After the initial journal set-up, my planning routine starts with a monthly spread.
Generally speaking, I like to sit down on the weekend before the new month starts, and take some time to get organised and set up my journal for the month ahead.
There are typically two traditional ways of setting up a monthly spread. This first looks something like this…
In the example above the dates are listed down the left hand side of the page, with a space to write the main event of the day, and habit trackers on the right hand side. This is a really simple list-style depiction of the month and works very nicely.
I am, however, a very visual person and really like to see the month laid out in front of me, so I generally use a grid-style layout, such as this…
How to Create a Monthly Calendar Layout
In the example below I will be setting up a traditional calendar layout.
First, I like to make sure I have a couple of hours set aside to plan at the beginning of each month. For me its some time spend mindfully, off-loading any tasks whizzing round my head into my journal and planning how I will make the month ahead as awesome as possible! Then, I gather my supplies…
For the traditional monthly calendar layout I normally use my Super Easy Monthly Stencil. Whilst you could use a ruler to draw out the squares, having the stencil really speeds up the process and allows me time to focus on making the spread colourful and fun!
I generally have a rough idea of how I want the page to look. In the example below, I have created a square for each of the days in the month and a space for social media tracking down the left hand side of the page.
Once I have the basic spread, I head to my future log and migrate any events and important dates for the month.
Shop our range of monthly resources:
Monthly
Inspiration Gallery:
Once you have the hang of the basics you can get really experimental with a circular or even hexagonal set up.
As you can see, from the examples below, you can personalise your monthly spread to any theme!
Once the monthly spread is set up I then go about creating my habit trackers for the month, then I move onto to my weekly spreads… Click the links below to read more about each kind of spread.