Last week I talked about my weekly routines that are keeping my life in order right now. But I feel like I’m overlooking my major planning for my micro planning. I know that I have shared my monthly chores list before, but it has changed a lot.
I’m going to give you two lists. One is for the last day of the month and one is for the first. That’s right, I do two whole days of planning and prep every single month. I’m crazy pants.
Last Day of The Month
On the last day of the month I start by reviewing what I’ve done in a month. Lisa Jacob’s Your Best Year planner is a huge help for this, if you haven’t gotten a copy yet. (Not affiliated, I just live in this planner.)
- I look at my monthly goal list and check out what didn’t get done. Everything that’s still not done falls into two categories. Either it was an important thing to do but I didn’t have the time or it really didn’t need done and I’m going to just not do it. Anything from category one moves onto the next month. The second category gets forgotten.
- Next I take a look at my goals for the quarter and see what I need to do this month. What projects am I finishing, making progress on and starting? (Again, thank you YBY planner!)
- Then I check for deadlines to make sure I’m not making anything.
- Now it’s time to bust out my YBY planner and fill out my monthly page. This includes things like financial goals for the month, my main focuses for the month, and my major projects broken down by the week.
- Next I grab my bullet journal and set up my new month. I don’t do anything crazy here that no one else does. I have a monthly calendar page, then my monthly goals, then my habit tracker, then a quick overview of what’s coming up the next two months. Then I spend some time making that pretty with stickers and washi tape.
The first day of the month
I hate when my first day list and my Home Blessing day list fall on the same day because I feel like all I do is clean!
- I start by tracking my finances. How much money did I make and how much did I spend?
- Next, I make sure I’ve collected and properly cataloged my receipts. I keep a physical folder and an online folder, since I don’t have all of these in my hand. I do take this time to take pictures of my paper receipts and keep everything in Evernote.
- I then track all my stats. Followers, views, all that good stuff.
- Next I run a virus scan on all of my devices. Big red letter note here! I work tech support and it kills me when people don’t have a virus block on their smart devices! Tablets and phones get hacked too, you guys. Get one in whatever store you use for your aps, download it and run a scan once a month. Keep yourself safe, please!
- Now, sigh, we get to the house. I start by cleaning out my fridge. I hate this.
- Next I clean out my coffee pot by running a half vinegar half water combo through it, followed by a whole water session. If you’ve never done this before, you’ll be amazed how much better your coffee tastes after that.
- I like to run my bed stuff through the wash once a month. So I get to do three sets of bedding, yay!
- After that mess my washing machine needs some tlc, so I run an auto wash on it. If you don’t have an auto wash, you can do the same effect by pouring a cup of vinegar into your washing machine and run a normal wash cycle.
What do you do at the start or end of the month to keep your life in order? Let me know in the comments below.
Paper Beats World 
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