Deep into planning for 2026? Before you go any further, recognize that you only have about 80% of the time you think you do, so plan accordingly.
If you’re wondering how you’ve already lost that last 20%, here’s what I’ve noticed from 25 years of coaching corporate leaders – there’s a big chunk of the year that’s gone before you even start.
Just consider the year ahead for a few seconds. Things really don’t get cranked up for the new year until the second or third week of January as folks get their head back in the game after the holidays and a lot of “here’s what we’re doing this year,” meetings are held. Then, as the year progresses, there’s usually a dip around the week of Spring Break, and a big dip in the July – August time frames as summer vacations make it hard to pull together a critical mass of colleagues together to get big things done. There’s another mini dip around Thanksgiving and, finally, if you’re honest about it, the last two weeks or so of December are a wash as far as the office goes.
So that leaves you with around 42 weeks, not 52, to really get stuff done. And that means you need a plan and an operating rhythm for the year that is effective, efficient, and reality based. Here then are some tips and principles for creating an operating rhythm that enables you to live better and lead better in 2026.
Do a Post-Mortem – Start 2026 by doing a post-mortem on 2025. What worked well with your operating rhythm last year that you want to pull through to this year? What utterly failed and what does that tell you that you need to plan for, avoid, or mitigate in 2026?
Less is More – Differentiate yourself from most of your executive peers by not trying to cram 10 pounds of stuff into a 5-pound bag. When it comes to annual agenda setting, most executives’ eyes are bigger than their stomachs – there’s simply no way to accomplish every initiative on the wish list given the time and resources that are actually available. Don’t be that executive – decide to go deep on a smaller list of meaningful, high impact priorities and nail those, rather than going broad on a bunch and leaving a lot of loose ends and frustration in your wake at yearend 2026. So, go ahead and call it: What are your top three leadership priorities for 2026?
Reverse Engineer Back from Halloween – Realistically, if you don’t have your big milestones accomplished by Halloween, they’re likely not getting to done this year. Take some time down to define what success looks like at the end of October and reverse engineer back from that date to determine two things. One, are your plans do-able this year or do you need to reduce the amount of pounds you’re putting in your bag? And two, if your plans pass the pressure test, map out the mini milestones along the way and the people you’re going to need on board to reach them.
Start Early – Any big initiative (or this year’s milestone for multi-year projects) that doesn’t start by February probably isn’t going to get done by the end of the year. Scope it, communicate it, build the relationships you’ll need in January and early February if you haven’t already done so. Don’t discount the opportunity for relationship building now that will pay dividends when crunch time comes later.
The Terrain is Reality – There’s an old military saying that when the map differs from the terrain, the terrain is reality. As you draw up your map for the year, account for the reality of the terrain of the corporate calendar’s elements that are entirely predictable. Events like board meetings, quarterly business reviews, and budget seasons happen on a regular cadence every year and when they do they divert the time and attention of key players you probably need to get your stuff done. Keep the terrain ahead in mind as you make your plans.
Protect Your Time Now – The calendar monster will eat up your prime time for getting stuff done – the back half of Q1, all of Q2 and much of Q3 – if you let it. Get ahead of the curve and protect your productivity by blocking out deep think and deep work time for you and your team now. And because you and your team are only human, block out some rest and recovery time along the way.
So, where do you want to be at the end of 2026, scrambling to cram things in that are going to make the year a “success” or ending it with a feeling of accomplishment because you set forth a realistic agenda and operating rhythm back in January? What you do over the next couple of weeks will write the ending of this year’s book.
If you liked what you read here, subscribe here to get my latest ideas on how to lead and live at your best.