As the year winds down, most leaders are in reactive mode—wrapping up projects, closing out budgets, and trying to squeeze in end-of-year reviews. It’s a busy season, and without intention, it’s easy to get consumed by the urgent instead of focused on the important.
But the end of the year can be one of the most strategic moments a leader has.
This is the time to pause, reflect, and lay the groundwork for a more focused, intentional, and impactful upcoming year. It’s the perfect moment to build the priorities and practices into your calendar that will become the structures guiding your most impactful leadership in the year ahead. In my new book, The Elevated Leader, I call this Priority Planning—a simple yet transformational practice that helps leaders shift from reactive to purposeful so you can start the new year with clarity, momentum, and impact.
Priority Planning is the intentional, strategic practice of scheduling your most important professional, leadership, and personal commitments upfront so your calendar reflects what truly creates impact. It ensures that your essential work—your key result areas, strategic thinking, development, and wellbeing—is protected instead of competing for whatever time is left over.
Why Priority Planning Matters
It’s human nature to procrastinate on the important, often more time-consuming work that takes more energy and focus, in favor of smaller, easier tasks. Emails, meetings, and interruptions fill our days, and before we realize it, the important work keeps slipping further down the list.
Instead of setting our agenda, we let our inbox and our calendar dictate it for us.
Priority Planning is more than planning ahead; it’s the strategic leadership practice that builds the core elements of exceptional leadership into your calendar—the habits, commitments, and structures that elevate your effectiveness.
The best time to begin Priority Planning is before the new year starts, before your calendar fills up with meetings and other commitments. You are intentionally building in time to focus on your key result areas that produce the best results in your position.
By planning now, you:
· Begin January with clarity and intention
· Protect time for strategic work
· Prevent reactive leadership
· Set expectations for yourself and others
· Ensure your most important commitments actually happen
Instead of starting the year in reactive mode, you design your schedule with a clear plan that supports intentional, elevated leadership.
What to Include in Your 2026 Priority Planning
Here are examples of what leaders can Priority Plan for 2026. These steps help you design your year from a place of clarity—not chaos.
Schedule your vacations and personal time.
If you delay, the year will fill itself—and the time you need for renewal and important family events will be harder to schedule. Book early. Block the time. Protect your wellbeing.
Schedule regular strategy days for you and your team.
A monthly strategy meeting—individually for you as a leader, as well as with your team—provides dedicated time to ensure you stay focused on the most important initiatives instead of getting caught up in day-to-day tasks.
Build in weekly planning time.
Choose a consistent day and time—Fridays at 3:00 p.m., Mondays at 9:00 a.m.—to intentionally plan for your week and month.
Schedule recurring team meetings for the entire year.
Consistency builds clarity, accountability, and alignment.
When starting a new project, schedule recurring blocks of time to work on the project.
Instead of hoping you’ll “find time,” proactively schedule it as a priority.
For team-based projects, schedule all stakeholder meetings at the start.
This eliminates the constant back-and-forth of scheduling.
Plan daily productivity sprints (60–90 minutes).
Productivity sprints are blocks of time where you are focused on one important task or project in your key result areas. Intentionally blocking time each day when you are at your personal peak energy ensures you make progress on important strategic goals.
Schedule recurring coaching sessions with each team member.
Development doesn’t happen by accident. Consistency matters because steady, ongoing conversations are what build capability, confidence, and lasting performance. Development happens through consistency—the regular, meaningful, mini-conversations throughout the year.
Block time to read industry news and research best practices.
Keeping up with industry developments and strategic leadership insights helps you lead a department that’s relevant, competitive, and constantly evolving for the future.
Schedule all important personal commitments now.
Schedule personal priorities like doctor appointments, kids’ events, and family commitments upfront so you’re not scrambling to fit them in later. I schedule regular massages for the whole year (because waiting until I need them means they don’t happen because my schedule is already booked) and I also plan monthly dinners with a friend. Ever since we started putting all our dinner dates on the calendar in January, we’ve been much more consistent about getting together. I also enter my kids’ school events as soon as I get the calendar, so I don’t miss important games and recitals.
Decide now which conferences and industry events you’ll attend.
Register early. Block the travel. Prioritize your development.
If something truly matters—your development, your wellbeing, your strategic work—put it on the calendar before the year begins. When you don’t, other people’s priorities will fill that space for you.
Priority Planning helps you take back control of your time, focus, and energy. Instead of reacting to whatever shows up, you intentionally build in the practices, projects, and commitments that support you in leading with clarity, impact, and results. Leaders who do this don’t just manage time more effectively—they think more strategically, are more influential, and build thriving teams.
2026 is right around the corner. Start designing your schedule and building your priorities in now so you can step into the new year focused, energized, and prepared.
I really love and enjoy this reading. Reading this I learned that when you speak out clearly you thoughts and ideas people see you as winner, because you are not afraid to go straight to the point.
Great article.....And happy belated birthday! Welcome to my world, young lady!
Whenever I have a work project that I keep putting off - I think about delegating that project to someone else - which accomplishes 2 things- it gets the project done and frees us my brain space thinking about it.
Good morning. I loved this read. Thank you so much for sharing. Sincerely, Melissa :)
Thank you for this blog Laurie. I liked most part and specially "As organizations have become more complex, there is a tendency to require employees to do more with less. This is a slippery slope, and often can result in employees feeling overwhelmed and burnt out. One of the biggest contributors to this is not evaluating resources during the strategic planning process." I will use this practice "A best practice is to do what I call Priority Planning—putting important practices on your calendar ahead of time so they become a priority in your day. Examples of activities to Priority Plan include scheduling recurring coaching sessions with each team member, time for strategic thinking and planning, vacations, doctor appointments, important children’s events, and blocks of time for focused work on projects." To be more effective, I will get a good rest so I can have enough energy in the morning. I will read the blog again along with the other links on employee evaluation. Thank you so much Laurie. Best wishes to you and your family.
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I love the feedback on the more than 50 hours of work. AND filling time. So true. Unfortunately, showing that you work longer hours is still seen as being a "hard worker" - not sure how to change that though.
I enjoyed the read. I concur that transitioning from technical skills to delegating results was a task within itself. I did not realize I was almost trying to do the same thing from my previous position, and it was not working. However, I am seeing the results of how delegating daily tasks makes my job and workload easier. Thank you, Laurie.
Thank you for sharing information about your trip Laurie! All 3 things resonate with me - probably #1 being the biggest. I know when I'm gone for a week, I'm still thinking about work and need a vacation when I get back because I did not relax enough. I think your idea of a longer vacation is definitely in my future!!
Hey Laurie, My take on your list - 1 - everyone has a story - listen 2- social media causes interpersonal problems 5- generational differences create hurdles / earn it you aren't entitled / we should help them get there not give it to them 6 AMEN some leaders I would have followed thru Hell, some I wish - well, you know 7- true BUT be as good as your word and 14- Hopefully we leave some good from our efforts, I know the good leaders I have had have. Seen a lot in my career but it really comes down to treat others the way you want to be treated, fair, honest, and straight forward. Good read. Take care
I love this so much and thank you so much for sharing! I really just love realizing that enjoying the simple things sometimes is the best! Also recognizing that what is important and fun to you may not be everyone else's fun on the on the trip. “Do we get to keep these toiletries?” was my favorite!!!! :):) Glad you had a great time and got to spend it with your family!
I very much resonate with lesson no 3! Thank you Laurie
I think the part that you might have missed in their top 5 things, some of which were not "Italian" or even different from home, all of them happened with you, both of you. And i think that is what they will remember too. And you've got tons of photos that will remind them of what the Sistine Chapel looked like - then they might remember what it sounded like or smelled like. Oh- and i agree with you 100% about sleep!
LOTS of great take-aways from this post! Thank you for posting! I especially love "slow down to speed up". That's a keeper!
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the not getting enough rest to be at my best. definitely need to get more quality sleep and make that a priority
It really is hard to narrow down the 3 lessons into one because they are all so interconnected. You need to give your mind and body THE TIME to relax SO THAT you can enjoy the SIMPLE THINGS, including REST. I enjoyed that lesson as a whole. I will take that lesson with me on my next vacation (or staycation). As always, thank you Laurie for your candor and for sharing your own lessons with others so that we too can benefit.
Great information and reminders
Laurie, Thank you for sharing your trip and these nuggets. The lessons that resonate most with me are it does take time to relax and getting proper rest. When you devote 15 plus hours of your day for work, taking care of home and others; the 6-7 hours you lay down does not cut it! For me during this time I'm trying to unwind and find myself thinking fighting not to think about what I have to do tomorrow. Even after I create a to do list for the next day...I find things I need to add. Taking a day off here and there doesn't cut it as well because of all the plans you have for that day. I try to make sure my Mental Health Days remains just that.... time for me to laugh, cry, scream.... whatever I need to release the cares and stress!
Really enjoyed the article... and all very true!
Since I was already well aware of #1 (I'm in the same boat with taking a long time to relax), I think I'm resonating most with #3. I'm learning to prioritize sleep / rest and it's been wonderful. Love that you said "I love sleep.". :)
Welcome back from vacation. Well deserve! Action is the key to success. Shoulder to shoulder, coaching and delegating task to help other employees grow are very important. It is a sacrifice that one must do. Forget about yourself and be with your team day in and out to help them grow, is not always easy. On the long run, your team is stronger, and you can depend on them for the success of the organization. Thank you so much!
So many great tips here, thank you!
I am so impressed you're able to disconnect and these are great tips I'll be sure to try on my next trip!
Such a great post - so inspiring!