Getting Organised for 2026
I love a fresh start! A new year feels like the perfect time to get organised, reset, and make sure I'm heading in the right direction. There’s something so satisfying about feeling clear and ready to begin again. I always enjoy hearing how others get organised and plan ahead, so I thought I’d share a few of my own habits too. Everyone’s process is different, but my hope is that by sharing what works for me, it might spark an idea or give you a little inspiration for your own planning.
Review The Year
Reflecting on what worked, what didn’t, and what brought me the most joy during the year, before moving on to planning the next year, is where I like to start - looking back over my work, reflecting on where I've grown, what I've learned, my successes, my failures and the things I tried. Taking the time to reflect helps me determine what I need to consider when planning for the next year.
Working in Quarters
Over time, I've discovered that organising my year in quarters feels right for me. It brings a lovely sense of rhythm to the year. Three months feels like just the right amount of time — long enough to set meaningful goals and see progress, but short enough to stay flexible and adjust when things shift. Perhaps it’s a remnant from my years as a teacher, when the school year was divided into four terms, but I’ve always loved the structure and sense of renewal that comes with each new quarter. It’s a gentle cycle of planning, reflecting, and realigning that keeps me moving forward without feeling rushed.
I’ve created a free quarterly planning PDF that you can download from my website if you’d like to try this approach too — a simple way to pause, look ahead, and keep your creative journey on track.
Setting Goals
Setting goals both terrifies and excites me. I love dreaming big, but once those dreams are written down and take shape, they suddenly feel real—and that’s when reality kicks in. I find it helps to go outside to my favourite spot under the trees with some paper, a cup of tea, and a pencil. I allow my mind to wander and dream freely while I write a list of everything that I can think of. It’s always a mix of reality and fantasy, but writing everything down without judgement or intentional thought helps to uncover ideas I didn’t even realise were sitting in the back of my mind. From there, I work out what I want to focus on and sort them into long term, mid-term and short-term goals. Then I start to plan by breaking them down into smaller, practical, hopefully achievable steps.
Then I go one step further by making a list of daily actions, general things I aim to do regularly such as continue to learn about surface design, nurture my motivation and creativity, and remember to create just for fun. It just helps me stay focused each day.
Planning The Year
Thinking about how I want to approach all the moving parts of my creative business, some of the things I consider are:
- My portfolio
- My social media presence
- How I will choose to present my brand and my work online
- My various memberships
- Marketing
- My website
- Updating my bio
- Headshots and brand photography
- My licensing and/or income creation strategies
- Who I'd like to work with
- My budget
- My systems and the way I organise myself
- Professional development - any courses I'd like to complete or books I want to read
- My creative direction and vision
- How I can improve my time management and workflow
Taking time to reflect and plan in these areas helps me move into the new year feeling grounded, intentional, and ready to grow — both creatively and professionally. As we all know, things will change and need to be revisited throughout the year, but considering all the bits and pieces will hopefully help move me closer to my goals.
A Business Summary
Every year, after I've set my goals and considered all moving parts of my business, I create a booklet that contains all the information I need to, hopefully, move forward with Green Acre Designs. It's like my reference book. I print it out and keep it handy so I can refer to it throughout the year. You can add whatever you want. That's what's so fun about it. I include things like:
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- A list of annual Goals, Guidelines and Daily Tasks
- My Why
- A list of Core Values and Affirmations*
- My Branding Outline**
- A description of my ICA
- My Budget for the year
- My Standard Operating Procedures - for example, submitting a collection to Phoebe or uploading designs to Spoonflower
- A list of my Memberships and Providers for my website and newsletter etc.
- Mood Boards of inspirational Images, colour palettes and quotes
- A list of Designers that inspire me
- An Annual To-Do List e.g. reviewing my website
- Any Articles that I find useful
- A yearly Calendar with significant dates marked such as registrations and memberships
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*I used the show notes from Bonnie Christine's podcast The Professional Creative to come up with my lists (episode 7 - The Power of Creative Truths and episode 170 - Defining Core Values for Creative Entrepreneurs)
**I read the book "How to Style Your Brand" by Fiona Humberstone and compiled my notes to create my outline
Revisiting Courses
Something I am planning to do in 2026 is to rewatch the courses I've already paid for. When I add up what I've spent on courses it's quite a sizable figure. So instead to re enrolling and spending more money, I've decided to use what I already have! This might be something you want to do too. My main revisits will be Immersion and Repertoire, because there's always something new to learn in these big courses I missed the last time around. I plan to complete each course within a realistic timeframe - one module per week. I purchased a course by Mindy Young a few months ago all about Photoshop for surface designers. I only watched the first lesson and then got sidetracked, so I'm going to schedule that as well!
Are there any courses you'd like to retake or complete?
Tidying Paper and Digital Files
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I like to file most of my drawings and sketches away before I start a new project like creating a fabric collection. That way, I can make sure I set myself up to work efficiently and keep my workspace tidy. Up until recently, I would store them in a huge pile where I couldn't find anything. Here's a new purchase I'm finding very helpful to keep my papers tidy. Now to find the perfect spot to hang it!
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I also look over my computer files and make sure everything is where it should be. A few months ago I spent a day creating a new folder for the business. Before that, I had a 'Green Acre' folder in the 'documents' folder, and another one in the 'pictures' folder on my computer. I was always forgetting which one I'd put things in. So I created a 'Green Acre Designs' folder on my desktop to house everything business-wise. I no longer waste time trying to work out where I saved my purchased mock-up files! I went a step further and created bespoke folder icons. It really does feel like me now!
I have also been looking at what comes in to my inbox and unsubscribing things that I no longer want to read. Receiving 60+ emails a day was ridiculous. I've subscribed to too many things, usually at 3am, when it felt like a good idea!
Stock Take
At the end of each year, I like to do a quick stock take of the supplies I use most often in my business—things like business cards, labels, return address stickers, mail bags, envelopes, and letterhead notepaper. It’s a simple habit that ensures I’m not caught short when orders come in or correspondence needs to go out.
Daily Habits
Taking Bonnie’s advice to write my to-do list at the end of the day rather than the beginning has been a wonderful new habit I've embraced. It’s such a small shift, but it genuinely clears my mind overnight and helps me start the next day with more focus and less mental clutter. As I'm a sucker for beautiful stationery, I created a bespoke 'daily diary' to write my to-do lists on.
For me, planning isn’t about having everything perfectly mapped out — it’s about creating space to think, dream, and set some gentle direction for where I’d like to go next. Even the smallest bit of organisation or clarity makes such a difference in how I feel about my work and how my creative year unfolds. I love starting each year (and each quarter) with reflection and a fresh start. I always see this process as a way to begin with intention — refreshed, focused, and excited for what’s to come.
I'd love to hear any of the things you have found have helped you stay organised. You can always email me at alison@greenacredesigns.com.au
Simple Abundance - A Year of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach
It’s so interesting to me that reading one good book leads to another. I was rereading Susie Pearl’s book 'The Art of Creativity' at the end of last year, and she mentioned 'Simple Abundance' by Sarah Ban Breathnach. I’m a little embarrassed to admit I’d never heard of the book before, but I’m not a book worm in the usual way – I love books, but my taste is quite niche!
I’ve been reading 'Simple Abundance' through 2025, and it’s brought me such a sense of calm and grounding that I plan to read it all over again in 2026. The book offers daily reflections on gratitude, creativity, and finding beauty in ordinary life. Each entry feels like a quiet reminder to slow down and savour what’s already around us. It’s a truly comforting read, and one I think you may enjoy just as much as I do.
