101: The Art of Monthly Planning for ADHD Success

[00:00:08] Laurence: Hello and welcome back to another episode of the ADHD Goals podcast. I am your host Laurence Pratt, and today.

So let me ask you something. Have you ever reached the end of the month and looked back and thought, hang on a minute, did I actually do anything that I meant to? So if you live with ADHD, time can feel like one big blur, days roll into weeks, and before you know it, another month’s gone. And you’re left wondering where all your goals, habits, and intentions went.

But don’t worry, you are not alone. And better yet, there’s a way to gently take the reins back. Today we’re gonna dive into the magic of monthly planning and how a few intentional moments at the end of each month can [00:01:00] completely shift your energy, focus, and peace of mind. So why planning feels so hard with ADHD?

So let’s start with the honest truth. 

Planning with ADHD can be messy. We struggle with things like time blindness, the sense that time is either now or not. Now, breaking big goals into steps can feel overwhelming and estimating how long things take. Forget about it and looking at a blank calendar. Well, that’s like staring into the abyss.

Sometimes we avoid planning because we’re afraid we’ll fail at it, so we just wing it and hope for the best, and hey, sometimes that works, but most of the time it just leads to that. What the heck just happened? Feeling without a plan. It’s easy to get stuck in survival mode, and we forget important things.

We live in constant reaction, [00:02:00] putting out fires instead of planting seeds. And self-care just gets pushed aside. Projects stay half finished and guilt starts creeping in. You start to wonder, why can’t I just get it together? And here’s the truth, it’s not about willpower.

It’s about having a structure that’s made for you. And that’s where planning done the right way can be life changing. So here’s the good news. Monthly planning doesn’t have to be rigid or boring. In fact, it can be like self-care, like giving yourself a little love note. Monthly planning helps you to prioritize what really matters.

Create space for rest, play and goals, reduce stress and decision fatigue, and feel more in control without getting overwhelmed

Now to help you do this in an ADHD friendly, visual, non-intimidating way, I have created a [00:03:00] free monthly review PDF, just for you.

It’s colorful, playful, and designed to help you reflect and reset without the overwhelm. And if you are a person especially who likes to prefers to write things down, then this is perfect for you. You will find in the show notes that there is a link.

If you go to the link, you can download the monthly review PDF, and at the end of each month you can download it from your desktop and. Start this step-by-step process. So step one, the wheel of self-care. This is a visual snapshot of how you are doing. So you can rate areas like sleep, screen time hygiene, gratitude, exercise, things like that.

And you can rate them from one to 10, and you can color them in to see how you’re feeling [00:04:00] and you can color them in to see where you are feeling strong and where you might need a little more help. Here’s a little tip. Use this while listening to music or sipping a nice cup of tea and make it a gentle ritual.

Step two, the healthy habit tracker. So once you have done your wheel of self-care and you’ve identified where you might need a little more structure, you can use the. Healthy Habit Tracker to include something that you wanna pay attention to that month. So pick one habit that you want to focus on every time you stick to it.

Color in one little square. And this isn’t about perfection, it’s about progress. Watching those colors fill up is very satisfying for the dopamine levels. Step three, your monthly planner grid. Plan your month in bite-size pieces, fill in [00:05:00] birthdays, appointments, projects, just the essentials.

List two to three main priorities for the month and the ADHD brain love simplicity. This is not a 50 point checklist. And step four weekly look aheads. Each week has a space to note your top one to three priorities and how you want to feel.

Come back to this every Sunday or Monday, and it keeps you focused without feeling boxed in. This isn’t about micromanaging your time, it’s about checking in with yourself and aligning your energy with what truly matters. So if you are ready to bring some more calm and clarity into your month, I’d love to, I’d love for you to try this for yourself.

Download the free monthly review, PDF, and it’s linked in the show notes, and you can head over to the link. So download your free monthly [00:06:00] review, PDF, and the link is right there in the show notes.

Start using it today and to see how it changes the way you move through time.

So to wrap this up, planning doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t need a bullet journal worthy of Instagram or a color coded empire. You just need a moment, a pause, and a chance to check in with yourself and set a gentle direction. Well there, we have it. Thank you so much for listening this far. If you want to hear more episodes, then please subscribe on YouTube or whatever podcast platform you use. It really helps us spread the word. So if you know anyone, this episode could help, then please share it with your friends. If you want to follow me on social media, I am on Instagram at ADHD underscore goals. And you can find me on Facebook too. If you want to get into touch with the show, then you can email me at hello@adhdgoals.co [00:07:00] And finally, if you’re struggling to manage your ADHD and you would like me to be your coach, then please head over to my website and get in touch. Until next time. Bye for now.