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oad.com/l/supersimplemonthlyreviews"> <div> <div> <h2>Super Simple Monthly Review - a Notion template to gain clarity</h2> <div><h3>I wasn't a fan of monthly reviews at first. It seemed daunting to me, and I wasn't sure where to start, how much detail…</h3></div> <div><p>circecreates.gumroad.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*UXpoC6QF28LfdDov)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="7607">Now I have a space dedicated to my reviews, and it makes me feel like a proper adult.</p><h1 id="8ac6">I set a reminder a couple of days before the end of the month</h1><p id="6bce">Duh, right? But <b>if I didn’t set a reminder, it’s entirely possible I would have forgotten everything about this after a month.</b></p><p id="cd36">So I set a reminder.</p><p id="0734">I set it a couple of days before the end of the month, because I like to have a couple of days with a task in the back of my head — to avoid only writing about what happened most recently.</p><p id="4742">Also, because I might be busy, and need to reschedule. So a few days give me plenty of time to get it done properly.</p><h1 id="b5b6">I write for my future self</h1><p id="2bb9"><b>You can use any prompt you want, any template you could dream of, and yet, you will never answer in the same manner.</b></p><p id="d221">Some months you might be more analytical, some more focused on feelings and future goals…</p><p id="0f5c">It’s fine. <i>As long as you always write for the same purpose.</i></p><p id="5bec">So when I write, I think about my future self. If I were to read this next month, next year, would it make sense ? Would my future self get a good understanding of where I am right now ?</p><p id="5d9a">I find that’s the best way to think too. <b>Because it takes me ‘out of myself’ a little.</b> Allows me to take a step back and see things I might not have seen from up close.</p><h1 id="2ada">Finish the review with something easy to remember</h1><p id="2a73">That’s a new one for me. I was inspired by those decluttering mantras and the minimalism mindset.</p><p id="c84f"><b>Less and more.</b></p><p id="8661">When you take away something to add something else into your life.</p><p id="17c1"><i>Less stuff, more time.</i></p><p id="0d32">One problem I had with monthly reviews was <b>the sheer amount of information</b>. How am I supposed to remember all of this in order to do better ?</p><p id="135a">So last month, I ended my review with a less and more table.</p><p id="e257"><i>Less something, more something else.</i></p><p id="87b8">The ide

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a was to suppress something that wasn’t working for me, and to replace it with something that would be better. In a way that would make my monthly conclusion easy to remember.</p><blockquote id="4fad"><p>Less TV, more podcast. Less sugar, more proteins. Less consuming, more creating.</p></blockquote><p id="4313"><b>The more specific you can make these, the better.</b></p><h1 id="e87d">If you are not already doing monthly reviews — I encourage you to start</h1><p id="1cda">It won’t be perfect at first, and you will need a couple of months to find what works best for you.</p><p id="0db6"><b>But it’s worth a shot for the clarity it gives you.</b></p><p id="03dd">You will enjoy these :</p><div id="bd69" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/why-you-should-learn-useless-things-7b442267d00a"> <div> <div> <h2>Why you should learn useless things</h2> <div><h3>« — I don’t put useless things inside my mind. I don’t want to know anything that won’t help me in the near future. »</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*4XAVKtVVyn789u4ezOt7Kw.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="a982" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/my-life-began-when-i-understood-these-2-principles-ba0b9376d705"> <div> <div> <h2>My life began when I understood these 2 principles</h2> <div><h3>There are principles you can hear a thousand times before their meaning hit you in the face like a bulldozer. But when…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*E1lc6C0GiO6Q554t)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="0732" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/3-tricks-you-didnt-know-you-could-do-with-readwise-d5424329cd5"> <div> <div> <h2>3 tricks you didn’t know you could do with Readwise</h2> <div><h3>I’m a big Readwise fan. It’s an incredible app, that I have used every single day for more than 6 months.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*aF7WV-8AlCGDY8qI8NDhhQ.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

I figured out how to do good monthly reviews — and it’s easier than I thought

Photo by NORTHFOLK on Unsplash

I was NOT a monthly reviews kind of gal.

I would only do them when life wasn’t great. And even then, if I’m being totally honest, I wasn’t giving my best to the exercise.

It all seemed a bit daunting.

There were so many variables to consider. And in my mind, it wasn’t useful if it wasn’t thorough. So I believe I would need to get stats and keep a log of EVERYTHING — how I feel, what I do, what I accomplish, what happens, when and how, and sleep and… — in order to come to the most accurate kind of conclusions.

My brain was already spinning too fast.

Not helpful.

I realize now that this is classic overthinking. A version of the “all or nothing” mentality.

And since I’ve figured out how to do monthly reviews, it is now a ritual I look forward to.

I selected the type of information I wanted to look back on

This is probably a work in progress. I imagine the metrics I care about will change over time. And that’s ok.

But I needed an initial selection.

So I asked myself what was important to analyze for next month. And I came up with this:

  • How I felt overall (any lows and any highs?)
  • What I did for my different projects
  • How much money I made
  • What I’ve learned (and the content I consumed)
  • How social I was
  • What I want to remember
  • What goals I have achieved, worked on or completely ignored
  • What needs to change or stay the same for next month

Now that was already more manageable.

I built myself a template

If your monthly review is not consistent from one month to the next, is it even a monthly review?

So I build myself a template.

It also saves me the trouble of having to rewrite the same titles, forgetting a whole section, or even just… being too lazy to even start a document for it.

I’m using Notion, so that was a fun little project too.

You can steal my template here.

Now I have a space dedicated to my reviews, and it makes me feel like a proper adult.

I set a reminder a couple of days before the end of the month

Duh, right? But if I didn’t set a reminder, it’s entirely possible I would have forgotten everything about this after a month.

So I set a reminder.

I set it a couple of days before the end of the month, because I like to have a couple of days with a task in the back of my head — to avoid only writing about what happened most recently.

Also, because I might be busy, and need to reschedule. So a few days give me plenty of time to get it done properly.

I write for my future self

You can use any prompt you want, any template you could dream of, and yet, you will never answer in the same manner.

Some months you might be more analytical, some more focused on feelings and future goals…

It’s fine. As long as you always write for the same purpose.

So when I write, I think about my future self. If I were to read this next month, next year, would it make sense ? Would my future self get a good understanding of where I am right now ?

I find that’s the best way to think too. Because it takes me ‘out of myself’ a little. Allows me to take a step back and see things I might not have seen from up close.

Finish the review with something easy to remember

That’s a new one for me. I was inspired by those decluttering mantras and the minimalism mindset.

Less and more.

When you take away something to add something else into your life.

Less stuff, more time.

One problem I had with monthly reviews was the sheer amount of information. How am I supposed to remember all of this in order to do better ?

So last month, I ended my review with a less and more table.

Less something, more something else.

The idea was to suppress something that wasn’t working for me, and to replace it with something that would be better. In a way that would make my monthly conclusion easy to remember.

Less TV, more podcast. Less sugar, more proteins. Less consuming, more creating.

The more specific you can make these, the better.

If you are not already doing monthly reviews — I encourage you to start

It won’t be perfect at first, and you will need a couple of months to find what works best for you.

But it’s worth a shot for the clarity it gives you.

You will enjoy these :

Self Improvement
Productivity
Goal Setting
Review
Notion Template
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