My monthly reset routine is crucial to feel productive and successful with my goals. Monthly planning is the heart and soul of my function planning system. It is definitely the most important thing I do to stay on top of the things I need to do to keep our house running smoothly. Keep reading to learn how to do a monthly reset on your plans, goals, and home.

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Free Printable Monthly Reset Calendar and Checklist
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How to do a Monthly Reset
As a new month draws near, sit down to review, reflect, and plan what’s ahead. This process does take some time, but I look forward to it every month.
First gather supplies, prepare a fun drink, and put on something to listen to that’s not too distracting. Then settle in to get down to the nitty gritty of planning next month.
By the end of your planning session you’ll feel calm and confident and ready to take on whatever life throws at you.
Monthly Reset Checklist
Hint: You can click on each step in this monthly reset checklist to go to that section. Don’t forget to download the freebie to check off as you go!
- Gather Monthly Reset Supplies
- Get in the Right Mindset
- Review and Reflect on the Previous Month
- Schedule Next Month
- Choose Goals for Next Month
- Make a Monthly Menu Plan
- Reset the Family Calendar
- Prepare Home and Spaces for Next Month
Gather Monthly Reset Supplies
The following supplies are crucial to planning your month, but they can look different for each person. I’ll link what I use, but you should always use what you already have that works well for you. You can also find more ideas for planning supplies and how to use them on my YouTube channel.
- Planner with a monthly view (Erin Condren planner)
- Goal setting system (Cultivate What Matters goal planner)
- A favorite pen (Pilot G2 or Pilot Precise V5 RT)
- Stickers that help you organize your plans (PlannerKate stickers are my favorite)
- Menu planning supplies (Free menu planning workbook)
- Any digital or shared family calendar; school and activities schedules (We use Google Calendar)
- Scratch paper
Get in the Right Mindset
Don’t be discouraged that this part of the monthly reset takes a while. Planning is a form of self care because it helps prevent stress for Future You. Plus this process reduces the time you need to spend planning each week and everyday. Do the hard work one time now to avoid spending a lot of time figuring everything out later.
The idea behind planning is to make time to do the things that matter to you. Take care to set up your planner each month to avoid spinning your wheels making lists and not actually getting anything done.
– Kristan kremer
Review and Reflect on the Previous Month
The main objective behind reviewing and reflecting on the previous month is to learn from the past. During your monthly reset, ask yourself the following questions:
- What did I make progress on this month?
- How did I do that?
- What did not happen that I planned for?
- Why did it not happen?
Basically, you want to know what worked and what didn’t work. Some people like to journal about this to really understand what’s going on. I like to keep it simple and write it down in my goal setting planner which has a page for this activity.
After you’ve answered your questions, you will understand what needs to be included in your schedule for next month. You can use your scratch paper, or journal page, or even write this directly into your planner on a notes page.
Action Steps
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What did I make progress on this month?
- What are the next steps? Add these to your planner.
- How did I do that?
- Can I repeat this process to see success again?
- What did not happen that I planned for?
- Does this need to go back on the schedule, or can I delegate it or cancel it completely?
- Why did it not happen?
- Is there a different step you need to take first? If so, add that next step to your plans instead of rewriting the original task on your list.
Schedule Next Month
This is the part that most people think of when doing a monthly reset. Open your planner to the calendar for next month and start filling in the squares with the appointments and events that are not negotiable. Use the calendars you collected from school and activities schedules and reference your spouse’s calendar as well. I use Google calendar to schedule appointments on the go, so I open that as well.

The idea here is to write down the things that you have already committed to and that will require your time and attention. You can also put things on the calendar like birthdays, anniversaries, and school holidays.
Also write in the rescheduled appointments or events from your monthly review activity. Check the yearly planning and future planning pages in your planner and add those dates to your monthly calendar. Don’t forget to schedule your next monthly reset session for the end of the month!
I like to use stickers for most of my monthly planning. I’m not just talking about cute stickers to make it prettier.* (see note below). I use planner stickers functionally because they help me consolidate information in a useful way. They can also be moved around if something gets rescheduled so there are no ugly cross outs that make my planner look chaotic.
You’ll also want to add all of your tasks to a running to do list to reference throughout the month. Don’t forget to consult your home maintenance and cleaning schedule and add in those tasks. I have a page in the front of my planner where I keep all of this information so it’s easy to find.
Action Steps
- Add non-negotiable appointments and events to your monthly calendar
- Start a running to do list to reference throughout the month
- Don’t forget to schedule your next monthly reset session for the end of the month!
*Sidenote about Planner Stickers
Planner stickers can be overwhelming for a newbie. I don’t recommend starting with planner stickers if you’re just learning how to plan. It is easy to fall down the rabbit hole of decorative planning really quickly and spend a lot of money on things that don’t end up helping you in any way. Ask me how I know. Watch this video to learn how to use planner stickers functionally to actually help you with your planning.
Choose Goals for Next Month
Planning for the goals that matter the most helps me actually make progress on them. And adding them to my monthly plans ensures that I will work on them little by little in the weeks and days that follow.
Review your goal planner alongside the monthly calendar. Some months might be slow and calm enough to focus on and make progress on goals. Other months could be super busy and it’s okay to do the bare minimum on goal stuff.
Read More: Simple Goals Inspiration
Action Steps
- Schedule the next steps you planned for in your goal setting system
- Don’t forget to add in the rescheduled next steps from your monthly review activity!
Make a Monthly Menu Plan
One of the things that adds the most to a mom’s mental load is feeding the family. In my experience, a monthly menu plan is the most helpful way to avoid the dreaded “what’s for dinner” question. Monthly meal planning works because you don’t have to spend an hour each week figuring out what to make for dinner. Consider the monthly calendar because there are some days when a slow cooker meal will be a better choice than something more hands on.
I use a meal rotation system or even just a list of favorite meals I know my family will eat to make this part go by even faster. You can add these meals to a page in your planner so it’s always there when you need it. Or you can create a menu plan in your Google calendar and link recipes and grocery lists. I can talk for hours about this but I’ll spare you and just send you to my Free Menu Planning Workbook.
Read More: Menu Planning Basics
Action Steps
- Decide what to make for dinner each night based on your family’s schedule
- Write it all down in one spot for easy reference
Reset the Family Calendar
My family has a shared family Google calendar. I add events to this calendar that my family needs to know about, such as no school dates or dentist appointments. Because they’re not the best at checking the calendar, I invite them through email to “attend” the events so they know about them.

Consider using a family command center as well. Mount it in the most used room in your home so that everyone sees it all the time. The refrigerator is a great place to set up a family command center if you’re low on wall space.
I put the most high-level plans here that are the most important for my family to notice. So not every single tennis practice or trash day. I just put general notices like “ortho” or “no school”. You can also add the monthly menu to the command center.
Action Steps
- Set up a monthly calendar for your family to review
- Show your family where to look for important information
Prepare Home and Spaces for Next Month
This is the part of your monthly reset where you get the spaces where you spend your time in shape. You will probably move around your home to reset for each month, but you’ll want to leave your planner out because there will inevitably be things to add to it. Everyone’s home and life is different, but use the following list as a general guide:
- General home cleaning or maintenance tasks you didn’t finish during the month
- Clean off the spaces in your home that get stacked up with papers and random bits
- Clean out your purse and wallet
- Review your budget, pay bills, or schedule transfers
- Clean out your email inbox
- Clean up your computer desktop
- Go through your camera roll on your phone and print photos
- Clean out your car and add washes or maintenance to your calendar
- Choose a stack of books to read soon
- Clean up your crafting area and choose which project to focus on next month
Putting the Monthly Reset in Action all Month
Now that you know how to do a monthly reset, you’re prepared for the month. Choose a day each week to serve as a transition to the next week. Sunday is a great day for this, but I like to do it on Friday. That way, I have the weekend to prepare for anything happening next week (like last minute school projects or events that pop up).
On that day, you’ll do a mini reset where you review the week and lightly plan the next week. Look at your monthly calendar so you know what’s coming up, review your menu plan to see if anything needs to be adjusted. Place a grocery order (or write your list and plan for your shopping day).
Each evening, review your plans to decide the top 3 most important things that need to happen the next day. If possible, make sure to choose at least one thing related to your goals. Then get a good night’s rest, wake up and do them. Before you know it, you’ll be getting things done and making things happen and it will feel so easy that you might not even realize how productive you’re being. Happy planning!
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