diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 02ce71fdf5..08a9a1daa2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+Note: The upcoming release contains empty lines to reduce the number of merge conflicts, scroll down to see past releases.
+
 v 7.7.0
   -
   -
diff --git a/doc/release/monthly.md b/doc/release/monthly.md
index 42a7e96ec3..175112b90c 100644
--- a/doc/release/monthly.md
+++ b/doc/release/monthly.md
@@ -85,14 +85,26 @@ Stop merging code in master, except for important bug fixes
 
 ## Update changelog
 
-Any changes not yet added to the changelog are added by lead developer and in that merge request the complete team is asked if there is anything missing.
+Any changes not yet added to the changelog are added by lead developer and in that merge request the complete team is
+asked if there is anything missing.
 
 There are three changelogs that need to be updated: CE, EE and CI.
 
+Remove the Note text in the stable branches.
+
 ## Create RC1 (CE, EE, CI)
 
 [Follow this How-to guide](howto_rc1.md) to create RC1.
 
+## Prepare CHANGELOG for next release
+
+Once the stable branches have been created, update the CHANGELOG in `master` with the upcoming version and add 70 empty
+lines to it. We do this in order to avoid merge conflicts when merging the CHANGELOG.
+
+Make sure that the CHANGELOG im master contains the following disclaimer message:
+
+> Note: The upcoming release contains empty lines to reduce the number of merge conflicts, scroll down to see past releases.
+
 ## QA
 
 Create issue on dev.gitlab.org `gitlab` repository, named "GitLab X.X QA" in order to keep track of the progress.