Monthly tasks to be more productive

We can’t be productive all the time, after all we need time to relax and cut loose from routine. But if you want to be more efficient there are plenty of productive monthly tasks you can do.

I’m quite good about some things, but to be honest, I’m better about doing regular monthly tasks at work than I am at home where there’s less pressure.

The theory is little and often, being proactive rather than reactive. Hopefully doing some of these tasks regularly will reduce the time you spend on these and any dependent activities.

Productive tasks to do each month

Calendar tasks

Add reminders to your calendar for any monthly tasks going forward and sync with any family calendars.

Look up birthdays for the month ahead a few days before the month end.  Buy and send cards or presents in advance – you could have a birthday box in your hallway with parcels/cards in order ready to post when needed. 

Check school and work plans and plan alternative routines for the month ahead. 

Decide on any 30 day challenges you want to do and sign up for them. You can find a lot of these online – some are for sponsorship and charity support, others may be purely personal fitness challenges. We like the Race at your Pace challenges.

Budget and finance tasks

Declutter and organise your wallet. Remove and check off receipts/finances, throw out any old lists, check in on any coupons going out of date, and remove loose change to your savings pot. This can be done online via apps, or manually.

Put in any expense requests to work if you have them. It’s better not to let these add up, as there’s more danger of losing the receipts and being unable to claim.

Review and set your budget. I have a finances spreadsheet, and update it with any monthly savings interest going in, premium bond wins, and also any bank account interest changes. At the end of the year it’s easier to do my tax return (although I still tend to do the actual submission in December!)

Pay any bills or review any direct debits or standing orders.

Check any interest changes for savings, change accounts if needed.

Deposit any savings.

Digital reorganisation and declutter

Back up your phone photos to cloud or hard drives, then delete them from your phone to help speed it up and help you find your favourites faster.

Categorize your apps in different folders like productivity, social media, shopping, fitness, music, video streaming, finances and remove any unused apps.

Unsubscribe from unwanted newsletters – move emails you need to keep into folders.

Delete the completed to-do’s and documents.

Review notifications settings and mute the unproductive ones.

Delete unnecessary voicemails.

Check and reset time limits on social media apps to restrict screen usage for yourself, or children.

Household tasks

Meal plan for the month – you can rotate meals, but also include at least one new meal once a week.

Batch cook. Spend a day batch cooking and create your own ‘ready meals’ that can be frozen ready for faster dinners. Make sure you label them clearly unless you’re happy with ‘freezer surprise’ meals.

Check dates in your freezer and reorganise putting older frozen items in front of newer items

Do a food inventory so you know what food you’re running out of, and plan ahead.

Shop for larger or household items. You could bulk buy if necessary if you’ve got storage, or even group buy with friends or family to get better savings.

Declutter – spend a day blitzing, or work on a room each month.

Clean out your fridge.

Review your wardrobe. Check any old, worn clothes, get any dry cleaned if needed. Make clothing repairs. Sell on any good quality unwanted clothing, swap or donate, or textiles recycle any that are too worn.

Personal tasks

Review goals.  Reflect on last month’s successes and where you need to rethink. Set out plans for the next month, whether you need to remove or learn from what you previously achieved.

Reflect on and update your vision boards.

Health review – check any medication or prescriptions that need ordering.

Make plans to socialise with family and friends.

Check your books read, and what’s next on your to read pile.

Return any library books.

Blogging tasks

Broken link check

Stats check on the first day of the month, checking against goals.

Remove any old affiliate campaign links, Replace them with new links for the next month. 

Schedule or plan the next month’s posts (and social media)

Which monthly tasks do you do each month to make sure you’re more productive?