10 questions I ask myself at the end of each month (to set up a better month ahead) 1️⃣ What did I do this month that actually mattered to me? 2️⃣ Where did my time go that I didn’t intend it to? 3️⃣ What distracted me and what was I really avoiding? 4️⃣ What belief shaped my behavior this month - for better or worse? 5️⃣ What was the single highest-leverage action I took? 6️⃣ What did I say yes to that should have been a no? 7️⃣ Where did I operate on autopilot instead of by choice? 8️⃣ Did I protect energy, not just time? 9️⃣ What am I proud of even if no one else saw it? 🔟 What are my top 3 priorities next month? If you only had time to answer one of these, which would make the biggest difference to the month ahead? -- If you found this useful: ▶️ You might enjoy my (free) 1-page playbooks that you can download here: https://lnkd.in/ehvdikW9 ♻️ Repost to help your network too 🛎️ Follow me, Nir Eyal, for more posts like this
Nir Eyal These are some great pointers, thank you for sharing. Honestly, a lot of these are the same questions I catch myself asking most nights before going to bed. Not always in order, but they're there. Thoughts like, what did I actually spend my energy on today? What did I avoid? What mattered more than I thought it would? It's funny how it's really the same handful of things we're all just trying to get our heads around again and again - attention, priorities, choices, and whether we showed up the way we wanted to.
I got a daily setup that easily rolls into weeks, months, years. Reflection: 1. Did I live up to my expectations? 2. What did I do well? 3. Where can I improve? 4. What did I learn? 5. What am I grateful for today? Planning: What are the top 3 things I am focussing on tomorrow? (Rolls into first question of the reflection)
I built a Claude AI skill called /review that selects 3-4 of these questions every evening based on my actual day clients, decisions, energy. 2 minutes. Archived. Tracked month over month. What I've learned: good habits need a nudge, not just good intentions. The friction-free prompt is the product. Happy to share the skill. Connect, drop a comment or DM me. 🙏 @Nir Eyal
Thank you for sharing this. Recently, I had a wake up call regarding the dangers of being on "autopilot" in my particular field. Trauma therapy, like all solid theoretical practices, is a blend art and science. living in a creative flow state allows for the best nuanced work/healing to arise . So, I'm focusing on "being" enough each day to maintain a balanced rhythm to best serve my clients as well as family, friends, and individual growth which, for me, includes faith connection. The entire wheel you've shared details all of the things to consider when working to achieve this balance. Warmly, K
To me the most important one is protecting my energy. If energy is used optimally, then time is not a problem any more!
#2 hits the hardest. If you don’t know where your time went, you can’t change what the next month looks like.
These reflection questions are gold for anyone looking to take control of their time and habits. I love how they go beyond just productivity, emphasizing energy, choices, and high-leverage actions. Even answering one of these questions can dramatically shift how we approach the next month.
Strong set of questions, especially because they force intentional reflection, not just activity review. What’s interesting is how difficult this becomes at an organisational level. Individuals can ask:“Where did my time go?”But organisations rarely ask:“Where did our focus go?” That’s where the gap shows up. Because in many teams:• priorities shift faster than they are clarified• “yes” decisions accumulate without explicit trade-offs• and high-leverage work gets buried under urgent noise So reflection stays individual, while misalignment stays systemic. If I had to pick one question to scale, it would be: “What was the single highest-leverage action we took?” Because that question forces clarity on what actually moves the system, not just activity, but impact. And most organisations don’t struggle with effort.They struggle with focus.
Love this 👏 If I had to pick one, it’s: “What distracted me—and what was I avoiding?” Because that question reveals the real bottleneck. Fix that, and everything else starts to move.
This is such a practical way to reset each month!