The new month is only a few days away. August is a great month. It really is… because it’s my birthday month! LOL… I have been in a funk for the past few months. So I thought since it’s the last week of the month I am going to take the WHOLE weekend to do a monthly reset.
It has just been one thing after another and it sent me spiraling back into some old habits. I even stopped doing my Sunday Reset Routine. We don’t want to undo all of the progress we made. We are always talking about creating new habits. But sometimes your body just goes into flight or fight mode. I have been trying to fight both and just push through, but there comes a time when your body just says “Nah, Bitch. We are not doing this. We are becoming mentally and emotionally exhausted. Take a break!”
It has become a little chaotic around the house. It is not too bad, but the house and I need a whole bunch of things done.
What is a Monthly Reset?
In the business world, a monthly reset is “the Business Day immediately preceding the first day of the next succeeding calendar month” according to Lawinsider.com. But for those of us not in the corporate world a monthly reset is when you are in the last day, a couple of days, or even the last week of a month that has just been rough.
You decide you are going to take some time to do all the things you have been putting off. Like, doing all your laundry and ACTUALLY putting it all AWAY. Cleaning out your fridge and organize it. Your task may look different from my tasks. Whatever it is that you have been putting off a monthly reset can help you get your life back in order… even if it is just for a little bit. Life happens…
This is the time to whip your slate clean. A fresh month is upon us. It is a blank canvas. You can shape and design the coming month with whatever your little heart desires. It’s kind of like a new year, new me every month. LOL It gives you an opportunity to take a step back and reflect on what is work and what is not. We’re all about creating new habits and this is a chance to tweak them every month.
You take the time you need to reset your life and refocus your brain on the tasks that seem to get away from us. This is a chance for us to start the new month organized and prepared which can lead to you having a productive month.
Starting the monthly reset
It is 4am in the morning and I have not gone to bed yet. Since Mike is working overnights now I messed up my sleep schedule. I mean I guess as long as I get work done then it is what it is… for now!
Throughout both days I will be doing all the laundry. Clothes, towels, rugs, and bedding.
I am going to split my monthly reset into 3 days. Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. The first day is going to be the bulk of what I think would help me with the monthly reset and the second day will be things that will help me with work and actively practicing self-care for myself.
Am I the only one that likes to schedule all the things I have to do with related things that also need to be done??? Like they just flow together…
Day one – Friday night
Brain Dump
For me starting this monthly reset starts with me grabbing my handy dandy journal and writing down everything in my head. I need to start with a blank slate. Need to have nothing going on in the ol’ noggin.
I write down everything from bills I have to pay to tasks I need to get done to random thoughts I get that I want to look up on google. Like this gem right here:
Don’t ask me why I looked up the Once upon a time cast and then I looked up meatballs in a crockpot. I had a lot of things going on in my mind at the time. But since you have your journal out doing a brain dump getting all the junk out of our head we might as well…
This will be the time I also do my Life Audit one with Mike and one just for myself.
Choose a theme for the month
In your journal think long and hard while reflecting on last month. Choose an area of your life that you want to be the focus of the month. For me, I want to work on making some friends. Reconnecting with some non-toxic friends or making some NEW friends.
Other things you could choose for your theme could be
– Adding more self-care to your days
– Pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.
– Reading more books
– Working on a 6 month glow up
Hey, while we got our pens out we might as well…
Update your Calendar
I have a calendar on my fridge that I update every month. It has all my bills, and important appointments to keep me organized for the month. Anything that has a date or deadline goes on that calendar. Garbage days, birthdays, and most important kind of days… paydays… hahaha
Speaking of money… Since we got the calendar and pen out we might as well…
Manage your finances
Check your bank account. We need to make sure we are tracking where our money is going. We are moving money where it needs to go. Paying our bills, putting money into savings, and our sinking funds. Having a budget in place for everyday things as well as a plan for our money for the future.
When it comes to finances we don’t want to be surprised when we log in.
Once we get all the money situated. We can make a plan to…
Day Two – Saturday
Deep clean the house
What I find easy that works for me is that I clean by room. I have 10 areas in my house.
Front Room – Mike cleans this room since this is his “Man Cave”. But I will help if he is busy.
Our bedroom
Hallway/Closet
Bathroom
The Kiddo’s Room – Mikayla cleans her room, but I will help if she forgets when she goes home.
Kitchen
Living Room
Laundry
Front and Backyard – These are also Mike’s responsibilities.
I start with the most used areas of the house. So on this day of my monthly reset, I will clean the kitchen, the living room, and the bathroom. FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. ALL THE NOOKS AND CRANNIES.
When I am in the kitchen I will go through my pantry, fridge, and freezer. So I can make an inventory of what I have to get meal ideas and create a grocery list around that. We are NOT trying to WASTE MONEY buying items we already have at home.
We are going to need a place to put all those groceries. It’s probably been forever since we made a…
Meal Plan
I am not talking about going all out and cooking 40 meals on a Sunday afternoon… Unless you are into that. In that case, you do you, boo boo!
But I have been working on creating a recipe book for my household. I hate that we try all of these different recipes and then forget about them after we make them.
Besides wanting a cute little family heirloom to pass down. I want to have a book that I can look through when we get stumped on what to eat. You know that stupid ‘what do you want for dinner?” conversation. It is the worst. Either EVERYTHING sounds so good or NOTHING sounds good. There is no in-between. LOL
When I say meal planning I mean using sites like My Fridge Food or Supercook to help you come up with recipes using ingredients you already have.
I couldn’t tell you how many times in the early years of my relationship with Mike we had multiple sour creams in our fridge because we couldn’t remember if we had some or not.
Once we got our menu ready it will probably make things easier if we…
Clean the car
This is self-explanatory. Your car is nasty! LOL Same…
Grab your reusable grocery bags and get your grocery list go put it in your car so you don’t FORGET IT!!!
I AM TALKING TO MYSELF.
We had an amazing first day, and it’s time to take a rest for the night. we did enough for day one…
Day Three – Sunday
Doesn’t matter what time I go to bed… I ALWAYS wake up early. While Mike and the kiddo are still sleeping everything is so quiet in the house. I will make some coffee and come sit at my computer and get some work/personal stuff done…
Unfollow and Unsubscribe
I make it a monthly ritual to go through my social media profiles and unfollow and unsubscribe accounts I am no longer interested in. Nothing against who I am removing. I am a firm believer that People come into your life for a reason, for a season, or for a lifetime.
I am trying to be mindful of the content I am consuming. It has been my biggest battle trying to change my mindset.
Declutter your inbox
I don’t know about you but I have 8 different emails. I have the original email I created with AOL… STILL!!! Some are personal and some are for work. They are ALL getting cluttered with spam and things I signed up for. This takes a little time, but so worth it in the end. This is something I will work on ALL MONTH LONG. Not Just today.
Revamp my work schedule
It has not been working for me for a while now. Somehow some way working from home has intertwined itself with my personal schedule. The lines of work time and house time have blurred. I am not going into detail unless you want me to. Let me know in the comments.
Finishing cleaning the house
On day one we cleaned the main areas Kitchen, Living Room and Bathroom. So today I am gonna finish the rest of the house and Mikayla/Mike has their areas to work on.
My goals for the day are:
Our bedroom
Hallway/Closet
They shouldn’t take much time.
Throughout yesterday and today, I washed, dried, and put away all the laundry.
Be creative
Now it is time to get my creative juices flowing this is all about me time. I whip out the book I am currently reading and read a least a chapter. I tried to do it every day. I have shared my redonkulous book challenge here before. Check it out if you are interested.
Once I am done reading I get my crafting on… Grab my journal to decorate some pages and work on my recipe book. Nothing gets me more zen than being creative. I haven’t journaled in a bit because you know “life” but I want to make it a habit again.
While I am doing all this Mike and the kiddo are probably sitting next to me in the living room watching cartoons or playing video games together.
We usually just hang out and do nothing together until it’s time to take the kiddo back to her mom’s. When we leave we make sure to grab our reusable grocery bags and the grocery list we made yesterday. After dropping her off Mike and I will go grocery shopping.
Grocery Shopping
There is not much to say about grocery shopping. We go get what we need and then come home. We will order in or do a pick-up because we ARE NOT cooking tonight. LOL By the time we put everything away our food should be here. We end our monthly reset by chilling on our couch eating yummy food and enjoying each other’s company while watching a movie.
Ending the monthly reset
It has been a hectic few days, but so worth it. It just makes me feel so freakin good when I can start the month off with a clear mind and house.
The best part of creating a monthly routine that you can do on a regular basis is that you can truly feel refreshed each month. Hit that “reset” button to take the time to catch up on things around the house, personal and work-related tasks put you into this groove. It kind of forces you to self-evaluate and regularly check on all the different areas of your life.
I know at first it can suck putting a new system in place. It starts out as “I HAVE TO DO THIS” instead of “I GET TO DO THIS” which is where we want to be. All about changing that mindset and making life a little bit easier for yourself. Gives you something to look forward to in that transition period of the end of the month to the beginning of the new month.
What tasks would you include in a monthly reset? I’d love to hear in the comments.
Until next time… Remember you are a badass!
