Let me start by stating: I blame my calendar — and the new job.
I just re-read my 2025 resolutions, and boy, did I whiff on four of the six goals I laid out for myself. In 2025, I failed to start a podcast for The Banner, exercise regularly, read at least 24 books, and buy a house.
What’s worse, each of the goals was massively achievable for me. But I was waylaid by changing professional goals and focus. For others, I reverted to bad habits — too much streaming TV, overworking, and losing myself in all the things that needed to be accomplished in a day, without giving myself any time to think about what needed to be done that week, that month, and that year.
But what’s worse is that I let my calendar get out of control, and my poor sleep habits dictate my energy levels.
If you’re reading this, you should know I am my worst critic. It is why, for example, I’ve begun this post with my failures and not my successes. I am stubbornly modest about what I have achieved — being named the executive editor for The Banner Montgomery, for one — and forward-looking.
For the past two weeks, I’ve been thinking deeply about what it means for me to be productive and to hold myself accountable, to achieve these goals and others. I’ve been writing and researching incessantly about productivity systems, digital and physical note-taking, and building and sustaining new habits. That’s probably why I’ve looked forward to writing my 2026 resolutions.
I’m looking forward and constantly trying to improve.
Every year, I try to attack my deficiencies through these resolutions. Some are ongoing issues, such as maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and others reflect my identity as a journalist and communicator. Whether it’s writing more, podcasting, or developing specific skills, those resolutions often center on my desire to improve as a journalist. I know I will take some of this forward with me into the new year.
So here’s where my head is at on Dec. 31, 2025, and what I want to accomplish in 2026.
1. Reclaim my calendar
This process is already underway. I’ve begun declining and removing myself from unnecessary meetings. Though I think to be successful here, I will need to be vigilant about protecting my space for creativity, focus, and emergencies. My goal here is to reduce my meeting time from 3-4 hours per day to 2 or less.
To do this, I will time-block for essential, priority, and administrative work. I’ll also be delegating more of the day-to-day to my colleagues.
2. Track my habits — and my calories
I’ve been reading up on how the simple act of tracking what you do and what you eat can have a powerful effect on your behavior. I have somehow managed to make do without checking boxes my whole life. And I think I’ve done pretty well for myself. But there are places where I’m clearly lacking.
So to hold myself accountable, I’m going to track it all — every single day, which leads to my third resolution.
3. Build work and life systems
I need checklists and accountability systems. Tracking habits is one thing, but how does that work? And what form does that take?
Part of what frustrated me about my own work output was my reliance on memory and scattered notes to return to tasks and projects. I was also too reliant on muscle memory for my daily routine, so I couldn’t alter much or rethink it. And, not to belabor the point, I had a feeling I didn’t give myself the time and space to do so.
So I’m beginning to adopt new systems to help me capture and organize my work efficiently and to rearrange my physical spaces so they’re conducive to that end.
I also know that I can’t show up well for my wife and kids if my brain is constantly scrambling to figure out what I need to do next. To make space for them and be fully present, I need to organize myself elsewhere.
Again, I’ve been really good at relying upon my memory and my daily scrap of notes in OneNote, but to go further and farther, I need to build out what my ideal day looks like — with all the wiggle room for a person whose profession specializes in the untimely and unscheduled.
That’s it. That’s all I’m committing myself to. If, at the end of this year, I can look back at the health app on my phone, the calorie counter, the daily checklists, and the filled notebooks, and see consistency, filled bubbles, and checkmarks, I think I will have accomplished my goals. And, in doing so, improved my life in other ways, too.
