Monthly Goals

Some people find planning an entire month to be daunting or useless – and I get that, I do. But planning things ahead of time allows you to decide when things will happen, how they will happen and give you more time than you thought you had.

Monthly goals are an excellent way to set up your month, plan out a strategy to reach your short- or long-term goals and overall visualize what is to come in the month or months ahead.

Here are a few things I do when planning for my month:

1.       Breaking down yearly goals

Although we aren’t in January or February anymore, we should still be working towards our yearly or long-term goals. By revisiting those goals, you set out at the beginning of the year, you can allow yourself to create a list of smaller tasks that will help you further those goals. It does not have to be anything crazy but accomplishing one or two smaller tasks a month can eventually lead you to accomplish your yearly goal.  By looking back on your goals, you are better able to see what you need to get done this month to make sure you are actively working towards those goals.

2.       Personal development

The beginning of every month also allows you to start fresh on your development journey. Although you can do this any day of the week, starting the month with a few habits you want to incorporate into your routine is a great way to start. The way I prefer to go about this is by creating a monthly habit tracker. Not only is the habit tracker a visual reminder to complete a certain habit, but it will help you stay on top of the various habits by condensing it all into one space.

3.      Appointments, dates, deadlines…

This one is obvious, but it can often just go over our heads. It’s a lot easier to know what’s coming at the beginning of the month than to forget something really important last minute. Take a few minutes to write down any appointments, birthdays, events or deadlines you might have coming up.

4.       Non-negotiables

Our monthly schedules can get full and hectic fast, so you need to schedule some downtime and some fun hobbies or activities. By planning these things ahead of time, you won’t need to reschedule them if something else pops up. It’s important to plug in these non-negotiables into our calendar because often they are what refuels us and keeps us going.

If you have a few minutes today, grab your planner or a calendar and just sit down and look at the month ahead. Take a look at your goals, your habits, your hobbies, chores, and ask yourself how can I plan this month in a way that gives a balance between all these things? How can I make sure that I am organized, productive and also prioritizing myself? At the end of the day, planning is a way of prioritizing yourself and what you need or want to get done.