Doing a month in review is actually something I learned many years ago and have not stuck to at all. But it’s a smart thing to do and can be applied to a few areas of your life.
Month In Review
I learned about doing a month in review years ago when I worked for the Queensland State Government. I, along with many other long term government contract staff, were sent along to some professional development sessions about how to write selection criteria and interview for government jobs.
Most of it was tedious as hell, because it matched the tedious process of applying for a State Government job. But the one gem that did come out of these sessions was that you need to have examples of your work in order to write the selection criteria in a way that is relevant for your job. In order to have relevant examples for your selection criteria, it’s incredibly useful to sit down once a month and write up the things that have happened to you. Challenges. Projects. Feedback. Failures. Wins.
I was also reading this post on Lucky Bitch* about end of year rituals and I was wondering how I could mentally reconcile 2015 and move into 2016 in a more positive mindset. Lots happened in 2015 and while I am happy with how I handled myself, I don’t know how to reconcile the feelings I have about 2015. I tried the “what are you proud of exercise” in that post and got stuck after about 4 items. I’m sure I could have found more if I had dug deeper, but frankly, I have to be in the right mood for that and I wasn’t when I did it.
So, in combining these two ideas, I wanted to go ahead with a suggestion for 2016 – a simple month in review so that you take good steps forward. I’m also hopeful that in doing this on a monthly basis, there is fewer baggage at the end of a year, because you’ve dealt with your wins and fails along the way.
What do you cover?
Well, you can cover anything, honestly. I track my blog stats, social media followers & newsletter subscribers across all my blogs on a monthly basis. I like to remind myself of successful and unsuccessful pitches, conversations, decisions and thoughts that month. Some things are more tangible than others, and it really depends on what area of your life you are focusing on as to what you find value in tracking. In my day job I actually do a weekly review, as it’s busy and if I did it monthly then I wouldn’t remember what had happened.
Do you review your month (or week or year)? Do you think there’s a benefit in doing it more than just annually?
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Sounds like a good plan!
I am aiming to stick to it for this year, let’s see if I actually do haha.
I don’t do months in review as such except I do a “whats been going on in my kitchen” I should probably spend more time reviewing analytics to focus better on where it’s worthwhile spending my time etc.
It depends what your goal is. If the kitchen one works for your goals, then there’s no real need to track stats if you don’t want to! I’m a very qualitative person but i is easier to write down and track the quantitative things like stats.
I have been reviewing my blog stats & social media weekly but I’m planning on moving to a monthly review instead. I would definitely benefit from reviewing other areas of my life and work as closely as I monitor my blog – lol!
I think monthly is plenty for blogs, unless you are aiming to increase traffic dramatically because affiliate sales are a key strategy for your (or similar!).
I probably don’t review as much as I should. Thanks for the prompt Ness! 🙂
No worries. Let me know how it goes for you!
This is food for thought and thanks for the insights. I do not track how I am going really because I get somewhat confused by the ways in which a blog’s tracking system can be read. Right now I am pretty happy to get almost all posts with at least 1-2 comments (and I know more visit/read), so with no goal for more I am pretty happy. I am going to look at it more though over time. Cheers, Denyse
I really don’t. Maybe I should? I find I get to the end of the month and have no idea what happened.
Maybe weekly then 🙂 I think you just have to try these things, tweak and see if it really holds value for you or not.
I’ve just reached 10 years as a Queensland State Government employee 🙂 Anyway, I don’t usually do a review, but I can see a benefit in it for sure. Life goes past so quickly, it’s important we pause and reflect.
It’s a good idea. Not something I do as such, but I do more of a mental review in my head. I always think it’s a good idea to take stock, see what’s working, where you could better yourself and how to move forward.
I started doing a monthly review on my blog last year using a template from Meet me at Mike’s. It started to feel repetitive though after 3 or so months.
Such a great idea – particularly for those of us who always rushing to the next thing without pause to celebrate or reflect.
I do them in my Government job but not for the blog. I set a vague plan on doubling the freelance articles I am writing this year, and have a Leonie Dawson diary which seems to keep mW on track week to week, not just for work stuff but for wellbeing stuff too.