Episode 85: The Checklist That Keeps My Life (Mostly) Together
ITUNES | SPOTIFY
Ever feel like you're juggling all the things and still dropping the ball on the little-but-important stuff? In this episode, I’m sharing the simple monthly checklist that helps me stay (mostly) on top of life as a working mom. From inbox cleanouts to memory journaling, budgeting to birthday cards, this end-of-month ritual blends life admin with personal goals.
I’ll walk you through what’s on my list, how I built it, and how you can create your own version that fits your season.
links & resources mentioned in this episode:
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📍 You are listening to the Life Coach for Working Moms podcast, the show where we are talking about what it actually takes to make life work as a working mom. I'm your host, Katelyn Denning, a full time working mom of three and a certified life and executive coach. I'm so glad you're here and I hope you enjoy this week's episode.
Hello. Hello. Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I hope you're doing well on this almost new year. If you are listening to this in real time, I am actually taking this week off largely to rest and be with my family. I'm also recovering from the flu, which I got for Christmas. Merry Christmas to me.
, and so I didn't quite have it in me
to record a full length episode, and so I wanted to bring back a personal favorite of mine. Podcast stats are always a little bit tricky to decipher, and I certainly could list for you some listener favorites, but this happens to be a personal favorite of mine, and I think it's also really timely because it's a practice that if I am completely honest with you.
I have not followed through on in this last quarter of the year, and it is something that I want to put my focus on in the new year and throughout the next year, and I wondered if you might want to join me in creating a monthly wrap up checklist for yourself. If you are an OG Podcast listener, maybe this is one of your favorites.
It was the third ever episode here on the Life Coach for Working Moms podcast, and if you're a newer listener, well this one is from the archives, and I just didn't want you to miss it, so.
I did a quick listen through over the weekend and find all of it to still be very relevant, very applicable. Today, I'm not sure I would really change a thing about it, and so again, this was something that I needed to hear, something that I want to recommit to. And so if you are new to the idea of a monthly wrap up checklist, please allow me to introduce you to the concept.
And if you decide to join along and implement something like this for yourself in the new year, please send me a message and let me know. I am on Instagram @lovemothernurture, or you can always send me an email at katelyn@themothernurture.com. So without further ado, please enjoy one of my all time favorite episodes from the early days of the podcast.
Creating a monthly wrap up checklist.
When we think about life maintenance, I want to talk today about this new sort of process I've put into place in my life in the last, I think it's been about four to five months, And it's been really helpful and I want to share it with you because it's an end of the month process.
And so I'm recording this, we're a couple of days away from the end of July. And so I'm going to be going through this checklist and I wanted to share what it is, why I love it and why you might want to consider implementing this for yourself or a version of it for yourself. And so what I'm really doing with this process or sort of the problem that I wanted to solve for Were those sort of adulting maintenance tasks that are a step beyond or above what takes Go You know, just every day to keep life and, and our homes running.
So I'm talking beyond grocery shopping, brushing your teeth and making sure your kids brush their teeth, taking out the trash, loading and unloading the dishwasher. Those things which we can talk about separately are just regular everyday routines, right? We just, we just do them. And so I'm thinking about the things maybe that aren't quite those set it and forget it routines.
And I want to say, too, if any of those things that I just listed are not set it and forget it for you, definitely reach out. Creating, you know, sustainable schedules and routines is exactly why I offer my Planning Intensive. It's a 90 minute strategy session. We will get those to autopilot mode for you, if they are not already.
But You know, beyond those everyday set it and forget it things, of course, on the other end, we've talked before about goals, projects, you know, the things that you are focused on maybe for a set period of time where they have an end goal. And you can check out the previous episode on making time for your goals if you want to hear more about that.
But what about all the in between stuff? The things that you want to do regularly, but. aren't quite to the, you know, teeth brushing or taking out the trash level of routine. Things like, I don't know, checking the health and status of your finances or managing your budget. That comes up a lot for my clients.
Maybe it's cleaning out your inbox if you're not the daily inbox zero kind of girl. Maybe it's managing kid paperwork and artwork and all the stuff that comes home from school or daycare. Organizing photos. I've mentioned this one before, but gosh, that's such a big thing that hangs over my head, if you can't tell.
Documenting life. Maybe you've got a baby book or sort of a keepsake book that you want to be updating regularly. Or we have one of those, you know, kid quote books where you write all the funny, silly things that your kids say. Or maybe it's something like updating your running to do list. See the first episode, of course, if you want to learn more about to do lists and getting started with your running to do list.
But I know for a lot of my clients, we brain dump, and myself included, a lot of things onto that list. But, Don't really go in and maintain it and update it or clear it out. So basically all of the things that are about, you know, maintaining life as a, as a parent and as someone with a career, they're the things I would categorize all of the tasks or activities in this category as the things that really make you feel like you have it together.
It's next level adulting. Right, it's, it's, okay, we've got the basics down, we're going to the grocery store, we're meal planning, we're taking out the trash, now we want to do these next level things. And as much as I would love to be the kind of person who keeps up with these kind of things, you know, who regularly cleans up paperwork and sorts kid artwork and keeps my inbox tidy and caught up at all times, the reality is that some weeks are better than others.
Some weeks, I'm just super focused on work. Other weeks, my kids aren't sleeping well, and I'm tired, or they're sick. And so keeping up with those quote unquote extra tasks or projects just isn't in the cards. That next level stuff just isn't in the cards. I'm just keeping up with the basics, right? And so, a few months ago, I decided to see what it would be like to batch these types of tasks and try doing them at the end of each month.
So I had a process at the time for my business, for my coaching practice to update a couple of CEO type spreadsheets that I have with data and, things that I'm tracking month over month. And so I like that process, that sort of checkpoint that I have at the end of each month to update those things and, review what happened that last month, how did it compare to previous months and think about the next month as well.
And so I decided to expand on that and create a checklist for Both work and my personal life that I could do at the end of the month. And like I said, I, I think I'm four or five months into this and it's actually in a pretty good place right now. I've been experimenting with what goes on the list and what doesn't, and I'm sure more of it will change but I am really liking it.
And so I wanted to share with you what my actual list includes. And then help you think about creating your own monthly wrap up process and how to decide what could or could not be included on your own checklist. Okay, so here we go. This is what is on my wrap up checklist and this is not fancy. I like to always pull back the curtain and, show you exactly what this looks like for me in real life.
It is a notebook page in my Remarkable. I think I talked about that in episode one. I use a Remarkable which is just a digital notebook. And so that's where I have this list. And every month at the end of the month, I pull it up and I check all the boxes and then I wipe it clean for the next month.
So here's what's on my list. I clean up and file my inbox. So I'm doing so much better at keeping it maintained, but again, there are days and weeks where I just can't. And so at the end of the month, I'm giving myself that fresh start. I'm going through my inbox, cleaning it out, filing anything that I need to save.
I store a lot of zoom recordings. And so I empty and organize that folder because if I don't do it on a monthly basis, it gets out of control. So that's a business task. Then I go in and organize my photos on my phone. I delete, you know, when you snap like three or four of the same shot, One, your kid has their eyes closed and, you know, the other is like somebody grabbed your phone and who knows what it's a photo of.
I get rid of all of that junk and really try to streamline it down to the highlights of what happened in that month. It's also kind of a fun process to look back and be like, wow, we did a lot this month. I update and reconcile and review our personal family budget. We use You Need a Budget or for any others who use that, YNAB.
I can happy to share more about that, but I go through that, make sure that's all reconciled for a lot of my clients. That's just sort of a financial check in looking across their different accounts, seeing how they're feeling about their spending, any other, you know, financial things that you just want to check in on so that you've got at least your finger on the pulse of that.
I then. on the business side, update my business budget, look at my revenue and expenses for the month. And that CEO spreadsheet, my business tracker that started this whole process, I update that as well. That one's a no brainer. I've been doing that one for years. Then a fun one that I do, and I share about this sometimes on Instagram, I go in and update my tech background.
So for my phone and my laptop, I grab a monthly back track. ground photo that has a little snapshot of the upcoming month's calendar. I get it from the everygirl. com. I'll put a link to that in the show notes. I know a lot of friends that do this as well. It's just a fun way to think about the season change.
They're always sort of these seasonal images. There's about five or six that you can choose from right now. As I'm wrapping up July, I'm looking at a photo of fireworks with the calendar for July on top of it. And it's just a fun little thing that I love to do at the end of the month. Then I am starting a memory journal for each of my kids.
And so this is a new item that I've added to my monthly wrap up. I want to at least once a month be writing an entry in each of my kids memory journals. Then I turn the page over on our family calendar that lives on the wall in our kitchen and I preview the next month. Usually I try to do that with my husband, just a snapshot view of what's coming.
And then lastly, I prep birthday cards for any of my clients who are celebrating birthdays that month. I get the envelopes addressed and ready to go so that I can send those out in a timely manner. So for me, this is a blend of business and personal for you. Maybe it's just, you know, personal or family administrative things that you want to do.
Maybe there are business monthly tasks that would feel really nice to sort of wrap up and check on stats. I know I've had clients who want to do a better job of. You know, tracking their wins professionally for performance reviews in the future. This could be a great item to add to your list. Something that you just want to keep top of mind and do at least once a month.
I don't set a hard deadline for myself, so it doesn't have to be done by the 30th or the 31st of each month. I just get it done when I can around the end of the month. I will tell you, wrapping up June took me at least 12 days into July, so I feel like I just did this. Whereas other months, you know, I, I'm able to do it in a relatively quick turnaround time, and I do get it done by like the first of the next month.
So it doesn't matter. It's just the idea of getting it close to the end of the month.
And also I remind myself that this process, nobody's grading me. There's nothing I have to submit. It doesn't have to be perfect. Even if I don't get through all of my photos, if I delete five or ten, that's something. It's better than nothing. And sure, some of these items, I would love to do them more regularly or more frequently than just once a month.
You know, my inbox my business budget, some of those things. And I can, and have, if I have time. and the desire to do it. But at the very least, these things are getting mostly done each month or 12 times a year. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. I like how having this dedicated time each month means that I know that I'm going to get to these things.
I don't have to wonder or worry or, you know, question like, Oh, I need to look at my finances or, Oh, I need to write in the kid's baby book, or I need to, jot that note down. I know I'm going to do it, and I'm going to do it as part of my wrap up. It's not taking up space in the back of my mind, because it's here on my checklist.
So I know at the end of the month, I'll check in. I'll review my finances. I'll look at my photos. I'll write down a memory for the kids. I don't have to see the journal and feel guilty that I haven't done it. I know I'm going to get it done. I don't have to open up my photo roll on my phone and be overwhelmed and think, Ugh, when am I going to do this?
I never have time to do this. I'm going to make progress on it and I have the time and I know when. So if you were going to create your own wrap up process or month end checklist, ask yourself, what are the things that you wish you were doing more regularly? I said already finances is a big one. This comes up a lot when you think about next level adulting, right?
Really having it together. It's someone who always has a finger on the pulse of their finances, cleaning up or maintaining to do lists. That's another big one scheduling a date night each month or a meal out or drinks or a walk with a friend. Those would be great to include on a monthly wrap up list, all things that you consider.
When you think about those things that you wish you were doing more regularly, then also think about what you can do to, what's the word I want to use here, maybe honor or commemorate the new month. Maybe it's turning that actual page on the calendar, if you have a paper calendar. Maybe it is setting that background on your laptop or your phone that indicates it's a new month and maybe reflects the season.
Maybe it's setting an intention or a goal or what's like a fun bucket list item that you want to do this month. Maybe it's doing something for you. Maybe each month is a chance for you to, I don't know put on a face mask, light a candle and journal, go for a walk by yourself, meditate, whatever is your jam.
What could you do once a month that marks or notices? The passing of time. I love this process and it feels like a ritual in a way for me now, not just because it ensures I'm doing those things that I always mean to do, but the things that get pushed aside for the more immediate pressing projects. But that I am pausing at the end of each month and recognizing all that I did, looking at those photos and seeing how much fun we had or how hard the month was.
That was June for me, looking at those photos. I was like, wow, we did it. We survived that. And just. Yeah, noticing the passing of time, noticing the passing of time. I also find that by batching all of these things into a single checklist, I do think I complete them more quickly. I fall in and out of love with batching.
There are some areas of my life that I do batching really well, others where I don't, but in this case. grouping all of these types of things together, I really do think helps and having that time where I know at the end of each month, this is what I'm going to do. And I just follow the list. I don't have to think about what I should do.
I just go through check, check, check, check, check. Maybe it takes me one afternoon. Maybe I spread it out a little bit over a few days or a week, but Either way, it's fine. It's happening around the turn of the calendar and it's really working. So I'm curious, what do you think about this idea? I'm wondering if any of you will give it a try, where you might 📍 start with your list.
Maybe you start with just a couple of items and slowly build. Maybe it's only one or two that you need to do or want to do. What will it look like for you and where will you get started?
All right, I will see you in the next episode and hope to hear how your monthly wrap up is going. Talk soon.
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