March is upon us (it’s already the 4th and I’m not even sure how that’s happened!). On Monday I did a load of things that I try to do every month and it got me thinking about good monthly habits that could be adopted to make life better.
Here are my suggestions!
Fitness
Benchmark your performance – what is the maximum weight you can lift with good form for 1 Rep (1 Rep Max), how fast can you walk or run 5km, how quickly can you swim 800m, how far can you cycle in 30 minutes? By regularly benchmarking your performance, you can see how and where you are improving.
Finances
Check the current balances for all accounts – current, credit, etc.
Check on stocks, shares and pensions.
Review your monthly payments. Monthly subscription services are easy to forget about. What are you paying for that you don’t use?
Check to see if you can increase payments to savings or debt repayment. A small increase now can reap you big rewards later.
Check on any funds you hold for children and review the amount you are putting in for them.
Check your insurance needs are up to date and you’re fully covered.
Home organisation
Bring older cans and packed goods to the front of a cupboard. Donate any you are unlikely to use and create a meal plan to incorporate the rest.
Throw out any unusable items from your fridge/freezer. Make a plan to use what you have in.
Air bedrooms and vacuum mattresses.
Deep clean high traffic areas, including wiping down light switches.
Office
Clean keyboard and desk. (They are germ magnets!)
Throw out old notes, pens and odd bits of stationery.
Re-arrange plants, art, etc for a fresh look.
File notes.
Computer
Cull emails, including unsubscribing from newsletters you don’t want. (Even me, if you must!)
Back up data.
Cull photos (keep, delete, move, send).
Tidy your desktop if you have a habit of keeping files there.
Garden
Sweep patios and seating areas
Wipe down outdoor furniture
Make a note of your next season plans
Hobbies
Corral unfinished projects into one place. Donate any that you don’t want to finish.
Make a short-term plan to do a bit more of your hobby.
Calendar
Get your calendar up to date and take note of significant dates this month (4 Mar World Book Day, 8 Mar International Women’s Day – theme #ChooseToChallenge, 14 Mar UK Mother’s Day, 17 Mar St Patrick’s Day, 18 Mar Global Recycling Day, 19 Mar Red Nose Day, 31 Mar International Transgender Day of Visibility), including birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Now is a good time to plan gifts, cards and celebrations.
Schedule time for yourself.
I’m not advocating doing all of this on Day 1 of each month, but it’s worth picking things off these lists that resonate with you and would make your life a bit easier if you did them every month. You could pick one habit a day or pick a couple of topics per week.
What do you think? What monthly habits have I missed?
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