The Ultimate Monthly Reset Routine + FREE Notion Template

The cornerstone of all my organization & planning tools is without a doubt a strong monthly reset routine. Taking time to go through a monthly reset checklist, review monthly reset journal prompts, and reflect, set goals, and practice gratitude. As another month draws to an end, we’re going over the ultimate monthly reset routine.

This Notion Monthly Reset Routine Template has been my go-to for a year now, and I truly feel like it covers all of the bases. In this post, we’ll go over:

• Exactly how to use the Notion template (plus a free download link).
• Goal ideas for a monthly reset.
• How to use a monthly reset to fall in love with your life.
• Download instructions (at the end)!

This monthly reset routine checklist has served me SO well over the last year, and I wanted to share it with you in the hopes it’ll do the same – the FREE Notion template I use to reset my life every month is available for download!

THE ULTIMATE MONTHLY RESET ROUTINE

PAST MONTH REFLECTION

In order to get where you want to go, you need to be real about where you’re at. Any good monthly reset (imo) starts off with a little past month reflection. This section of the notion template goes through four simple questions to guide you through a quick look at where you’ve been:

• What happened in my life this month?
• What was I grateful for this month?
• What did I learn this month?
• What do I want to change for next month?

This rarely takes more than 15 minutes, but it’s one of the best habits I’ve built. Pausing to reflect on what’s happening in my life and how I’m actually doing is KEY to a successful reset.

Creating realistic expectations, as well as reminding you of all the good, the past month reflection is how I always start my resets – even though this section is at the bottom of the Notion template. This journal-like section gets me in my feels – which I love before doing any kind of goal setting.

VISION BOARD

After a good monthly reflection, it’s time to get excited!

Set the mood with your go-to playlist and head to Pinterest to start looking for some inspo. I love a good vision board – and as a firm believer in making all the little moments of life count, I don’t think they should be limited to an annual practice.

Built into the notion template is a cover image, and I have loved using this space to create monthly vision boards. My yearly vision board is compiled of goal representation and specific targets I’m trying to hit. But the monthly vision board is more of a target towards feeling.

This February vision board was filled with images that just carried the right emotion for me. Cozy, cute, fun – something I desperately need in the dead of winter. Of course, I threw some Valentine’s inspo as well because why not.

MONTHLY PRIORITIES (this is my favourite part of a monthly reset routine)

Monthly priorities are perhaps the most crucial part of my monthly reset routine. If you are a goal/task driven person, do NOT skip this section.

Having targets to work towards is incredibly helpful. But the thing about goal setting, especially in advance, is that you are guessing at what life is going to look like for you. Sometimes things will go to plan. Sometimes they won’t.

What I’ve found is that sometimes when things don’t happen as expected, the healthy thing to do is to change my goals. Whether it’s altering, postponing, or abandoning altogether – you just have to let go.

But rather than just creating vague excuses, I started setting monthly priorities.

The idea here is that these are my 30,000 foot, most-important focuses for the month. If the goals I set at the beginning of the month start to come into contradiction with my monthly priorities, hitting them is no longer worth it.

For example: the month I set these priorities, I set myself the goal of going to the gym every day. This was a fun but challenging goal.

At some point during the month, I realized I had committed to more social events than I realized. It wasn’t too much for my social battery, but between a number of late evenings and a lot of work projects, going to the gym every day was going to be rough.

In order to stay engaged in community (connect) and show up for my people (celebrate), I opted to scale back. I didn’t abandon this goal, but I did alter it to remain true to that month’s most-important priorities.

MONTHLY RESET GOALS

Every month, I like to choose 3-5 things to work towards. These are not chosen at random – but are directly tied into the goals/vision I’m setting for the year at large.

(Currently exploring a different system of this – using the 12 week year method, I’ll get back to you with my thoughts!)

A few quick tips for successful goal setting (more on that here):

• Set fewer goals than you want to. Productivity culture & aesthetics often make us feel like we need a long list of things to work on. Not only is this not true, it’s actively harmful. Trying to do too much at once will split your focus, divide your energy, and keep you from excelling in any area. Go slow and be intentional – I honestly think 3 goals a month is the perfect number!
• Set goals you can control. This advice should be so much more commonplace than it is. Don’t get me wrong – big goals, even if you’re not sure you can hit them, are incredible. So worth working towards! But big goals that are WAY out of your control? Not helpful. For example – setting the goal of increasing your income by X percent this year is a great one – there are many routes you can take to do that, and while of course not every factor is up to you, ultimately, this mostly comes down to how you follow through & the path you take. An unhelpful goal would be saying “get a 50% raise from my boss.” You can ask, you can earn it – but you don’t hold the power to make that call. Even if you do everything right, that may not happen.
• Track your goals. There’s so much value in setting goals that require you to show up every day. Whether it’s small steps or big actions, building the habit of following through is so powerful. A few years ago, I started using a Goal Tracker to actually keep a record of all the days I’ve shown up for myself – and I have it available as a free printable so you can do the same! Check out the free monthly Goal Tracker here.

Monthly goal ideas:

• Try a new fitness class every week
• Work out an extra day each week
• Write down one thing you appreciate about your significant other every day (at the end of the month, show them the list)
• Text a different friend every day of the week to see how they’re doing
• Journal every day
• Schedule time for self care at least once a week

(I actually have an entire blog post on this – feel free to scroll through here for more inspo!)

HABITS

The “Habits” section of my monthly reset checklist is actually one of my least-used sections – but I do think it holds value. Here’s why I’ve left it in (and why I don’t use it a ton).

Habit formation/behaviour pattern change is hard work. It’s a process of literally rewiring neural pathways, and it’s absolutely worthwhile/important to be both in touch with what you’re doing on the daily and intentional in cultivating it to reflect who you really want to be.

But it’s also really easy to overdo. 

If you’re trying to build more than 1 brand new habit a month, you’re going to have a rough time. It’s certainly doable to work on more than one at a time, but if you’re starting over every month with a whole chunk of new everyday tasks, you’re going to run out of time (or stop following through). 

Last year, I wrote the same habits almost every month. Not because I wasn’t making progress, but because I wanted to solidify those changes before I thought about doing anything else. The Habits section is hugely helpful – but I don’t change mine very much.

EXPENSE TRACKER

An essential part of staying on top of your finances, this expense tracker is a great tool to come back to throughout the month. If you’re a regular Notion user, you can also connect this table to a larger Budget page and have the expenses import directly. 

MEALS & THE MONTHLY RESET ROUTINE

One of my favourite parts of my monthly reset routine is the “meals I want to make” section. Honestly – I did not grow up liking cooking. Like at all, lol. But I am the primary cook in our household (by choice), and I’ve been dedicating time to learning to love it.

One of the biggest things I’ve done has been making fun meals. Cooking for enjoyment rather than just sustenance. I incorporated this into my monthly reset routine by setting aside a few minutes every month to find 3-4 recipes that actually look exciting.

This has led to the discovery of some of my favourite meals. It’s also just a great way to keep things from getting too repetitive, and been a great way to slowly build the habit of seasonal eating.

MONTHLY RESET ROUTINE PLANNING

“Monthly Planning” is kind of a catch-all space to keep track of any holidays, important dates, or trips coming up. I’m a pretty detailed planner, and this section is in no way all-encompassing. I use the list to brainstorm any and everything that might come up, and use the checkmarks to confirm that it’s in my calendar and any required time off has been booked.

THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO (how to fall in love with your life)

To end things off on a great note, wrap up your monthly reset with a list of things to look forward to. Whether it’s a change in the weather, seasonal decor, a trip or coffee with a friend – cultivate enthusiasm, fun. and romanticize the heck out of your life here.

I am not trying to minimize the true hardship, pain, and suffering that we all go through – some of us more than others. I think it is because of this, not in spite of it, that it’s so important to fall in love with your life. To take these little monthly opportunities to remember how fun and exciting life can be.

How to Download the Monthly Reset Routine Template

This free Notion monthly reset routine template is super easy to set up & customize – and if you’re a long-time Notion user, you may be able to mostly disregard this section. If you’re a newbie, or you’ve never purchased/downloaded a template before, fear not – I got you.

Create a Notion account:

Visit http://notion.so and click “Get Notion for Free” in the top right hand corner. Notion is free for individuals, and a truly incredible tool for any kind of planning and organization.

Once you’ve created an account, put your email below to download the Monthly Reset Routine Template. Within a few minutes, you should receive an email containing the link!

After clicking on the link, you should see this screen:

Click the “Duplicate” button in the top right corner. Notion will ask where you’d like to add the template – select your workspace, and then voila!

A copy of the monthly reset routine will appear in your Notion dashboard, ready to be customized, tweaked, and filled in to your heart’s content!