I’m going to do a month’s worth of work on October 2nd.
And again on November 3rd.
And again on December 4th.
Let me explain…
Just like you (I assume), I’ve got a bunch of tasks I need to do on a recurring basis that aren’t tied to any specific deadline.
And just like you (I assume), one of four things happens with most of them most of the time:
1. They sit on my To Do List for months – forever a bridesmaid and never a bride.
2. They take up permanent residence in my brain, using up space that could be spent on more important things like contemplating what the best scene in Pulp Fiction is .
3. They quickly get forgotten until I have an epiphany months later that goes something like, “Oh shit, it’s months later and I never did that thing I always tell other people to do regularly. Also, I really need to buy some new sneakers.”
4. All of the above.
None of these are exactly happy endings.
The added irony is most tasks that fit into this category aren’t that complicated and don’t take much time to do.
And yet…
They rarely get done other than on a sporadic and random basis.
But I think I’ve found a cure to what ails me (and I assume you).
Each month I’ll pick one day during the first week of the month to dedicate solely to these tasks.
I’m calling it my “Monthly Day.”
(Super clever, I know.)
I’ve created a list of recurring tasks I want to get done at least once a month and will do them all on that day.
Is this an incredibly basic concept?
Yes.
Is it worthy of a blog post?
But if you’re like me (and once again I assume you are), my guess is you’ll find a similar approach helpful.
To give you a sense of what I’m going to do on my Monthly Day (that’s really NOT a good name), here’s what I’ve got planned so far:
• Review my previous month’s business.
(What I earned, who was smart enough to buy ads in my newsletter, which clients paid, whose legs I need to break, etc.)
• Email my Skill Sessions annual subscribers whose subscription is set to auto-renew the following month to give them a heads up.
(Yes, that could be automated, but I haven’t set it up – a classic case of do as I say, not as I do.)
• Clean my email list.
I put subscribers who haven’t opened any emails in a month into a re-engagement sequence and delete the ones who don’t re-engage because they’re dead to me and I don’t care about meaningless vanity metrics like total subscribers (who don’t open my emails).
This sequence is automated – yay me! – but I have to manually create the segment of people to enter into it.
If you use ConvertKit, here’s how to set it up.
• Publish a blog post that includes all the daily newsletters I sent the previous month.
This is a new thing, but long overdue.
I’ve got an archive of my Sunday newsletters, but never added my one-paragraph weekday newsletters to my site before.
Because they’re so short, I plan to compile a month’s worth of daily newsletters in a single post on the site.
This will also give me a powerful asset to promote the newsletter because I can drive people to a page that features everything I shared the previous month.
And that page will be awesome so…
The people who see it will REALLY want to subscribe.
• Create a new niche-themed YouTube playlist featuring highlights from my podcast.
I’ve already got playlists on topics like newsletter growth, content creation, and monetization, but this will ensure that once a month I create a new playlist on a specific topic – for example, ones on podcast growth and copywriting are likely headed your way soon.
Once I create the playlists, I’ll promote them through my newsletter, on Twitter and LinkedIn which will (again) drive attention to the podcast and videos on a monthly basis.
This should be a great way to get more value out of content I’ve already created.
As you know, I’m a big Content Maximizer. 😉
• Publish a new Covered playlist on Spotify.
Like the ones I made for 1985 and 1973 which feature the best cover versions of songs released in those years.
Does this have anything to do with my business? No.
Is it fun? Yes.
Are the playlists awesome? Yes.
Ok, let’s wrap this thing up…
Long story short, that’s how I plan to do a month’s worth of work in a day.
I’m sure I’ll add to my list of monthly tasks over time, but setting aside a day to do stuff like this has already freed up mental headspace and I find myself adding to the list when an idea of something I want to get done pops into my head.
(Which is often.)
It’s possible to get a LOT done in a day, so I’ve got plenty of space to fill and I’m excited to give this approach a try.
October 2nd…here I come!