Structure your month with me

I know August basically just started, but I'm already looking ahead to big picture things for September! Around halfway through the month, I start taking a look and preplanning the month ahead. Since I now have this blog (and my YouTube), I figured I'd take y'all along for the journey and through my process. 

So the first thing I start with is goal setting. Over the past year, I've been really honing in on my goals. I've been setting goals that feel appropriate to my season. I use the MakseLife system for this purpose. My digital goals planner has been an absolute game changer within my planner lineup. As I sit down to plan, the initial step is reviewing my annual goals. I look into whether they still feel realistic, whether they feel reasonable, or if they need some adjusting (or even just cutting certain things). One of my biggest goals for this year was to run a half marathon in December. Honestly, I don't think it's going to happen at this point. It breaks my heart, but I know the season I'm in doesn't really allow for me to have a full out training schedule. My focus has been more on content creation and career. However, that goal has now been adjusted to running a 10K, which seems incredibly more realistic for the season I'm in. 

Next, I assess the previous month's goals. I take time to do my monthly reflections and assess what's going well versus what isn't. If something isn't going well, I try to make notes about how I'm feeling or why I think it may not be going well. There's nothing wrong with a goal not working for you. We all go through different seasons and times that sometimes make adjustments necessary. Like I mentioned with my running goal, this goal went from being a half marathon to a 10K. So obviously my planning for this goal has shifted. We are still working out more and eating well. However, I am not committing as much time and energy into running itself. Does that make sense? I was trying to pick a goal to help y'all understand that it's okay to adjust. It's okay to recalibrate and adjust your sails. I think so often we get caught up in thinking our annual goals need to be our end all be all. Annual goal setting feels more like a pirate's code to me, you kind of figure it out as you go. The last thing with goal setting is actually setting the goals for the new month. These goals act as a guide for how I structure my month, plan events, and focus my time and energy. Looking at the new month ahead, I usually try to pick one (maybe two) big areas to focus on, and one small area to focus on. Monthly goals should feel reasonable for the thirty days you’re in (or they should be steadily contributing towards your big goals). 

With all this information in mind, I sit down with my Erin Condren planner. I take a look at any sticky notes I may have placed on the page. I take a second to write out my goals, this helps keep me accountable. Then, I write out any non negotiable tasks. By writing out my non-negotiable tasks and goals first, I’m able to get a sense of what my month is going to look like. I take a second to look at my annual spreads for any birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays that month. Lastly, I add my husbands on call schedule. 

After this is all said and done, I spend some time scheduling in fun activities. I look at any family or friend events coming up. We look at any way we can celebrate the people we love. We also add any date nights in at this point. I think this stage is the most important. We’ve been following a lot of sports recently, so I enjoy having all my sporting events reminders ready to go. We love West Ham and Texas A&M. We stay very balanced with our American football, but also our football from across the pond! I also write down any TV shows we may be watching at the time. We’re huge Ted Lasso fans, and we are anxiously awaiting season 3. We just finished Ghosts and it may be our favorite show right now, we absolutely loved it! Another thing I add is reminders for the Office Ladies podcast. I absolutely love The Office, so the podcast featuring Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fisher was an absolute no brainer for me. Mentioning these types of things on my monthly spread help give me little things to look forward to. :)  It’s so important to schedule time for fun. This stage reminds me that the whole reason I plan is to make sure I can get the “have to’s” done where I can do the significantly more enjoyable “want to’s”. 

Last but not least, I add any fun decor and make it look pretty! This step feels incredibly important to me. If my monthly spread is what guides my week, it helps for it to be pretty and functional! I’ve been loving a lot of PlannerKate monthly kits recently, but this month I decided to just use some functional stickers. My monthly spread is very much my brain on paper. I try to make sure I am able to see the month ahead from a birds eye view. It has become wildly useful as I take the time to plan my weeks and days. 

After all is said and done, I take a look for any white space. I strongly believe in leaving white space in your planner. This space allows you to see when you can sneak in time with yourself! As I’ve grown older and started handling my mental health, I’ve realized that self care is vital. It’s not selfish to say, “hey I need some time to just take a deep breath and focus on myself.” The white space in my planner gives me a chance to feel comfortable taking that deep breath. White space is beautiful and necessary for my heart. So yeah, that’s how I typically structure my month! I hope you enjoy reading about my process. If this inspires you to take more time to plan your month, feel free to let me know! 

As always, thanks for joining me on this journey. 

-JL