HOW TO PLAN FOR THE MONTH AHEAD
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One of my favorite feelings in the world is turning the page to a brand new, crisp, blank page in my planner to start planning for the next month.
You might not feel that way. Maybe planning for the month ahead has you feeling stressed and overwhelmed. You look at your calendar and there’s just SO much to do that you simply don’t know how you’re going to be able to fit it all in.
There are A LOT of months in my life that feel like that. Like there’s no downtime. No margin.
And that’s what we really want, right? We want margin. We want TIME. We want more capacity to do what we want to do, and not feel like we’re running all over the place, constantly adding things to our to-do list, only to get to the end of the month and go, “Where did the month go?!”
While planning your month doesn’t necessarily give you more margin, planning your month CAN help you get an overview of when you’re going to be stretched too thin so you can prepare ahead of time.
Because managing stress and overwhelm from a busy schedule comes with preparation and planning ahead.
Here is my breakdown of how I plan each month ahead of time so I can prepare myself for those weeks with not a lot of breathing room or margin…
>> have a place to do your long-range planning
If you want to plan for a month at a time, you have to have a way to do some long range planning.
For me, I use my Google Calendar to keep track of all future activities + appointments. It syncs with my phone + computer so I don't miss a single thing (and we all know I forget EVERYTHING I don't write down).
For example, when I’m getting my hair done and scheduling my next appointment, and can pull out my phone, look at my calendar, and know exactly what is happening so I don’t double book myself or pick a time when my husband isn’t home to watch the kids.
I also use Google Calendar (you can use iCalendar or even a yearly paper planner) to add in other important dates, like the school attendance calendar for the year (I do this typically at the end of July or beginning of August - really as early as I possibly can) and vacations as soon as I know about them. This helps me get a sense of when I need to plan ahead for kids being home and when I need to take off work so I’m not waiting until the last minute and overwhelming myself for no reason.
>> put it in your planner
While I still swear by weekly + daily planning, I love having an overview of what our month looks like.
During busier months, knowing what's coming up ahead of time allows me to get ready for busier days + weeks - and know what I need to say no to as things come up throughout the month.
I do this all in my paper planner from my Google Calendar, because - again - writing it down helps me REMEMBER it! And because I do all my time blocking in my Google Calendar, my monthly planner page gives me a clearer look of the important appointments + activities that are happening for the month.
>> share it with everyone important
Who else needs to know what's coming up this month? We have a family "command center" with our schedule for the month, color-coded of course. This makes it easier for my husband to know when he can or can't plan things.
I also co-own a business, so I make sure any important meetings my business partner needs to know about so we don't overbook ourselves are shared with her, as well as blocked off on our shared calendar.
It doesn’t take a lot of work or skill to plan out your month ahead, especially if you’re already setting time aside each week to plan for the week ahead. These 3 steps should help you keep everything in place and help you create a bit more margin in your months.
Want to make planning for your month a little easier? Start by planning out your week ahead! Grab my free Weekly Planning Checklist and set aside some time this week to plan out your week!
