The start of a new month means its time to do a review of the last one. One of the most important steps (for me anyway), are monthly review questions. After experimenting with various questions over the years I’ve settled on using these same 12 questions every month (makes it easier to track your progress and identify areas to improve).

12 Questions to ask yourself at the end of every month

I go through this list and write down my responses / notes for each one. It’s easy to just think of a few things in your head then move onto the next question but doing that won’t be as effective as actually writing things down. More things are likely to come to mind when you write them down and you can compare your answers from month to month.

1. Write down everything significant that happened this month (personal achievements, events, progress made on goals etc.)

2. Did I complete the goals I set for this month?

3. Am I happy with how the month went (why / why not?)

4. What did I do this month that I hadn’t originally planned to do?

5. Why did I do this when I didn’t originally plan to do this?

6. What did I do for myself this month?

7. What am I going to do / need to stop doing next month?

8. What needs improvement? (What tasks are time-consuming? What is making me unhappy?)

9. What am I going to start (or continue doing) next month?

10. Rate the month out of 10 (10 being the highest / best)

11. What are my goals for next month? (re-write your goals, choose goals to put on hold or delete goals that no longer interest you)

12. What is my main focus next month?

I print my monthly review pages and list out my answers. I don’t recommend doing this on scrap paper, keep it together in a notebook so you can compare past months and track your patterns.

Click here to download the printable list of questions (existing subscribers can login here – the password is at the bottom of every email I send)

If you’d also like a copy of my weekly review questions they’ve available here.

More planning tips

• My monthly planning process (all 7 steps)
• My 7 favorite planner supplies for making lists
• 5 Things I Plan (but not in my weekly planner)