Ooh la la. I love talking about task management, and how to work smarter and today I’m bringing you a quick tip of something I’ve been implementing more recently! A monthly duty day. I first read about this concept on Katelyn James’ blog and thought it was a great idea but never got around to actually scheduling it. Now that I have- I’ve seen the light because it helps me save so much time daily not have to do mundane miscellaneous tasks whenever they pop up. I have ONE dedicated day to whiz through them, and most of the time, they don’t take a whole day!
So what is a monthly duty day?
Essentially, it’s the concept that on the first day of the month (or any scheduled day really!) you have a list of things that need to get done. Kind of like a chore chart for your life and business, of things you need to do every month!
I’m a big fan of batching tasks together, so this concept is similar in the sense that you’re batching a lot of miscellaneous and quick tasks on one day. In this post I’ll talk about how to do it and what things you could do on this day to help you get a better grasp on your schedule as a whole.
So first off:
- SCHEDULE YOUR MONTHLY DUTY DAY
I used to think I would realize it was the 1st of the month and I’d just do miscellaneous things as needed, but this never really worked for me. Like at all. I’ve learned if I have no plan, it doesn’t happen, and even more so, if that plan doesn’t have a due date or a deadline, it’s REALLY not happening. So now, sometime during the first week of the month, or the last week of the month, I’ll schedule my monthly duty day.
I personally schedule and block out an entire day but if I get done early, I can just move on to business things or an afternoon off!
- TIME YOURSELF
The next thing I do to get it done is time myself. I feel like I always thrive when I’m trying to beat the clock, and I love using my Multi Timer app to set timers and alarm sounds to get down my list and stay focused. I just go down my checklist one by one until I’m all done and that whatever time left in the day is free time!
- WRITE A CHECKLIST TEMPLATE
I suggest writing out a template in a task management system such as Asana or Trello and then all you need to do is copy the template and rename it for the new month and you’re all set! Here’s a screenshot of most of my list so you can get an idea of what might go into a day like this!
And that’s it! This has really saved me so much time in the long run because it keeps me from piling up my work days with miscellaneous to dos. PLUS it also frees up some brain space and forces me to stay on top of my goals and other things on my to-do list that might only otherwise happen in off season (like updating my website!)
Comment below and tell me: do you currently have a monthly duty day? Do you do anything similar?
I love this idea! But how oh how do you decide what can wait that long? Most of the things that pull me away always seem “urgent”… how do you organazine so well?? Teach me yours ways, O wise one! ????
Haha Hailey! I guess it depends what my top priority is for that day! Lots of emails can wait for another day, and I think it’s really just a mindset shift. Is something negative going to happen if you don’t do this one thing right away? If not, it can wait! And of course that’s not the only filter, it’s either that or is this going to help me grow, move forward, is this a priority, etc. It takes practice to prioritize things well but I think when you have a clearer vision of what the end goal is, that helps you define what’s important right now. =)