There’s so much that goes in a month and I like to set up my Planner a month in advance, so as dates and events occur, I can put them in my planner. I know a lot of people use sticky notes to quickly add in something to their planner or they may add it to the side bar. But I personally just like having everything done and in my planner which is why I generally set up my pages for the month prior to the month starting.
Monthly Set Up
Erin Condren, Planner Kate, & other sticker shops generally release their stickers for the next month or season a month earlier. So I always order them when they first come out and when they come in is when I set up the month. This generally happens in the middle of month.
Month Prior
I generally, set up:
- Budget. I started putting all of my bills that are due in the Monthly View and I love have it in my planner.
- The sticker kit or Washi (theme essentially) for the weeks.
- Work items such as when I work, when I’m off, holidays, PTO, vacation, work events, & meetings. I know all of these the month before and once I get my “schedule” I want to put them in right away to make it easier to plan my week throughout the month.
- Blog items such as collaborations & events.
- Personal events: birthdays, travel, dinners, weddings, graduations, etc. Personal events like weddings and birthday trips you plan out and know when they’re occurring. So I want to have that in my planner ASAP.
- Reoccurring events/items like trash day & pay days that don’t change monthly.
I just want to have everything that I can in my planner as soon as possible. This makes it easier throughout the month when I’m trying to plan time to study, schedule appointments, service for my car, going to the movies, going out, etc. In my October Planner Set Up Plan With Me, you can see exactly how I set up the month.
Month Of
During the month of, I focus on whatever week I am in. Everything is already set up so all I have to do is add in whatever comes up or things I need to do in the week like grocery shopping, going to the gym, and when I am going to study.
At the beginning of the week, generally on Sunday or Monday, I go in and plan when I will be:
- Grocery Shopping
- Meal Planning & Meal Prepping
- Studying. I reference my Academic Planner with this to ensure I schedule enough time to study.
- Budgeting
- Blog items such as taking photos, recording videos, working on posts.
- Appointments: Medical, Car, Hair, Nails, etc.
- Events that come up like going to the movies or going out to eat.
Setting up my month takes anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour. It all depends on how much I am putting in my month. I like setting up month early because it gives me more of peace on mind. There’s always something going on between work, grad school, blogging, & [trying to have a] personal life. & I am the type of person that has to get things done right away and I want to make sure everything is planned. This system works for me because I am essentially working in two months so I can plan pretty much plan for anything. I know everything I have to pay this month and next, when I’m working, when I’m traveling, and anything big that is happening. By having my month set up early, it makes it easier for me at work to plan events or meetings and it makes it easier for school so I can plan study groups, group project times, and plan all the time I need to get my assignments done. It also makes running a blog easier, because I can plan out collaborations and set time aside to get things done.
This works for me because even if plans change then I can easy reschedule anything. I also always know what’s going on and everything I have to do.
