I personally choose to use two different monthly spreads each month. Yes, much of the information on the two are similar or duplicated, but they both serve very different purposes. But what do you really need a monthly insert for anyway?

A monthly insert serves a great purpose when you are doing your planning. One of the big reasons to include a monthly insert/spread in your planner is to give yourself a full view of what the month looks like. Sure a weekly is great for getting into the nitty gritty of your day, but looking at the full month at once is great for seeing the overall picture of where your time will be spent throughout the month. Especially if you are a busy mom following behind your children and trying to keep up with everything else.

Using a Basic Two-Page Monthly Spread

I use a two-page monthly spread for my personal planner. This gives me the advantage of using the whole two pages to write out all the things that I need to keep track over over the course of the month. You can see in my monthly spread in the photo below that I keep a color coded key to be able to know at a quick glance what might be happening on any given day. Some of the things that I track in my personal monthly insert are:

• personal appointments
• family obligations
• business related events
• leader events for my business
• bills
• home projects
• birthdays

Using a color coding system is two fold (1) at a quick glance I know what I have happening at any given time and (2) I know where the balance of my time needs to be focused.

Using a Month-on-One Monthly Spread

The other form of monthly that I choose to use is a month-on-one-page format, that has the full month on one page, with an opportunity to see notes and goals on the opposite page. As a direct sales leader there are many things that I track throughout the month, and using this style of spread allows me to be able to see my goals for the month, the progress the team is making, and the milestones I am hitting each month along with my personal appointments.

The writing in the month squares is also color coded, similar to my personal to track things like parties, leader obligations, and personal training opportunities.

On the notes section you will see that there are several things there I like to keep track of: parties and events for the month, new team members, qualifications of teammates, re-ranked leaders, rank qualifications, current rank status and my own personal sales.

This kind of set up makes it possible for me to see all of the things that I have going with my business throughout the month.

Are there Other Types of Monthly Spreads?

Month at a Glance:

There sure are, and Tula XII carries several other options as well. What I love about a monthly is that because it’s an overview of what you have happening the whole month, there isn’t just one design that fits everyone. What if you don’t like boxes and you prefer a list? YES! There is a monthly spread for that, called Month at a Glance. It is great for keeping a running list of what is happening for appointments over the course of the month. This one is great for tracking birthdays, appointments, or even sporting events.

Perpetual Sections:

The perpetual sections style of monthly is great for recurring obligations and appointments that happen every year. Birthdays, taxes, anniversaries, home maintenance. This style of monthly is something that you can fill out once, add to, but never have to throw away because the dates for those activities will happen every year. It is a great way to keep track of all those birthdays for your kids, nieces, nephews and grandchildren if you have them. And if you are one that likes to stay on top of the maintenance that you need to do with your home, this is one way to keep that organized so you can do the same activities every year and know that they aren’t getting missed.

What style of monthly works best for you. You can check out this set up video for one of the monthly spreads in my personal calendar to see how I take time each month to set up my calendar and have it working for my needs.

If you would like more information about other planning tips and tricks I offer you can check out the link here: Planner Coach Offers