I know you know; I love a planner. Especially a new planner. I love a new planner more than I love planning in it. I just don’t want to mess it up. The crisp first page. The smell. The perfect pages. The promise that this is the year…

Ah, the optimism.

Then I sit down to plan, surrounded by my favorite pens, markers, highlighters, and tabs, and I stare at January as if it owes me money. What fixes that for me is the buddy system. Planning and starting is easier for me when someone else is doing it at the same table, even if it’s virtual. So this year, I looked for planner brands and paper people who opened their doors and said, “Come plan with us.” Here’s what I found:

Passion Planner: three free virtual sessions. Passion Planner runs community events all season, and almost all of them are free. Start with Celebrate Your Wins: An End-of-Year Reflection on Thursday, December 10. Then try Your 2027 Roadmap, where you name what matters most and turn it into goals. It runs twice: Thursday, December 17, and again Thursday, January 7, for those of us who don’t get around to it until the confetti’s swept up.

Cultivate What Matters: This one makes me sad. Cultivate What Matters is closing in early 2027, and the 2027 PowerSheets are their final goal planners. If you’ve ever worked through those prompts, this is your chance to do it one more time with the community that grew up around them.

Jane’s Agenda: The Annual Planning Marathon. Three sessions, 90 minutes each, printable workbook. Get instant access and work through them on your own schedule.

Cloth & Paper: Planning Ahead for Your Busiest Season. The best advice for making the next few months a bit easier and a lot more fun. And with Cloth & Paper, planning always looks polished and pulled together.

The Next First Step

Whether you plan with a crowd or alone at the kitchen table, start the same way: get everything out of your head before you write down a single goal.

I give it ten minutes. Every worry, errand, half-idea, and my to-do list goes on paper, in no particular order. Then I sort it into three piles: what belongs in January, what belongs someday, and what I can let go of. The goals are almost always hiding in the first pile. You just can’t see them until the rest is out of the way.

This year, my brain dump lives on the “Things I Need to Overthink” notepad from the BINDER Shop. The name just makes me laugh every time I see it, and laughing is a good way for me to start planning a year. I only have six remaining, so if you’re interested, they are $10, and you can get yours here.

Prompts Matter

If you’d rather plan on your own schedule, Focused Mind posts excellent prompts all season long. Here are the ones worth checking out:

From Focused Mind on Instagram:

Set up your calendar and your week

• How to organize your entire life with one calendar system (a 7-step setup)

• Create a weekly system that runs your life

• 5 days’ worth blocking out every single month

• Having goals vs. having systems

• The “Black Notebook Rule”, for those of us who still trust paper most

Reset before the year ends

• The November 30-day reset plan

• A weekend plan that resets your year, starting Friday night

• 5 simple steps to get your life together before the year ends

• 7 steps to hard reset your life before 2027

Watch the clock

• 9 weeks, 63 days left in 2026

• 70 days left in 2026

Your Turn

Here’s a scary thought: When Focused Mind posted on October 21, only 10 Mondays remained in 2026. By the time you read this, even fewer remain. So, no more “I’ll start next week.” Next week is one of the last ones we’ve got!

Don’t plan 2027 alone. Pick one event, watch one video, call a friend, or let’s sit down and plan together! We can even do it right here in our chat. Leave a comment and let me know if you’re interested.

Or feel free to try one of the suggestions above. You can’t go wrong. They’re some of my favorites!