15 Important Things To Do At The Start Of The Month To Organize Your Life
Things to do at the start of the month to organize your life and have a successful month ahead.
What you do at the beginning of the month determines how smooth and successful it will be.
If you step into a new month without any proper action steps, as if you never even left the previous one, you will likely fall behind and accomplish little to nothing.
On the other hand, planning for the month and doing the essential tasks when it starts will set you up for success and help you stay consistent and organized.
This post is about 15 essential things to do at the start of the month and how to stay organized during the month.
Doing these life-changing activities at the beginning of every month will help you stay organized and be intentional about what you do during the month.
After reading this post, you will start approaching every month like a pro, knowing exactly all the important tasks you should focus on to start the month off right.
This post is about things to do at the start of the month and ways to stay organized.
Things To Do At The Start Of The Month
1. Reflect on the past month
The first thing you need to do before you move into the new month is reflect on the one you just came out of.
You must understand what went well and what went wrong to make the new month successful and avoid any mistakes.
Here are some important questions to help you reflect on the past month:
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What went well this past month?
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What areas did I struggle with the most?
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What changes can I make to make this new month better than the last?
So at the beginning of the month, get your journal, find a quiet place, then spend time reflecting on these questions.
2. Set goals for the new month
Having monthly goals is important because they help you understand where your focus should be.
This is also useful if you have a bigger goal you’re working towards because these shorter monthly goals feel doable and less overwhelming.
When you set your goals for the month, be as specific as possible and make sure your goals are realistic. Otherwise, it will be almost impossible for you to work on achieving them.
Instead of writing down something like lose weight as your monthly goal, for example, write: Go to the gym every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
3. Clear out your purse/bag
This is a simple yet important task. I’m sure there is a bunch of clutter in your purse or bag you actually don’t need.
Set aside a few minutes to clear out unnecessary junk from your purse and replace that with the basic items you will need on the regular.
This will help you be more organized and help you step into the month with a clear mind.
4. Stay on top of your bills
Organizing your bills is another essential activity that needs to be done right at the beginning of the month.
Write down all the upcoming bills and the due amount for every single one of them, and schedule the ones you can to avoid any late payments.
5. Organize your phone
If you’re anything like me, you tend to take pictures of random things.
Go through your gallery and delete all those random pictures you don’t need anymore because they are taking too much storage.
It’s essential that you also go through your apps at the beginning of a new month and delete the ones you never use, or simply take the time to download new ones that will help you meet your monthly goals.
Also, remember to open your apps, especially the ones you use to stay organized, and delete all the unnecessary lists, events, and notes.
6. Write lists to stay organized
It’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed by everything you have to get done or feel like you don’t know where to start.
If this is you, I have good news for you! Creating lists of everything will help you organize all areas of your life without feeling overwhelmed.
Also, writing down everything you have to do in a journal or digitally helps you declutter your mind, which eliminates stress.
So instead of wasting time worrying about stuff you need to get done throughout the month, create these 10 important lists, and everything will start looking easier.
7. Deep clean and declutter your place
Is there a lot of stuff you don’t use or need at your place? Then you need to have a decluttering session.
The best time to do this is when you step into a new month because it gives you a sense of starting afresh.
You can start from your closet, see what clothes you don’t wear anymore, and consider donating them.
You can also look around your place and get rid of all unnecessary junk that is taking up too much of your space. After decluttering, move on to deep cleaning all essential areas of your home.
Here are the most overlooked places you should not forget to clean when you deep clean your house:
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In the kitchen: Your oven, refrigerator, and dishwasher
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In the bathroom: The shower curtain and grout, if applicable
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Windows and blinds
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The baseboards
8. Organize your monthly planner
Monthly planners help you stay at the top of your game!
You should be filling up your monthly planner right when the month starts, not when it has already begun or is almost ending.
On the first of the month, take out your monthly planner, fill it with all essential work-related tasks to be accomplished throughout the month, and mark important deadlines.
You should also add personal tasks you must complete during the month, such as self-care-related tasks or errands.
Scheduling time for self-care and wellbeing will actually help you stay committed to taking better care of yourself.
If you don’t have a monthly planner, you can easily purchase a printable one on Etsy.
9. Invest in yourself
You must consider making at least one investment in yourself every month.
Doing this will help you progressively improve yourself, and by the time the month ends, you will have grown as a person.
If there is something you want to get better at or an area you’re struggling with in your life, consider investing in resources and materials that will help you improve.
You can take an online course to help you improve your skills in a particular area of your business, for example.
On the other hand, you can invest in a life-changing book or a great subscription to help you on your personal development journey.
10. Create a budget
If you’re the type of person to go around buying whatever you come across throughout the month, you need to start writing a budget on the first of the month.
Most people think that a budget is just something that will restrict them from buying what they want, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Instead, a budget gives you control over how you spend your money and protects you from wasting money on things you don’t want or need.
So if you want to take charge of your finances, create a zero-based budget at the beginning of every month.
If you’re not sure how to go about this, here is a stress-free guide to help you easily create a monthly budget:
11. Buy items for any upcoming occasions
You should be planning and taking care of upcoming occasions such as birthdays, special holidays, or other significant events right at the start of the month.
This will help you stay ahead of things, and you will be less likely to mess up your budget in the middle of the month after realizing that you forgot to plan for an important birthday or celebration.
12. Start a 30-day challenge
Doing a 30-day challenge is a great way to motivate yourself to achieve your goals.
So go back to the monthly goals you have already set, and see if you can do a 30-day challenge to help you stay consistent as you go through the month.
For example, if your goal of the month is drinking 8 glasses of water daily, turn it into a 30-day challenge, and cross off every day you achieve this goal.
Just like you’re scared of losing your social media streak, the fear of not achieving your daily goal will help you stay consistent and eventually reach your monthly goal.
Here are some other 30-day challenge ideas you can start at the beginning of the month:
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Eat more fruits and veggies
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Get enough sleep
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Save more money
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Reduce screen time
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Do a 30-day fitness challenge
Related Post: 30-Day Self-Care Challenge To Destress Your Life
13. Schedule appointments
Instead of leaving this to be done later during the month, schedule all your appointments right at the start of the month.
This way, you will not run the risk of forgetting about important appointments.
Also, if you have to get your nails or hair done sometime during the month, book that appointment right when the month starts.
This will help you stay organized and ahead of things and protect you from messing up your schedule because it turned out the place you wanted to get your hair done is fully booked.
14. Buy household items
Are you the type of person to make countless runs to the grocery store throughout the month?
Then you need to consider bulk buying essential household items when the month starts.
Make a list of everything you will need throughout the month, including food staples, cleaning supplies, personal care products, etc., then dedicate enough time to buying everything.
You can adopt new storage techniques for your food to prevent your produce from going bad after a short period of time.
However, even if you only stock up your pantry and buy household items that never go bad at the beginning of the month, you will still save a lot of time and money at the grocery store.
15. Create a list of “Incompletes.”
Take a look at everything you had to do in the past month, and see if there is anything you started working on but never finished doing.
Make a list of these incompletes, then devise a plan to help you successfully finish working on them in the current month.
If they are simple tasks that won’t take up much of your time, take care of them immediately.
However, if some of them require a lot of care and attention, add them into your monthly planner separately, or schedule a day or half a day dedicated to completing all the incomplete tasks from the previous month.
Most people overlook this, but it can help you step into the new month feeling organized.
This post showed you things to do at the start of the month to organize your life.
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