My Monthly Review & Reset Routine on Notion for Productivity

Here is my routine for my monthly review and reset that I do at the beginning of every month, to reflect on the month that just went past and to prepare myself for the fresh month. I use Notion for this process, and you can get my template below:

My Monthly Review & Reset Notion Template

Get my Notion template for my monthly review & reset routine, which you can duplicate in your own Notion workspace and follow through.

Get Notion Template

I will go through my monthly review & reset process in this article, however, if you prefer to watch a video on this process, you can check out the video on my channel below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-_AOFA6tok

Why do a monthly review?

• It allows you to review and reflect on the month that just went past & set yourself up for the new month. It allows you to reset for a fresh start for the new month.
• A monthly review gives you more of a big picture overview of how the month went & your progress towards your yearly goals, however, a weekly review is more for keeping you on the right track.
• You can use whatever medium you want for this monthly review process. I use Notion, but you can also use a written journal - whatever you find better.

My monthly review process

My monthly review process has 12 parts:

1. Things I am grateful for
2. What went well during the past month?
3. What can I do better this month?
4. Review of goals for the year
5. Review of physical health
6. Review of mental health
7. Review of finances
8. Review of reading
9. Review your wish list
10. Car maintenance
11. Monthly check
12. Summary and plan

Let me explain each part in a bit more detail.

Part 1: Things I am grateful for

List the things you are grateful for. This could be people, things, anything that you are grateful for. Gratitude is important to appreciate what you already have. Otherwise, you will always be chasing the next best thing or wishing for what you don't have. Research from positive psychology suggests that gratitude is associated with greater happiness.

Part 2: What went well during the past month?

This is a chance to reflect on what went well during the past month. Your month might have not ended too well, but the recency bias (one of our cognitive biases) suggests we have a greater tendency to place importance on the most recent events (i.e. the end of the month), and if that didn't go too well, we tend to generalise and think that the whole month was rubbish.

Instead, taking the time to really go through the entire month will allow you to pick out the good things that happened in the month, instead of just filtering the negative events and discounting the positive (some of our cognitive distortions).

Part 3: What can I do better this month?

This is a chance to give yourself feedback and identify some actions points you can improve on better this month. Instead of just giving yourself self-criticism, it is helpful to identify the obstacles that got in your way and what specific actions you can do moving forward to improve on the next month.

Perhaps you can try something new or change the way you do things. If you don't make a change, things won't change.

For example, if you have been forgetting to take your daily supplements, perhaps you can try and put them next to your bed and organise them in a pill organiser so that it is less effort and reduces the friction to actually taking them.

If the supplements you want to take are stored in a cupboard away from reach, and you have to consciously think about them, you have less chance of actually taking them.

However, if they are staring in front of your face when you wake up and are already prepared for the day, it becomes so much easier - in fact, it becomes harder to not implement the habit. This is just one way you can make your habits stick in an easier and more effective way.

Part 4: Review of goals for the year

This section will depend on what your goals for the year are. This is a chance to regularly review your goals and make sure you are on track to achieving them. It allows you to identify any changes you need to make to ensure you are on track to achieving them or to appreciate the progress you have made and continue doing what you have already been doing, if it is working for you.

Don't fix what isn't broken, but do change things that aren't working.

Part 5: Review of physical health

I think it is important to review your physical health in a bit more detail, as it is a very important area of life. I split this into four sections:

1. Weight: I track my weight on MyFitnessPal and this is a chance to review your weight over time to see if you are making progress in relation to your goal. If your goal is to bulk, are you gaining weight at an appropriate rate? If you are cutting, are you losing weight at an appropriate rate? If you are gaining or losing weight too quickly or slowly, you might have to make changes to your nutrition or training.
1. Gym training: I use the Strong app to track my workouts and progressive overload. Have you been going to the gym consistently and are you making progress in your workouts?
2. Nutrition: I track my calories on MyFitnessPal. This is a chance to review if you have been tracking regularly and if you need to make any changes to your macros or calories. Of course, taking into account your weight review as well.
1. Sleep: I use the Withings sleep tracker to track my sleep. This is a chance to review my sleep quality and score and see if I need to make any changes to ensure I am sleeping well. Of course, good quality and regular sleep is very important for rest and recovery and to ensure you have energy for your workouts.

Part 6: Review of mental health

I also take some time to review my mental health in a bit more detail. Have I been meditating regularly? I use the Headspace app to meditate, so I will review this to see if I have been staying consistent.

Have I been journaling regularly? Journaling is a very effective way to get your thoughts out and clear your mind. It helps to process your thoughts and emotions and can be a very therapeutic activity. I use the Daylio app to journal, however, you can also use a written journal - whatever works better for you.

Part 7: Review of finances

This is a chance to review your budget and make sure you are staying on track of it. I use Monzo for my daily spending and at the beginning of the month, I will transfer some money into my Monzo account so that I can track my spending for the month.

Monzo is nice as it gives you a nice graphical overview of how much money you have left for the remaining month so that you can budget accordingly. You can see if you're spending too much if you're deviating away from your budget (green dashed line) and cut down accordingly:

It also sorts your spending into categories, so you can see which categories you are overspending in and make a plan to cut down accordingly:

I also really like how you can label your transactions, so that when you are scrolling through them, you remember what you spent your money on:

My favourite feature is the instant notifications on your phone when you use your card or Apple Pay. With high street banks, it tends to take some time for the transactions to clear, so your balance isn't always up to date. This just makes tracking how much you spend daily so much easier.

Part 8: Review of reading

This is a chance to review the book that you are currently reading, and make sure that you are on track to finishing the book according to your goal of reading. It also gives you a chance to evaluate whether you are actually enjoying the book or not because if you are not, then it might be time to consider dropping that book and moving onto a new one, which you actually enjoy.

Since there are so many books and reading should be a fun activity, not something of dread, so if you're not engaging in or liking or adhering to reading a book, it might be a sign that you need to pick a different book.

Part 9: Review your wish list

I have a simple database on Notion, which I use to track items that I wish to buy. This is the chance to review whether you still feel like you need to keep these items on your wish list and to see if you have any money left over in the month to buy an item from your wish list or if not, to plan a budget for saving up for the item.

When I think about whether to buy something, I will consider the following:

• Will it change my life in any way? Will it change the way I do things or make things easier?
• Will it make me happier, or will I just hedonically adapt?
• Can I achieve a similar outcome, in a cheaper or alternative way? I.e. consider buying used if it results in saving money.
• Is it related to an important area of my life, such as health? If so, don't compromise.

Part 10: Car maintenance

If you are lucky enough to have a car, I think it is good practice to respect it and make sure you do your bit so that it runs well and is regularly maintained. Here is my monthly car maintenance routine:

1. Cleaning: make sure your car is clean on the outside and inside, and clear any rubbish inside.
2. Fragrance: update your car fragrance so it smells fresh. I like to use the Jelly belly fragrance, as it smells nice, clips on to your vent and doesn't dangle in front of you and get in the way of your view.
3. Stock up: stock up on essentials for your car like water, tissues, chewing gum, cream, hand sanitiser, cash, etc.
4. Fuel cleaner: using a fuel cleaner will ensure your fuel burns cleaner and more efficiently. I use the Redex Petrol Fuel System cleaner, which works really well. You can either use it on an empty or full tank.
5. Tyre pressure: make sure you check your tyre pressures and fill it up if required. This will keep your car stable on the road and it also increases fuel efficiency. I use a portable tyre pump which allows you to fill up your tyres from home and saves you from going to the fuel station and you can just charge it when it runs out of battery.
6. Car service/documents: make sure you take your car for service regularly (not monthly, but just schedule a date/save up for it) so that your oil levels and other fluids are filled up and any maintenance issues are addressed early before they become a serious problem. Also make sure you MOT/car tax/insurance/breakdown cover are up to date and you know when the renewals are.

Part 11: My monthly check

Rate the following areas of your life (1 = worst, 10 = best). You can then add an arrow next to it to show if the area is getting better (⬆) or worse (⬇) compared to the previous month. This checklist has 22 items.

• 😊 Overall mood:
• 🙏 Gratitude:
• 🧘 Mindfulness:
• 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Family:
• 👯 Friends:
• ❤️ Partnership:
• 🎉 Having fun:
• ✌️ Calm & serenity:
• 😌 Time for you:
• 🥦 Eating healthily:
• 💧 Drinking water:
• 💪 Exercise & movement:
• 🏃 Going outside:
• 🏥 Health:
• 🎨 Creativity:
• 💰 Finances:
• 💼 Work & education:
• 🤯 Thoughts & emotions:
• 🏡 Home & environment:
• 📚 Learning:
• ⏳ The present:
• ⌛️ The future:

Part 12: Summary and plan

Finally, with the information from the above review, make a summary and action plan going forward for the new month. This will allow you to consolidate on the month that just went past and set yourself up for a fresh start for the new month ahead.