7 Monthly To-Do Lists That Will Keep You Organized Forever

Overwhelming anxiety, frustration, and lack of balance are just a few of the messy feelings you experience right at the end of every month.

Realizing that another 30 days flew by with you barely catching your breath and managing to tick only the urgent stuff off your to-do list takes you to another level of anxiousness.

You feel like you can never find that precious balance everyone else on social media (or around you) seems to have. I mean… how is it that you are the only person you know who is frantically running from place to place, trying to do everything while all other people seem to reset their lives day and night with a snap of a finger?

I know how you feel because I feel that way, too. I can assure you that most of the people around you feel this way. It’s just that we are always more focused on whatever’s in our heads, and we seem to credit people around us more often than we credit ourselves.

But here is a teeny-tiny secret you’ve got: lists!

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Why Writing Monthly To-Do Lists Are Your Best Habit Ever

These 7 lists I will share with you will…

• keep you organized – you will keep track of what you need to do and when you need to do it;
• save you time – once you’ve got everything written down, you really just have to follow those lists without the extra overthinking;
• cut down stress – Instead of keeping the “open tabs” in your mind, you can write them down and trust yourself that you won’t forget anything, as long as you check in with the lists frequently;
• improve your happiness levels – most people (including myself) have a hard time understanding that our brains are for coming up with ideas, not for storing them. We are much more productive and calm, knowing we can trust ourselves to prioritize and work on tasks with no risk of “forgetting” something important.

And if you are wondering where to keep up with all these lists and plan your productive and successful month ahead, I’ve got a great idea for you – pick any of the viral Erin Condren planners. You can save up to 50% off 2024 date planners by clicking right here. (sponsored link)

2. Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping List

With prices jumping higher than the blood pressure of your mother-in-law when she sees her son wearing an unironed shirt, you want to plan your meals. There is no excuse not to do it anymore. It isn’t about saving you time but hard-earned money.

Find out what’s hiding in your pantry and in the bottom drawer of your freezer. See if you need to plan for an event you host and then do a rough scan through your Recipes Pinterest board, which you have meticulously ignored for years (but keep saving pins to it). There will be stuff overlapping in those areas (your pantry, freezer, and Pinterest board). Plan your meals according to those overlaps and plan ahead as much as you can.

3. Master To-Do List

This is also the “junk to-do list”. This list is for jotting down anything that doesn’t fit the other lists, but it isn’t big enough to deserve its own.

Examples: your dog’s upcoming vaccine, a DIY project you’ve been forgetting to plan for, or researching for a new printer that doesn’t have a mind of its own when asked to print something.

4. Important Events and Appointments List

This list would probably take you less than three minutes to do. You want to have all the upcoming birthdays, parties, travels, and appointments written down. This would automatically remind you of shopping you might have to do, and that stuff would fly to either the Master To-Do List or the Financial Planning List. You see? These lists make sense!

5. Exercise and Fitness Activities List

If you don’t schedule it and have it in front of you, chances are the first thing that’s going to suffer when you get jam-packed with tasks is your exercise routine (my apologies if you aren’t like that; I am, though).

How many times (ideally) would you like to visit the gym? Do you have a goal for how many steps you want to hit daily or monthly? Are there any upcoming Pilates classes? How about planning a hiking trip on a sunny Sunday?

You want to have a list of activities for the upcoming month so you don’t spend more time thinking of an idea than actually going for it. Once you have your list, you might re-use it every month (which is actually achievable for most of the lists here).