Monthly Checklist To Simplify Life + Free Printable

Life is busy, and sometimes it’s hard to keep track of it all. That’s why using a monthly checklist is such a game-changer.

A monthly checklist helps you remember everything you need to do, freeing up your mind to focus on other things.

It can also help you stay organized and on top of all your monthly tasks, both at work and at home.

Creating a monthly to-do list takes a little time initially, but once you have it ready to use at the beginning of the month, it saves you so much time and effort in the long run. 

So if you’re ready to make sure nothing falls through the cracks, then let’s talk about how to make a monthly checklist that works for you and your goals. 

How Do I Make a Monthly Checklist?

Making a monthly checklist is a multi-step process. Here’s a quick overview of that process and what you need to do along the way. 

Gather Data

What do you need to do in the next month?

Think about:

• Personal and professional deadlines
• Monthly appointments
• Events
• Specific monthly to-dos

Write down everything you need to accomplish monthly, from the mundane, easy tasks to the more important ones.

You can always prioritize or cut things out later, so don’t worry about that yet. Just do a brain dump and get everything down on paper.

Review The Past Month

When you can’t think of anything else to add, review what you did in the previous months.

This will help you identify monthly goals or specific tasks you may have forgotten. 

Look Over The Next Month

Check out your monthly calendar to see what’s on the agenda next month.

Did you remember to add any holidays, birthdays, or special events to your checklist?

Review Your Goals

• Did you set goals for the year?
• Are you still on track to meet them, or do you need to make any changes?

Now is the time to do a bit of planning and strategizing to ensure you’re on the right path.

Organize Your List

Once you’ve gathered your monthly data, it’s time to organize it.

Some people like to sort by date, while others prefer categories (like work tasks vs. personal tasks). Choose what works best for you and start sorting.

Create Your List

Now that you made sense of all your data, it’s time to get it into a usable format. Whether you use an app, a printable monthly checklist or a planner is up to you.

We’ll discuss formatting later, so don’t worry too much about it yet.

7 Ideas For Your Monthly Checklist

To help you gather the data you need for your to-do lists, here are several monthly to-do list ideas to consider, plus questions to ask yourself. 

1. Big Deadlines

What major deadlines do you have this month?

Reviewing these in advance allows you to break up monthly tasks into smaller, more manageable goals.

For example: If you have a presentation due on the 28th, you can work backward and plan out when to have the research finished, your rough drafts written, and so on.

Do this with each big thing on your list so you don’t fall behind with anything. 

2. Appointments

What monthly appointments do you have?

Think about personal ones like haircuts or doctor’s appointments and professional ones like monthly meetings or reviews.

Do you have any recurring events you need to attend weekly or monthly?

Make sure you add these to your checklist as well.

3. Special Events

Do you have any anniversaries or birthdays coming up next month?

Wishing someone a happy birthday or anniversary at the last minute can be stressful, so it pays to plan ahead.

Also, consider any holiday celebrations happening in the upcoming month. That way, you’ll have plenty of time to plan, shop for gifts, or make reservations if necessary.

The more planning you can do in advance, the better.

4. Personal To-Dos

What monthly tasks need to be done in your personal life?

Think about:

• Writing grocery lists
• Creating a meal plan
• Keeping the house clean
• Going through your email
• Anything else you do to keep things running

Here are some more personal to-dos to consider adding: 

• Are you working through any 30-day challenges? Jot them down on your list, so you keep making progress. 
• Do you follow a specific monthly cleaning checklist? Integrate those items into your master checklist.
• Review your owner’s maintenance records. What do you need to do monthly to ensure your car and home run smoothly? Are there any air filters to replace? Do you need to check your tire pressure to avoid uneven wear?  
• Outdoor projects. Do you have outdoor projects you need to complete before the season changes? 

All of these items are vital information to include in your to-do list. You can save time and money by being proactive on maintenance. 

5. Financial Tasks 

What financial tasks do you need to tackle each month to help you meet your financial goals?

• Do you review your bank statement and go over your budget at the end of each month?
• Do you need to log into your bank accounts and do some bill paying on a specific day? Or transfer money from savings into your investment funds? 

Set yourself up for financial success by adding monthly financial checklist items to your master list. 

6. Family Events

Do you need to keep track of any events for family members?

For example: If you have kids, are there any school events you need to attend or participate in? Or do they have any dentist or doctor appointments, or sports practice to attend?

If you’re married, does your spouse have any monthly tasks or appointments you need to remember?

Do you like to call your mom every month or check in with your elderly neighbor?

Make sure to add these tasks to your personal life checklist.

How To Format Your Monthly To-Do List

Now that you know what to include in your monthly checklist, it’s time to decide how you want to keep track of everything.

Do you prefer paper or digital? It’s totally up to your own personal preference.

Whichever way you choose, your monthly checklist must be organized, manageable, and easy to read. That way, you know exactly what you need to do each month. 

Apps

Numerous monthly checklist apps are available that sync with your calendar and provide reminders.

This setup is excellent for people who prefer to keep their monthly tasks digital or if you want all of your information in one place.

While there isn’t a one-size fits all solution, here are some monthly checklist apps that I’ve heard great things about:

• Evernote
• ClickUp
• Trello
• Any.do

Remember that no matter which app you choose, there will be a learning curve. So don’t be afraid to play around with different monthly checklist apps until you find the one that best suits your needs.

The nice thing about keeping them digital is that you can review items easily. So when you’re making a new checklist in March next year, you can open your list from the previous March to compare. 

The ability to do more long-term planning helps you keep track of tasks that get done only semi-regularly over the course of a year. 

However, some prefer writing something down on a monthly checklist, seeing it in front of them, and crossing things off. If that’s you, don’t force yourself to use an app, no matter how great of a review it has.

Printable Monthly Checklist

For those who want to physically write out their monthly tasks and goals, printable monthly checklists are a great option.

To make this easy to stay on track I designed a 3-page monthly checklist that includes:

• Page 1: Big List snapshot – to include everything you need to take care of (at a glance)
• Page 2: Work projects, deadlines, and to-do’s for the month ahead
• Page 3: Personal to-do’s, appointments and special events

Download your free printable monthly checklist template by clicking HERE or the image below…

Google Docs

Your checklist doesn’t have to be fancy. If you’re looking for a simple option, open a new Google doc and list out all of your monthly tasks and goals.

• You can add bullet points that look like checkboxes, and when you complete a monthly task, just go back and check it off.
• You can also easily move tasks around if needed or add notes to each one.

Once you have your doc created, you can either print it out each month or access it online, whichever works best for you. 

Planner

The downside of a printable is that it’s easy for a single piece of paper to get damaged or lost over time. So by mid-month, you may have a checklist that’s incomplete or hard to read.

If you want something sturdier and more long-lasting, consider getting a monthly planner with blank checklist templates that you can customize for your needs. 

Planners combining a traditional planner with a bullet journal can be an excellent way to keep track of monthly tasks and daily to-dos. 

How To Use Your Personal Life Checklist

• Make a list of the most important things. Check.
• Decide on a format. Check.

Now what?

How do you combine your thoughts in the right format to make a monthly checklist that’ll work for your personal use?

You need an efficient way to enter your tasks into your chosen format.

This part will take the longest, at least at first. As you go through your year, you’ll find it becomes easier to fill in your checklist.

You’ll need to decide if you want to organize your checklist chronologically or by category.

• If you prefer to keep track of monthly tasks chronologically, start by determining what day each task needs to be done and add them to your monthly checklist.
• If you’d rather organize your monthly tasks by category, list categories that apply to your life and turn them into headings or sections on your checklist.

Then, divide your monthly tasks by listing each item in the appropriate spot. 

Once you’ve added all your tasks to the checklist, take a moment to step back and review it.

Is there anything that you can remove or delegate? Are there any tasks that are taking up too much energy?

Feel free to make changes if something needs tweaking or you feel overwhelmed. A monthly checklist should be empowering, not overwhelming!

Once you finish your checklist, keep it nearby. Pick a time each day to review it and check your progress. 

This makes a great addition to your morning routine. First thing when you wake up, look over your list, so you don’t miss anything. Alternatively, you can do it each evening. 

Monthly Checklist Tips

Before starting on your personal monthly to-do list, here are a few final tips to keep in mind:

• Prioritize your tasks: Use colour coding, placement choice, or another method of marking essential tasks.
• Make a master template: While some things change from month to month, however, many things can stay the same on a monthly basis. So create a master template you can copy each month so you don’t have to start from scratch.
• Combine with weekly checklists: Once you create your master checklist, you can then allocate your tasks to weekly and daily checklists
• Delegate when possible: Not everything needs to be done by you alone! Look over your checklist to see what you can outsource, whether it’s hiring someone or giving a job to a family member. You may also see things you can cut completely, freeing up even more time. 
• Be realistic: You can’t do everything, and you don’t have to! Instead, choose tasks that are essential, important, or meaningful to you and prioritize those instead.
• Celebrate your accomplishments: At the end of the month take note of all the daily tasks you checked off your list.

Do You Use A Monthly Checklist?

Do you use a monthly to-do list already? If yes, feel free to drop your best monthly checklist tips in the comments below!

If not, do you think you’ll give it a try?

Happy monthly checklist-ing!

More Resources To Help You Reach Your Goals

• How To Set our Top Priorities in Life + 12 Examples
• How To Visually Plan For The Future: 6 Ideas
• 40 Examples of Personal Goals To Set
• How To Set Daily Intentions + 15 Examples
• 9 Types of Goal Setting Based on Different Areas of Life