How to Have a Successful Personal Monthly Planning Session

This is another one of my FAVORITE new ways I have found this year to truly feel like I am getting my act together: the monthly planning session.

I originally called it my monthly meeting with myself.

But to sound more sane, we will just say “monthly planning session.” The idea of setting aside time to do a monthly planning session is another tip I learned from vishakablone.com.

What do I mean by personal monthly planning session?

I’m glad you asked. This is a time during the first week of the month where we plan out the whole month that we are just beginning. I say “we” because this month I had to do my meeting in conjunction with my husband. We are moving this month, and I could not manage it all on my own.

Actually, you should probably always do Part 1 of the planning with your spouse.

Also, I should mention that sometimes, you may need a re-set somewhere in the random middle of the month for a big planning session like this. I’ve never been a stickler for deadlines. If you want to start this, start no matter when it is.

I am known for being scatter-brained, so sitting down and organizing my thoughts like this is a big deal. It keeps me from forgetting and procrastinating so much.

Part 1: Planning Together

The first part of the meeting I did with Alan because as a married team, we lean on each other and need to know each other’s plans, needs, and worries to make it work. Definitely involve your spouse for this part. And be honest!!

• We sync our calendars. Get every commitment, appointment, and plan all out on the table so everyone is tracking.
• Delegate who is going to do what.
• Brainstorm how to handle any scheduling conflicts or challenges we know are coming up that month. Don’t leave the problems unsolved, if possible. Go ahead and make decisions that need to be made.
• Go ahead and book anything you can that needs to be booked.
• Make a list of all the things you decide need to be done throughout the month but cannot do right away. Then you have the whole month to work your way through the list.
• Talk about what you’re worried about, or what things are bothering you.

Okay, we didn’t do this last one, but it would also be wonderful to pray together about your upcoming month.

Pray about your concerns, and also give thanks for all the blessings and answered prayers from your previous month.

It is the best feeling once you have discussed all this with your spouse, and you are left with an actionable plan to things that have been nagging you!!

Alan and I stayed up until 12:30 am last night handling our plan for July, and it was totally worth the lost sleep. I felt so confident today, knowing I had a good plan, and that we were actually on the same page.

Part 2: Your Goal/Plan List for the Month

After I’d met with Alan, I then sat down and made out my list of goals for the month. These are not New Year’s resolutions type goals. This list had twenty-two items on it, and it was just a list of ALL of the realistic things I would like to accomplish this month.

We are moving in July, so this is an especially complicated month for us.

My June plan was all about cleaning, decluttering, and traveling. Our July plan is more about appointments, juggling the kids and their activities, registrations, and moving trucks.

My list of goals includes all of the kids’ appointments, arrangements I have to make, things I need to cancel, things I need to order, etc.

It is really just a comprehensive to do list for the month.

I did not include daily chores or anything like that. Instead, I included all the arrangements and appointments I need to make, what blog posts I want to write, and what results I would like to see.

It is also super helpful when you have any big goals on your list to break those goals down into actionable steps.

The best advice I have ever heard about goals is to break the goals into steps and then those steps into steps, until the steps are small enough that you feel like you can get started on them right away because they are small enough steps that they feel easy. I got that concept from this blogger, at letsreachsuccess.com.

Part 3: Plan Your Extracurriculars

All the things you intend to do each month, but are not must-dos, this is a good time to plan those too.

You can:

• Create a new prayer list for the month.
• Decide on what learning material you would like to read or watch this month.
• Choose a book to read.
• Create your meal plan for the month.
• Choose how to treat yourself and others.
• Plan a date night.
• Plan a family activity or day trip or even a vacation.
• Decide on a hospitality event, if you’d like to have people over.

Part 4: Monthly Chore Time

If you really want to go the extra mile, the first of the month would also be a good time to set up some new monthly routines.

This would be a good time to do a first-of-month:

• bill paying session
• purse clean out
• car clean out
• refrigerator clean out

For the beginning of June, I did the bill paying, purse clean-out, and refrigerator clean out, and I have to tell you, it really did make me feel like I had such a jump on things.

I haven’t done any of these on the chore list for July yet, but hey, I figure the whole first week of July counts as the “first of the month.”

Having these beginning of month routines in place is one of the most rewarding habits I have ever introduced into my life.

I’m only on my second month of doing this, but it has been immensely beneficial. Everything goes more smoothly with Alan because we are on the same page. Plus, we were able to get our appointments made in a timely manner because we had the time set aside to do this.

The act of writing, planning, and looking at the month ahead gave me clarity and a good vision and understanding of what is coming up. This will do WONDERS for your focus and mental health.

The monthly planning session goes hand in hand with the monthly reflection time I mentioned in this post.

However, I do not recommend doing both at the same time unless you just have hours of free time on your hands. The monthly reflection is about going over the month you’ve just completed, taking the time to note your accomplishments, answered prayers, and progress. That takes an hour or so on its own. Then the monthly plan is looking forward to the month ahead.

Since both sessions are time-consuming, I would recommend doing the reflection on one day and the planning on a different day.

I actually still haven’t done my monthly reflection yet, but it is only July 1st, so I figure I still have a few days to do it.

If you’ve never done a monthly planning session before, I hope you will give it a try and let me know in the comments if you found it helpful.

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