Dear Together Friends, Fans, and Family,
Tap, tap. Poke, poke. Hug, hug. How are we all doing? Best we can, I’m certain of that.
For a variety of reasons, most notably playing Camp Director for over 20 Heyck family members ranging in age from 2 months to 70+ years from Christmas to New Year’s, I don’t feel fully ready for 2026 (even with my Anticipatory Appointment and Vacation Thought Catcher), so my own New Year is beginning February 1. What is time, if not a construct? Plus, Dr. Together is firmly in the European culture of “January is still the holidays,” so I resorted to shoving the tree out the door solo. It seems many of my neighbors are of the same mindset, and I took a stroll last night and very much enjoyed seeing the decorations that are still up.
Heyck Holiday Camp Director vibes.
I don’t love the pressure of New-Year-New-You and optimization, but if you are looking for ideas to reflect and prepare at this moment on the calendar, here are a few personal favorites:
- Draft an After-Action Report for the Holiday Madness Okay, I don’t mean to be all formal, but sometimes things WORK and sometimes things DO NOT, and those ideas will fall out of my head if I do not capture them in my Holiday Manifesto. (Yes, there is an After-Action table.) Going to a restaurant for Thanksgiving: Worked. Dragging four teenagers to a Turkey Trot: Quitting that one. Tripling the batch of kale salad for Christmas Eve: A huge win. Dropping the ball on Chanukah: Not great, and my father is side-eying me from his grave. Next year, Morris, I’m on it!
- Create a 2026 (fun!) Bingo Card. Gretchen Rubin published a 2025 in 2025 Bingo Card (you may have to create a free account to see it; it is a 5X5 table, and you could easily make your own), and I like the low-stakes and low-pressure way to look ahead. If I did one of these, I would make it PURELY fun stuff because I am very NOT here for self-improvement. On my 2026 bingo card is taking my daughter to see her favorite country music star, hosting a giant St. Paddy’s Day house party with a live band and whiskey tasting table, completing the Maryland Freedom swim, and reading some fun YA books.
- Fold in some Tiny Tweaks. Laura Vanderkam’s Substack (again, you may have to sign up) discusses adding in Tiny Tweaks rather than big overhauls. My favorite part was the idea of re-purposing time you are already spending, like if you fall into your phone first thing upon waking – text a friend! If you are watching TV at night, may as well stretch your back on the floor!
On my end, as I toggle somewhere between wanting to rest from the wildness that was November-December to walking around my house with big black trash bag energy, I realized I was craving the big picture of 2026. Outlook calendars and Google Calendars have a horrid annual view (obvi), and I hate futzing with big wall calendars and smudgy Vis-à-Vis markers. So, as one does, I went trolling around for templates that fit a full year on one 8.5 X 11-inch piece of paper. I found one on Etsy and happily purchased an immediate download. I got some highlighters and jumped in. Green = teaching, pink = my teens’ travel sports weekend events (iykyk), purple = known out-of-office time, and so on. It made me realize when the peaks and valleys would be and helped me plan some fun and some rest!
2026 all on one sheet of paper, just how I like it.
I have some tweaks to the formatting that I want to make, but overall, this is helping me see the year through the lens of my anticipated energy levels.
Our January is a busy month, and I’m really excited to pilot The Together Trainer (focused on systems, logistics, culture, and engagement of online trainings) with a like-minded education group in the UK. We’ll also be piloting a new open-enrollment offering focused on Priority Plans. Additionally, we are happily spending time with Aspire Public Schools out in California, trekking up to my fave Girl Scout property for our third run with the National Fellowship for Black and Latino Male Educators, running next door to Prince George’s County Public Schools and supporting their school leaders, and zipping up to Philly with Catapult Education. In between teaching, you will likely find me hiding my eyes while my 7th-grader continues his goalkeeper journey and running around the mid-Atlantic for some U16 volleyball tourneys with my 10th-grader.
AND. . . Our online open enrollment Together Trainings are posted for this semester! These online courses provide multiple weeks of Togetherness skills practice, connections with new networks of great people, plenty of jokes, lots of empathy, and practical tips to support your success and sustainability.
#togetherforever #clipboardsandclogs
Maia
We love looking back at the Together resources that have been most popular with our readers. In addition to our homepage and class offerings, the resources that most resonated with you this year were:
- Microsoft’s Planner: To Try or Not to Try?
- Together Trips with Together Tweens/Teens: My Top Ten Packing List
- Paula’s Google Universe!
- Getting the Most out of Google Tasks
- Quiz Time: Are you more of a What-er or a When-er?
Submit your blog suggestions for 2026!
Now, let’s look forward! Do you have a Together blog idea that you’d like to see in 2026? Let us know here! We’re planning our posts for the new year, and would love to add your idea to the mix!
