15 things to do every month to make life easier

A new month is an excellent opportunity to reset life and get more organized for the coming days. Here are 15 things to do every month to make life easier so that you accomplish your goals and be productive. Doing these things at the beginning of the new month helps you have an organized home and workspace and make life easier for you. 

Let’s have a look at things to do at the start of a new month

15 things to do at the start of a new month

Here are 15 things to do at the start of a new month that will make your life easier and more productive.

1: Review the past month

The right way to start planning for your new month is to review your past month and identify things that enabled you to do well and those that have caused difficulties or your hard to get through. When we do a monthly review we become mindful of how your month typically looks like and the way you feel about it. To know in detail about monthly planning you can read my post on how to do monthly reflections. To make monthly reviews easier you can use monthly reflection questions or prompts. You can refer to 100 monthly reflection questions to start reviewing the past month.

2: Plan monthly goals 

After reviewing the last month, you should proceed with planning your new month’s goals. While planning the monthly goals use the insight gained during the monthly review to make the planning more effective. 

I usually set 3 big goals for each month that should be necessarily completed in the month. I identify these goals based on the requirements for the month and my yearly goal. We easily tend to get distracted from our bigger goals because of everyday life and routine tasks, hence planning goals for the month in line with the yearly goal will help you achieve your bigger goals and keep you focused. 

P.S. You can find details to plan monthly goals from my post, Monthly Goal Planning for Balanced Life under 30 min.

3: Update your task list

Once the goals for the month are identified try to break them into small tasks to achieve the goals. These will be your core tasks for the month. Also, spend some time brainstorming and thinking about any other tasks that have to be necessarily completed this month. Having your To-Do list updated is essential to be productive and well-prepared. Another way to ensure all tasks are added to the list is by having a look at your monthly calendar for any important upcoming events. 

I like to keep a master list of routine tasks for my personal life and work so that I do not spend much time making my To-Do list. Having master lists makes the planning easier without you forgetting anything. If you are also interested in making master lists, read 20 Lists to make to organize your life and 12 Master Lists you must make to be organized at work. While updating your To-Do List is important, it is even important to prioritize your tasks for the month to be more efficient and better rewarding. For more details on prioritizing tasks read How to prioritize work tasks.

P.S. Here is the planning system that I use for planning my month, week schedule and track my daily tasks.

For everything life and things that you need to do every month, I use this life planner. If covers all you planning need.

4: Pay the bills at the start of the month

One of the things that linger on my mind all the time is the different dates to pay fees and bills. It is good to pay all the bills at the start of the month as a new month task because I often remember the due date but miss paying by the due date with routine tasks of work and home. Hence one of the most important tasks at the start of the month is to pay all the bills and get your mind some peace and avoid any late fees, penalties, and embarrassments.

I usually select the first weekend of the month to get this done. You can choose a date as per your billing system but fix a due date for you different from the actual date and clear all the bills on it.

5: Organize your inbox

The next thing that you should do at the start of the new month is to declutter and organize your inbox. Many look back at their inbox to search for tasks and emails that they have missed the last month or get overwhelmed by unwanted emails. A better way to deal with this is not just decluttering but organizing your emails so you do not spend a lot of time on this each month. You can categorize your emails so that searching them is easy and you don’t miss an important email. You can read my post Best tips to improve email productivity and How to declutter email quickly for an organized inbox.

6: Organize your work desk at the start of the new month 

One of the things to do every month to make life easier and start your new month on the right foot is good to have your workspace organized to have a productive start at the beginning of the month. I am sure we all have at one time organized our workspace to make it more systematic and beautiful but the thing about organization is that you are not done by doing it once. You need to maintain it organized, that’s why I like to do a quick organization of my workspace at the start of the month to keep it productive and functional. 

If you are someone who also struggles with a cluttered work desk, you should read my post 14 Tips to organize your work desk.

P.S. If you are looking to be organized at work you can read 18 tips to be organized at work. 

7: Declutter around

For an easy life, it is necessary that we have only the essential things around. It helps to maintain things organized and not get overwhelmed. Clutter around can distract you, and affect your productivity. So, the start of the month is a good time to declutter and try to keep things organized. When decluttering is done frequently you do not end up in a mess and continue to have everything organized and functional. So, definitely, one of the things to do every month to be organized is to do a quick declutter at the beginning of the new month.

8: Schedule the month

Based on your prior appointments and upcoming events you should make a schedule for the month. This makes daily planning easy as you have at a glance what can be expected on the day. You need not do complete planning for each day of the month but just for the major things. Also, you can take the schedule for the month to the next level by scheduling the tasks on different days by using the timeboxing technique. To know more about it read my post Timeboxing at work: An effective way to get the most done.

9: List new things to do

To be progressive and attain success in life you should keep learning new things and keep yourself updated. Try to learn new skills or anything that you can learn in a new month. You need not spend a lot of time but simple new learning such as baking a basic cake, trying a new technique of painting or a new pose of yoga can eventually add to your list of new learning. Based on the time available, you can try to learn something in the available time.

P.S. You may like to read 10 habits to be successful at work for some ideas.

10: Choose a book to read and movies to watch

I like to make sure I read at least 1 book in a month. From the vast choice of books to read, I end up thinking too long and not actually reading one. But if I decide on the book to read just at the start of the month, I am able to actually complete one by the end of the month. If I do not pick the book at the start of the month there is a strong chance I may just delay it to the next day and the next.

The same goes with movies to watch, over the weekend when I have some time available to actually watch a movie or series I waste the time searching for something, and the weekend just passes away. 

So selecting a book or making a wishlist to watch in leisure time at the start of the new month comes in handy.

11:  Review your expense for the month

Another great thing to do at the start of the month is to review your expense for the month and make a budget. Doing your expense review at the start of the month helps you form a habit to track your expenses and at the same time based on your expense trend make a better budget. It also allows you to identify any unnecessary expenses so that you can stop those in the new month and be more mindful of your expenditure.

12:Check the growth of your investments

Investing your money toward financial goals is one of the best things you can do towards making yourself independent and having backups for the bad days. But you should make sure your investments are bringing profit and not turning into a loss. I am not a finance expert but keeping a monthly check on the same is a good way to do it. 

13: Plan for new month’s events

At the beginning of every month have a quick look at the major events for the month to be well prepared it may be a birthday at a family or a festival that needs you to be prepared and apply for leave at work. Identifying these every month let to plan and prepare early and avoid any last-minute inconveniences.

14: Review if your daily routine needs change

I am a big fan of routines they make life organized and predictable. You can have a great and productive day by having the right routine but the same routine may not be very helpful for you throughout the year. I think spending some minutes reviewing your morning routine, and evening routine every month to check if there are any tweaks required to make your routine more fulfilling is a great way to be mindful of the way you spend your time throughout the day. And the start of the month seems the right time to do it.

P.S you may read some of my posts on routine to find the right one for you.

• 5 steps to build a morning routine before work that is best for you
• Simple After work evening routine to keep you sane
• Real Daily Routine For Working Moms
• 50 Good morning routine ideas that suit everyone

15: Plan something exciting for the month

Life is all about living the small moments and having some crazy times. Try to make a conscious effort to include something fun to reward yourself or the people around you. Plan things that will bring joy to your life, do little things every month to enjoy life, feel motivated, and avoid burnout.

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Conclusion

So, these are the 15 things to do every month to make life easier. Doing even a few of these at the start of a new month will help you be organized and productive throughout the month and make you feel calm.

Let me know in the comments the things that you do at the beginning of the month that make your life easy.