How to Plan 2026 on a reMarkable Tablet Without the Overwhelm

Where did the time even go? 2026 is here—365 days of fresh, clean, blank pages. You might’ve already taken a moment to pause and think about new goals, or maybe some old ones you want to revisit and pursue this time around. So, what’s the game plan?

Planning should never be overwhelming. A well-designed system, a calm mind, and a consistent heart can make planning the whole year feel lighter—and actually fun! I want to share how I do it, and I hope you pick up a few helpful things along the way.

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Establish Purpose-Driven Goals

Creating a Vision Board helps me envision what I want my year to look like. It becomes my absolute anchor whenever I feel lost in the chaos.

There are four key areas people usually set goals for: personal, career, relationships, and spirituality/well-being. These help me clarify the kind of growth I want to pursue—whether that means becoming 1% better each day, or (in theory) about 37.78× better by the end of the year through compounding progress.

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To make sure my goals are realistically attainable, I also brainstorm early on what might get in the way—and what resources I’ll need to follow through. I try to keep actions S.M.A.R.T.: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This helps me refine each goal into something practical and doable.

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Setting the Pace for the Year

After populating the Vision Board, it’s time to put a timeline on it. After all, a goal without a date is just a dream.

This gives me a 30-foot view of the year so I can distribute goals intentionally. I can assign each quarter to an area of life, group goals that relate to each other, or structure things in a way that simply makes sense for my season. Once that’s set, I’ve basically laid out the trajectory of the year.

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The Power of Three

Conquering an entire year begins with mastering a single day.

The idea is to break down my core goals into three smaller, more manageable tasks. I start with my goals for the year, break them down by quarter, then work all the way down to each day.

Three (3) is a manageable number that encourages consistency without feeling overwhelming. The goal is to make each objective more achievable the smaller it gets—so this year’s goals don’t stay ideas but actually get done.

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Refine and Break Down Goals

Now that the core goals are set, the next step is breaking them into smaller, manageable actions.

I use the Eisenhower Matrix to figure out what to prioritize. It helps me clarify what deserves my attention first and where I should focus my energy, time, and skills.
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• Urgent + Important → “Do now” (usually tackled in the first month of the quarter)
  
  
• Important + Not urgent → Scheduled
  
  
• Urgent + Not important → Delegated or automated
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• Not urgent + Not important → Either pushed to later—or removed altogether

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From there, I rinse and repeat this process for my monthly, weekly, and daily pages. You can plan the whole year in one go or plan the next period right before the current one ends. To avoid overwhelm, I sometimes plan the next quarter during the last month of the current one, the next month during the last week of the current month, and the next week on Saturdays.

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Pause, Reflect, Press On

We often forget to step back and check how things are going when we’re busy living them. That’s why it’s important to pause—and reflect.

There’s a feedback loop I try to follow: action, assessment, and adjustment. This helps my system improve over time and fit my life better, not the other way around.

The goal is to become 1% better every day—so I can steadily move toward the goals I set for the year. As James Clear shares in Atomic Habits, tiny, consistent improvements compound over time into massive results.

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Create Your System

This is the system that’s worked best for me when planning a full year. Systems will differ from person to person, so the goal is to discover what works best for you. Try new approaches, keep what helps, and refine what doesn’t—until you have a system that fits like a glove.

The combination of methods above scratches my productivity-hungry brain just right. If this exact workflow resonates with you, you can check out the template I made, The Purposeful Planner, designed specifically for reMarkable Paper Pro Move, reMarkable Paper Pro, and reMarkable 2.

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