Thinking About My 2026 Planner

Why I’m Already Thinking About My 2026 Planner (and Why You Might Want to Start Too)

Yesterday, I was slogging through my to-do list — juggling proofing pages for the printer, answering questions, and chasing down people who owed me work — when my lunch timer went off.

Quick note: I set a timer for lunch because if I don’t, I’ll just power through the day and then feel mysteriously awful later. My body’s like, “Hey, remember food?” and my brain’s like, “Wait, it’s 3 p.m. already?”

So I grabbed my food, sat down in the kitchen, and prepared to lose twenty minutes of my life to YouTube’s mysterious algorithm. That’s when I saw it:

“Getting my 2026 planner ready.”

My first thought: “Calm down, lady. It’s still August.”

My second thought: “Holy cow, it IS August. How did that happen?”

Naturally, I clicked.

I watched as she flipped through her ring-bound planner with its spreads, year trackers, and calming lo-fi music in the background. My lunch timer went off again, and back to work I went.

But that little thought started buzzing in my head.

Should I get ready for 2026 now?

The Case for Early Planning

Before you roll your eyes and say, “Carrow, calm down, it’s still August” — you’re right.

Normally, I wouldn’t start thinking about a new year this early. But there are reasons:

• Work output will increase next year.

• My responsibilities have grown.

• I still want time to hang out with my knitting friends on their podcast and chase down other players in PvP.

• And, honestly, I haven’t written a planning blog in a while.

Also, I genuinely enjoy setting goals and creating systems. I know some people are firmly in the “no goals, only vibes” camp, and I respect that. But I thrive on structure. We can both live our best lives.

The #1 Rule: Plan Like You’re Going to Be Sick All Year

When we plan for the future, we tend to overestimate how much our future selves will be able to do. Psychologists call this the planning fallacy — a term coined by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky — which describes how we consistently underestimate the time tasks will take and overestimate our capacity to complete them.

When we fill our days with best-case scenario expectations, we set ourselves up for frustration.

By March, many people have already abandoned their goals because they can’t keep up. And it’s not because they’re lazy — it’s because they designed their plans for a version of themselves who’s firing on all cylinders every day.

Instead, plan as if you’ll be operating at 50% energy most of the time.

That way, you’ll still meet your goals on bad days — and crush them on good days.

My Personal Example

At the start of 2025, I set a goal to write and post a short story every week on my website.

Could I do that? Yes — I can knock out 5,000 words a day if left alone.

Did I do it? Yes… until March.

Then my workload spiked, my writing time shrank, and my priority shifted to finishing Dirty Deeds.

If I were setting that goal today, I’d revise it to: publish one short story per month. That’s still consistent, but much more realistic.

💡 Science Says: Why “Sick-Day Planning” Works

Studies in behavioral economics show that people fall prey to the optimism bias — the belief that we are less likely than others to experience setbacks or delays (Sharot, 2011). By deliberately planning for a reduced capacity, you build in a “failure buffer” that increases the likelihood of success and reduces burnout.

Tip 1: Dream Big, Then Halve It

Start with a brainstorm of everything you want to achieve. Don’t hold back.

Then — and this is where most people flinch — cut it in half.

Still too much? Cut again.

This doesn’t mean you’re lowering your ambition. You’re raising your odds of actually finishing what you start.

💡 Science Says: Small Wins Build Momentum

Goal-setting research by Locke & Latham shows that while challenging goals increase effort, attainable goals are crucial for maintaining motivation. Completing smaller, realistic goals creates a dopamine feedback loop that makes you want to keep going.

Tip 2: Plan Around Your Energy, Not Just Your Time

Most productivity advice focuses on blocking out hours. But the science of chronotypes — our natural biological rhythms — shows that when you do work matters as much as how long you do it.

• Morning people have peak focus in early hours.

• Night owls hit their stride later in the day.

For me, mornings are my prime time for deep work. All big tasks happen before 10 a.m.

After that, my schedule opens for meetings, quick-turn tasks, and reactive work.

💡 Science Says: Energy Is the Real Currency

Research by Daniel Pink (When, 2018) and circadian rhythm studies suggest that aligning your most demanding tasks with your personal energy peaks can improve focus, accuracy, and creativity — sometimes by as much as 20–30%.

Tip 3: Accept Your Non-Negotiables

In my case, when my boss wakes up, I have to be ready for urgent requests. That’s not going to change. Pretending it will is just wasting mental energy.

We all have fixed constraints — school drop-offs, recurring meetings, medical needs — that won’t disappear just because we wish them away.

The smarter move is to plan around them.

💡 Science Says: Resistance Burns Energy

Cognitive load theory shows that fighting against unchangeable constraints drains mental resources. By accepting them as part of your baseline reality, you free up capacity for creative problem-solving.

Tip 4: Use 12-Week Sprints

If you give yourself a year to complete something, it’ll probably take a year.

That’s Parkinson’s Law: work expands to fill the time available.

Breaking the year into four 12-week sprints creates urgency without the burnout of monthly deadlines.

You can:

• Plan specifics one month before the sprint starts.

• Adjust for travel, events, or unexpected changes.

💡 Science Says: Deadlines Drive Progress

Research from MIT on time-constrained work shows that shorter, well-defined deadlines improve follow-through rates by up to 40%. Frequent check-ins increase accountability and adaptability.

Tip 5: Pick the Right Tracking System

This is where many people get stuck. They spend weeks designing a beautiful planner… then never use it.

Here’s what matters: your system should be easy to use, reliable, and tailored to you.

I use Obsidian because:

• I can customize it endlessly.

• It works offline.

• I can find a meeting note from three years ago in seconds.

Paper planners offer tactile satisfaction and visual clarity, while digital systems excel at search and storage. A hybrid model can give you the best of both worlds.

💡 Science Says: Friction Kills Habits

Behavioral scientist BJ Fogg (Tiny Habits) emphasizes reducing “activation energy” — the effort needed to start a task. The more seamless your system, the more likely you’ll keep using it.

Checklist: Getting Ready for 2026 Without Overplanning Yourself into Burnout

1. Do a Brain Dump

   1. Write down everything you want to accomplish.

2. Reality Check

   1. Revise the list as if you’ll be at 50% energy most days.

3. Identify Energy Peaks

   1. Match hard tasks to high-energy hours.

4. List Your Non-Negotiables

   1. Accept and work around them.

5. Set 12-Week Goals

   1. Use quarterly sprints for big projects.

6. Choose Your Tracking Method

   • Paper, digital, or hybrid — make it frictionless.

7. Test Drive in Q4

   • Trial-run your system now, tweak before January.

8. Schedule Reviews

   1. Monthly or sprint-end check-ins keep momentum.

Final Thought

Planning for a new year isn’t about loading January with impossible dreams.

It’s about building a flexible structure that supports both your best days and your worst.

So yes — maybe it’s a little early to be thinking about 2026.

But starting now means that when January rolls around, you’ll be ready to hit the ground running… without running yourself into the ground.