April is just around the corner. I’m personally really excited for it!

Are you?

I like beginnings of new months. It’s like a chance to start anew. To try and accomplish more than the month before. To become a better person for yourself and those around.

In the first week alone, I’m releasing my new book, my game and opening up my online store.

How could I not be excited for that! I could stop there and it would already be a productive month.

But I won’t!

Using the strategy below, I’ll make April one of the most productive month of my life.

And you can do the same!

The Strategy

One quote summarizes the strategy pretty well:

“Think things through, then follow through.” — Eddie Rickenbacker

Here’s the strategy in greater detail:

Step 1: Review The Previous Month’s Accomplishments

How did you do last month?
What did you accomplish towards your goals?

Most people don’t reflect on past accomplishments or “failures”, yet it’s through understanding these experiences that we learn and grow. It’s an important thing to do to become more productive: realize where you’re productive and where you’re not.

List your accomplishments and “failures”. Go down to the details.
Qualify and quantify them. Was it a great accomplishment? Was it an epic failure? Giving them a rating of your choosing in numeric value. 0–10 works fine for me.
Write down how you can improve on each of them. Write down what went right and what went wrong.

Take your time doing it too. There’s no point rushing this. If it takes 4 hours to do it, it will be worth it in the end, trust me.

Step 2: List All Your Goals For The Month A Few Days Before It Starts

Just 30 minutes ago I went to a quiet room and started thinking about all the goals I wanted to accomplish for April. As usual, I went a little crazy, but as I always say: “Aim freaking high!”. I tend to accomplish about 80% of the goals I set out to do. If I didn’t aim so high, I would accomplish much less.

Here’s my unedited list of goals for April (I’ll add more details in other pages of my journal in the next few days):

My list of goals for April. Don’t mind the chips stains and the terrible writing…

Any of these goals sound crazy to you?
Any sound too easy?
Do you have similar goals?
What are your goals?

Ideally, you would be a little more precise than that. This is just a draft. I’ll add the juicy details later, but it’s a good first pass.

In the list, I usually include the 3 new skills I want to learn, things I want to release, ways I’ll make money (and how much), events I want to attend, things I want to continue or start doing and more.

Again, like the step above, don’t rush this. I usually spend 4–8 hours planning my next month. The details take time.

Usually, for every point on my goal list, there are between 3–10 sub-points. Go into as much detail as you can, it will make it easier for you to track your progress.

Step 3: Track Your Progress Regularly During The Month

It’s simple. Review the progress on your goals on a weekly basis. Set aside 1 or 2 hours on your last work-day of the week to go through your list again.

This is similar to the first step of the process, but on a more present moment. Check the things you’ve done. Analyze their “success”, and course-correct — that is the main reason to track your progress weekly.

If you don’t track your progress regularly, you will side-track from your goals.

Inevitably.

Sometimes we feel we’re too busy to take a step back, but trust me, it’s more productive to do so and make a better plan of action for the week to come.

Conclusion

Do you follow a similar strategy to make your months productive?
Do you think you could make this work for yourself?
Do you have a better strategy? If so, what’s your strategy? Why is it better?

Feel free to share your answer(s) in the comments section. I respond to them!

Think things through, then follow through. Six words. Remember them.

Review your previous month, plan for the next and track your progress regularly. It’s a simple strategy anyone can do, and it will make you that much more productive.

You can do this!

Thanks for reading! :)