At the start of a month it’s the perfect time to get organized and set yourself up for success! Starting your month off on the right foot and things will flow so much easier. You’ll find that you stay on top of tasks during the month, feel more organized and stay calm.
Keep scrolling for 12 simple things to do at the beginning of the month to have more organized and successful months in your future! Have a more organized and productive month by using my favorite planner. I swear by it and wouldn’t be able to finish half of what I do every day without it.
Start the month on the right foot with a plan for the month that will free up time for you to do what you love.
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What’s Inside…
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- Set Up Your Monthly Calendar
- Review Your Monthly Budget
- Make Your Monthly To-Do List
- Digital Organization – Declutter
- Set Monthly Goals
- Start a 30 Day Challenge
- Declutter Your Office
- Deep Clean Your Home
- Schedule Monthly Appointments & Meetings
- Add Monthly Important Dates To Your Calendar
- Do All Of Your Monthly Household Shopping
- Make Your Monthly Meal Plan & Shopping List
- Add Your Self Care Time To Your Monthly Planner
- 12 Things To Do At The Beginning Of Every Month
Set Up Your Monthly Calendar
Using a monthly calendar is a great way to increase productivity and decrease stress. It’s the best way to start the month. If you aren’t used to using a monthly calendar it can be overwhelming to get started.
Just write down the major things that are happening throughout the month. Don’t forget to include things like appointments, meetings, events, commitments and family activities.
You can combine your work and home planner or you can create a separate monthly work calendar to keep track of all of your commitments.
Whichever way you choose, just remember, this is meant to be a general overview of the entire month. Essentially, an eye in the sky view of all of your commitments that you do at the beginning of the month.
Review Your Monthly Budget
Setting up a monthly budget can be a little daunting if you haven’t already created one. You might not even realize that your financial self care can so easily be neglected.
Creating and using a monthly budget at the beginning of the month is a great way to dedicate time and attention to your financial self care.
Added bonus (and kind of the point at hand) is, you go into the month knowing what you have, how much you can spend and what you plan to save!
If you haven’t set up your monthly budget yet, or just want to have a fresh restart, grab this budget planner. It has everything you need to start planning your financial future and start the month off strong.
Make Your Monthly To-Do List
You may be wondering, “Why would I make a monthly to-do list when I have weekly and daily to-do lists?”
Your monthly list is an overview of all of the really big things you can’t miss.
In other words, you may have things like these on your daily to-do list…
- Stop by the post office
- Call your friend to catch up
- Look for (insert item) at local farm store
Your monthly to-do list would be BIG things that you can’t do another day. They may be things like:
- Buy birthday present for hubby
- Volunteer at your child’s school book fair
- Pick up candle order at the church
Using monthly to-do lists is a life-saver for getting organized, staying organized and being more productive!
Digital Organization – Declutter
So, organization in general is easy to wrap your brain around. Getting it done… well that takes some planning and discipline.
BUT, digital organization is often completely forgotten! As you plan out what to do at the beginning of the month don’t forget digital organization.
This is the opportunity for you to go in at the beginning of the month and clean up your digital storage space. The biggest offenders for digital clutter are your phone and email!
If you declutter your digital storage on a monthly basis it won’t ever get so messy you can’t find what you need when you need it.
Set Monthly Goals
Monthly goal-setting is one of my favorite things to do.
Every year I set both personal goals and professional goals for myself. I’m definitely a checklist and to-do list girl. I love the feeling of seeing that I’m sticking to my goals and making progress toward my annual goals.
Basically, look at what your annual goals are and then break down what you can do for monthly goals to help you make progress toward them.
If you haven’t already started your annual goals here’s a great place to start!
Start a 30 Day Challenge
As you plan what to do at the beginning of every month it’s always nice to throw in something fun. What better way to get some fun in your life than to start a monthly challenge?
There are so many different types of 30 day challenges out there to choose from.
Here are some ideas to search on Pinterest to find the monthly challenge for you:
- Fitness Challenge
- Healthy Diet Challenge
- Productivity Challenge
- Self Care Challenge
- Gratitude Challenge
- Journaling Challenge
No matter which type of challenge you choose, be sure to add it in to your monthly planner as you plan your month out.
Declutter Your Office
Decluttering is one of my favorite things to do. Really, I’m obsessed with it.
Did you know that looking at a mess can instantly bring your mood down? Maybe that’s why I’m always pretty pleasant?
But in all seriousness, you can create a space that feels inviting and welcoming just by decluttering it. What better place to start than your office?
Whether you work at home or you work in the office, taking a few minutes to declutter your office will start your month off strong.
If you aren’t “working” at the moment, you still have a space where you spend your days getting things done. Start there!
Deep Clean Your Home
No one likes to look at a messy house. If you add cleaning your home to your things to do at the beginning of the month, it won’t ever become too messy to handle.
The idea here is you set up a schedule of major cleaning that needs to be done. Once you do your monthly home cleaning checklist all you have to do is small maintenance throughout the rest of the month.
When you wake up you’ll see a clean and tidy house that is welcoming. No more frustrating piles and dusty curtains or shelves that feel like one more thing you need to get done.
Schedule Monthly Appointments & Meetings
Use your monthly planner to record all of your monthly appointments and meetings.
Printing out your annual calendar will allow you to record your annual appointments like well-woman appointments, dental exams, and annual health checks. No more forgetting those important dates!
If you don’t already have a monthly planner or annual planner check out this life planner. It is by far my favorite yet and has space for your goals, reminders and so much more.
Add Monthly Important Dates To Your Calendar
There is nothing worse than forgetting important dates like birthdays, anniversaries or upcoming important dates.
Take a few minutes as you start the month to log important dates in your planner.
The Life Planner has 2 pages of birthdays and 2 pages of dates to remember included to help you save all of the important dates you can’t miss.
Just a few minutes at the beginning of the month can save you a ton of regret when life gets busy.
Do All Of Your Monthly Household Shopping
If you want to set yourself up for success and to be more productive, plan a household shopping trip at the beginning of the month.
There are things you know you’re going to need like paper towels, toilet paper, hand soap, candles, etc.
Make your list and plan to get all of your household shopping done at the beginning of the month to save time, and increase your productivity.
Added bonus – you avoid the headache of not so quick shopping trips throughout the month.
Make Your Monthly Meal Plan & Shopping List
Did you know that the average family doubles its grocery bill by eating out?
With just a little planning at the beginning of the month you can save time and money on your monthly food bill.
Having raised two kids, moved around in the military and managed my career and volunteer responsibilities I was desperate to find a better solution to meal planning.
I set out to create a meal planning system that was efficient, time-saving and cost effective.
It took several years but I finally did it. I created a plan where you log your recipes and meals by week and store them easily to use again later. The system itself is so simple but works like a charm! You can read all about it and grab it for free here!
Add Your Self Care Time To Your Monthly Planner
Whatever you do, don’t forget to schedule time for you as you plan your month.
At the beginning of each month take a few minutes to add in self care activities or your weekly self care time.
There are so many things you can choose to do and most of them are totally free! Here are some ideas to get you started.
- Fall Self Care Ideas
- Self Care Journaling
- Physical Self Care Ideas For Women
- Emotional Self Care For Women
- 73 Self Care Ideas To Try
12 Things To Do At The Beginning Of Every Month
When you set out to make a plan for the month you will feel more accomplished, satisfied with your daily routine and have less stress in your life! Try these 12 things to do at the beginning of every month to increase your productivity and decrease stress!
Try these 12 things to do at the beginning of every month to increase your productivity and live your best life!
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Be sure to comment below on how you plan at the beginning of the month. What do you struggle with most?
Let’s encourage each other through this process!
This post was all about what to do at the beginning of every month to increase productivity and have a successful month.
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