions.
A great way to start the month is to ask yourself some deep questions in order to catch up with yourself on a deeper level.
What you want to achieve, how you’ve been coping with all that’s happening in the world right now, where you are currently in your mental state, etc.
All of these can be answered at the beginning of each month to help you maintain your sanity and of course, motivate the rest of your month.
Here is a list of 60 self-reflection questions to ask yourself.
10. Schedule Time For Friends And Loved Ones.
Look, life can get in the way. Project deadlines come out of nowhere, keeping us so busy we don’t even meet up with friends and family. I get it.
But you can prevent this from happening by planning out and scheduling certain times of the month or your day to spend some quality time with your loved ones.
Because don’t forget, no matter what happens, your family and friends will be there for you, so a wise thing to do is to prioritize them.
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