7 Easy to Follow Steps to Help You Better Plan for the Month
There’s nothing I love more than preparing a plan for the month ahead. A new month means new opportunities.
One of my favorite things to do is sit down and get my ducks in a row when it comes to monthly planning. That’s why I felt it would be fun to share my process with you.
Here are the steps I take to plan for the month
Fill in previous commitments
I use a bullet journal as my central planner so the first thing I do when I plan for the month is draw the monthly calendar. Then I use Google Calendar to transfer over any appointments or commitments.
I use Google Calendar to hold all my appointments. It’s helpful when I’m at the doctor's and I don’t have my bullet journal with me. I plug the next appointment into my Google Calendar app and know it’s there when I need it.
Filling in previous commitments and appointments first is a great way to see how much time you have left. If it’s a crazy busy month you know you won’t have a ton of time for other tasks and projects. But if it’s a slow month you can plan to get more done.
Brain dump tasks
After I fill in my previous commitments, I take 20 minutes and brain dump any task, project, or to-do that’s on my mind. This practice is part of what I call the GDC Method (Gather, Divide, Conquer), which I’m going to talk about in a future post.
Basically, it’s a great way to empty your mind of all the things you know or wish to get done. Some might be time-sensitive. Others might be goals you’d like to start. And most will be quick, mundane tasks you can finish in a short amount of time.
This is a great monthly practice because you don’t realize how much is on your mind until you empty it. You can choose to have a running task list and add to it each month. Or create a new one every time you sit down to plan for next month.
Decide my monthly goals
Once I’ve finished brain dumping tasks, projects, and to-dos, I choose my goals for the month. I don’t like to overwhelm myself with goals, so I usually select 4-5 each month. I break them down like this:
1 large goal (project-based; a goal with a lot of tasks needed to complete it)
2 medium goals (smaller projects that may require 1-3 days to finish)
2 small goals (quick tasks I can get done in a few hours or 1 day)
This method gives me enough wins for the month while also moving me forward in terms of large goals. You can pull the medium and/or small goals from the list you brain-dumped before. As for large goals, I pull those from my yearly goals list.
Read through my monthly review
One practice that has become imperative in how I plan for the month is writing a monthly review. It’s where I go over the previous month and ask myself what worked, what didn’t, and what I need to focus on in the new month.
In fact, I have a whole blog post dedicated to the questions I ask myself each month. You can read it here.
Doing a monthly review is a great way to plan for the new month. You essentially have a blueprint, a list of things that didn’t work so you know not to repeat them next month. Writing a monthly review has completely changed the way I plan. I’m more thorough and forgiving.
Schedule time-sensitive tasks
Now for the fun part. Or at least, the deeper planning part. Once you plug in your previous commitments and have a list of to-dos in front of you, you can now schedule time to do some of those tasks.
If your list is long, don’t panic. You don’t have to get everything done on that list. Instead, focus on time-sensitive tasks first. Choose a date and time — or at least a date — and write it in your calendar.
Remember not to overwhelm yourself. Things can change in an instant. More on that later. What you want to do is schedule days to do at least 3-5 tasks from that list. When you start crossing things off that list, you’re going to feel amazing.
Whatever you do, try your best to work on that task on the day you scheduled it. If something comes up and you can’t, reschedule it.
Create a list of habits
When I plan for the month, I like to focus on goal-oriented tasks and minimal tasks. It’s easy to tell the difference. Goal-oriented tasks require many steps to complete. Whereas minimal tasks can be finished in a day or two.
For goal-oriented tasks, I like to create a list of habits. These are small tasks I aim to do every day to lead me closer to completing a large goal. Those habits will vary depending on the goal, but here’s an example.
As a writer, I often have goals like “complete first draft by TBD” or “finish editing first draft by TBD.” Daily habits I can do for those could be “write 500 words every day” or “edit 3 pages every day.”
Let’s say you want to build up muscle strength. You might make a habit of doing a 10-minute yoga practice every day. Or doing a certain number of squats. For mindfulness, you could do a daily affirmation or journal entry.
No matter what your goal is, when you create a habit around it, you’re more motivated to work on it. Why? Because the habit is smaller compared to the goal. That’s why when you plan for the month, create a short list of habits. They will bring you closer to completing a larger goal or project.
Adjust as needed
You can plan for the month and get as meticulous as you want. But the truth is life is unpredictable and things will happen to derail your plans. That’s why you should always be willing to adjust your plan as needed.
This is also why I’m adamant about not filling your calendar to the brim with appointments and tasks. Keep that list you brain dumped handy because there will be days when you have time to spare. You can either do something relaxing — which I highly recommend — or you can knock off another task or two. If you’re looking for quick self-care wins during downtime, here’s a handy list of 10 you can start doing today.
Don’t think if you don’t complete everything on your monthly goals or to-do list that you’re a failure. Ask yourself what happened to keep you from completing the important things. Then use that to better plan for the new month.
Planning for the month isn’t meant to lock you in a box. It’s meant to give you a game plan. A way to work on tasks and ensure you’re using your time to the best of your ability. But know that if life gets in the way there’s always next month.
How I plan for the month might change slightly depending on the month ahead. But for the most part, these are the steps I follow. Each one gives me a great overview of what needs to get done and when.
I’d love to know how you plan for the month. Do you follow the same steps each time or do you wing it? Have you tried writing a monthly review before? Will you start one? Comment below.
