10 Important Things To Do At The Beginning Of Every Month

Check out the 10 important things to do at the beginning of every month to be more organized, focused, and goal-oriented.

This is the ultimate monthly checklist that will help you reset your life and enter the new month with a positive mindset.

I love making checklists and planners for every shift of time that you can possibly think of.

Be it a schedule for the coming week or planning the next 30 days at the start of the month, I take immense joy in the act of planning for the new chapters in my life.

Though to be honest, I wasn’t always as enthusiastic about my monthly planning.

I preferred going with the flow of things and only stuck to creating a daily to-do checklist to stay organized.

But then Mel Robin’s podcast introduced me to the ‘fresh start effect’, a phenomenon that makes use of the start of a new time period as an opportunity to make a ‘fresh start’ and to pursue our goals with renewed determination.

An excellent example of this is the start of a new year (yeah, the resolution fever makes so much sense now.)

Once I realized I can recreate the excitement I feel about setting goals on New Year’s and my birthday, I decided to put my ‘fresh start effect’ energies for the new month to good use and created a simple ‘start of month’ routine to reset my life.

Ticking off this monthly checklist will help organize your life and kickstart the new month on a super-charged note.

I promise I am not overselling this routine, and you’ll see that in just a moment.

Before moving further, you might want to pin this post for safekeeping. 🙂

This post is all about important things to do at the beginning of every month for an amazing time ahead.

Consider this your guide to a more productive and active start to the month.

10 Things To Do At The Beginning Of Every Month

1. Review Your Last Month

You can’t really improve your present without reflecting back on your past.

A healthy self-introspection is necessary at the start of the month to decide on things you want to carry forward and the stuff you need to leave behind.

There are many ways to do a monthly review, but I’ll tell you a quick and simple method that I personally prefer.

Grab your go-to journal/planner/notebook and make two sections on a fresh page.

On the left side of the page, make a list of things that went well last month, and on the right side list the things that didn’t go so well.

For better understanding, we’ll use the following list as an example.

As you can see, this review list should contain all the things you planned to do last month, categorized under ‘successful’ or ‘yet to be achieved.’

This will give you a clear-cut picture of what to expect of yourself from the coming month.

If you like my review list, feel free to print out one for yourself:

Similar post: 15 Lists To Make To Organize Your Life

2. Set Fresh Goals

Now that your monthly review is ready, it’s time to use it to set fresh goals for the coming days.

Decide on the things you want to improve, and turn them into goals.

If you weren’t regular with your exercise last month, make a resolution to work out for at least 20 minutes a day.

If you were able to journal twice last month, decide to do it weekly from now.

And if your bedtime was 11 pm, but you want to be sleeping earlier, set a goal to be in bed by 10 pm.

Basically, look for ways to improve, improve, and improve.

Just keep in mind your goals should be things you actually want to work on. Don’t force yourself to improve in places that are already working well for you.

If you feel amazing waking up at 7 am in the morning, there’s no need to start rising at 5 am, because you’re already a morning person.

Be sure to set goals that are realistic, achievable, and not pressurizing.

If you are doing even 5 minutes of meditation every day compared to no meditation, it’s still progress, and that’s the only thing that matters.

Here are some monthly goals you can take inspiration from:

• Save more money
• Create one journal entry each day
• Walk 8000 steps a day
• Practice night self-care
• Read at least 5 non-fiction books

Make sure to not set too many goals. Ideally, 3-5 fresh monthly resolutions are enough to keep you in alignment with your personal growth.

Check Out: 15 Mental Health Goals For A Happy And Peaceful Life

3. Create A To-Do List

A to-do list is different from your goals list but is just as important.

Your monthly goals would require you to do some work almost every day. They are all about self-improvement on a daily basis to reach an end goal.

On the other hand, a checklist contains tasks you can do in a few hours or maybe a day.

Creating a to-do list is important to avoid procrastination and to get your basic chores done on time.

Things you should add to your monthly to-do list:

• Clean the house
• Re-organize your wardrobe
• Grocery shopping
• Haircut and grooming
• Check out a new cafe in your city

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4. Plan For The Coming Month

After setting your monthly goals and creating a checklist, it’s time to draw a rough map of your next 30 days.

You can create a monthly schedule and stick it on your cupboard, or use your journal for the same.

Here is a free printable you can use as your monthly planner.

The level of planning you do depends on what works best for you.

Personally, I prefer keeping my monthly schedule flexible. So, if you’d like, you can take a page out of my life book and plan just the first week of your month.

Good Calendars can really help with this. It’s my current go-to method for scheduling my tasks.

Also, whatever you do – for the love of wellness – do not stress yourself out at this stage.

You are planning to create a stress-free month here, not add to your worries by fretting yourself to get things done.

Related Post: How To Organize Your Life – 10 Helpful Tips That Work

5. Clean Your Room

I grew up in a clutter-free and organized house. It was important to my mom that we live in a clean home, and fortunately, her need for a decluttered space rubbed off on me.

If you want to start your month on an active note, there is nothing better than launching yourself into a mini-cleaning spree.

Start by changing your bedsheets; it’s the best and easiest place to start.

Dust the furniture in your room, organize your bookshelf, and declutter your home desk to make it more work-friendly.

If you want to take it a step further, go ahead and clean the whole house. Your family will appreciate the efforts, and some of the kinder members might even pitch in to help.

This will immediately put your brain into the ‘fresh start effect’ mode and fill your surroundings with more positivity.

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6. Make A Budget Plan

Want to know one of the best habits of organized people?

They have crisp control over their finances, and they are able to do so by creating a budget plan at the beginning of every month.

Write down your monthly income, and allot a percentage of it that you want to save. Now, decide how to spend the rest of the money.

Assign an amount to groceries, bills, and other commodities that have a fixed expenditure. This might include your commute, lunch, and morning coffee at work.

Also, devise ways to save just a bit more this month by cutting down on useless expenses.

Avoid takeouts, grabbing drinks too often, and purchasing things that you don’t really need.

A small amount should be spent on buying something that makes you happy – things like stationary, books, and a clothing item.

Again, do not be stressed about this. This step, if done right, will make your month financially better. For more help, check out Finnsavvy Panda for tips on budget planning.

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7. Let Go Of Your Past

Before entering a new phase in your life, you should let go of everything that weighs you down.

In fact, I make use of fresh beginnings to quit on my past issues and free myself from burdens. It’s how I start my mornings, weeks, and even my months.

You might want to add this one task to the start of the month for a stress-free, mindful, and happier time ahead.

Sit down in quiet for a few minutes, and focus on your breaths. Acknowledge your pain, mistakes, and things that have gone wrong in the past.

Forgive people who’ve hurt you, let go of any underlying resentment, and make a choice to be more positive from now on.

Be gentle to your mind, write down your fears, and allow yourself a moment to not be okay. Things can only get better from here onward. 🙂

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8. Declutter Your Phone, E-mail Inbox, And Computer

Never begin your month with messy electronic folders and inboxes.

You might not even realize it, but the data in your phone and computer might be weighing you down mentally every time you use these devices.

I don’t know about you, but decluttering my phone is always oddly satisfying, and it’s something I do thoroughly at the beginning of every month.

Go through your email inbox and delete the messages you don’t need anymore. Get rid of spammy emails, empty your trash box, and go through your unread messages.

Next up, move on to your computer’s offline storage. Organize your folders and delete the images you don’t need.

Do the same with your phone, and then run a virus scan on all your devices. It’s important to make sure that your devices are properly protected.

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9. Plan Your Day Outs

Okay, so now that all the organizing, planning, and decluttering is done, it’s time to do some trip planning.

And no, you can’t skip this part. Balance is necessary to enjoy life to its fullest. Your days shouldn’t be about just work.

It’s important to step outside, expose your mind to beautiful sights, and come back home with new experiences. These moments make life more fulfilling and enriching.

While preparing your monthly schedule, check in with your friends and decide on mutual days to go out with them.

Decide on a few outdoor activities you’d like to do by yourself.

Get to know your city a bit more each month. Visit cozy places, go to your closest hiking spots, and familiarize yourself with the local library, museums, and cafes.

For some inspiration, check out these 51 solo date ideas.

10. Create A Powerful Journal Entry

Let’s finish off with a mighty task that will instantly put you in a strong position.

You are looking to create not only a better month but also a better version of yourself. Nobody can inspire you to grow better than yourself.

So, open your journal, and if you don’t own one already, get yourself one ASAP. For now, a piece of paper would suffice too.

At this point, you should have a vision for your coming month. All you need to do is pen it down in your journal using affirmations, words, and checklists.

Look at this small entry for an example:

I’ll build a morning routine and stick to it. I feel like this month is going to be different because I’ll make it so.

Everything might not go according to plan, and I’m okay with that.

Life is all about taking charge, but also relinquishing it in moments that are out of my control. I will not be hard on myself.

Your letter should be uplifting, motivating, kind, and humbling just like this.

Do not be afraid to spell out your goals; success happens when you quit worrying and embrace your power to create change.

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These Are The 10 Things That Should Be Done Monthly

The note at which you start your month matters in the long scheme of things.

Just the way that morning sets the tone for your day, the beginning of the month is your goal-setting point for the next 30 days.

You get the start of the month right, and you basically have the coming 30 days in your pocket.

Being regular with these beginning-of-the-month rituals has polished my goal-setting abilities, and I really believe they can do the same for you.

Here’s to new monthly beginnings with smarter goals.🍵

May you have an auspicious start to the month and happier days ahead.

Read Next: 5 Best Things To Do At The End Of Every Month

Now, a few words from your end, please.

Write to me in the comment box. Ask a question, share some of the things you do at the beginning of every month, or just drop a hi.

It’s always fun to hear from you.