How AI Can Help You in the New Year: Smarter Planning, Work, and Growth in 2026

Happy New Year!

You know that feeling during the first week of January? You buy the crisp new planner, you buy the fancy pens, and you write down a list of goals that would make a superhero sweat. It feels amazing for about five days.

Then, life happens. The emails pile up, the motivation dips, and that planner gets buried under a stack of mail.

I’ve been there more times than I care to admit. But this year, I’m trying something different. Instead of relying on sheer willpower, let’s talk about using AI as a quiet support system. It’s not about replacing your brain; it’s about clearing the mental clutter so you can actually do the things you promised yourself you’d do.

Here’s how you can use AI to make this year different, along with some prompts I’ve been using myself.

Turn Vague Wishes into Plans

We all have those big, fuzzy goals. “I want to grow my business” or “I want to get healthy.” The problem is, “get healthy” isn’t a plan; it’s a wish. AI is surprisingly good at taking a vague intention and turning it into a step-by-step roadmap.

AI will ask you the questions that it needs to know to help you out. You can get the conversation started with the prompt below.

Tools to try: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini

Try this prompt:

“Help me define my top 3 goals for this year and break each one into a 90

Plan Better, Not Busier

Do you ever get to the end of the day, realize you were “busy” for eight hours, but feel like you got absolutely nothing done? That’s usually a planning issue. AI can act like that hyper-organized friend who looks at your to-do list and tells you what’s actually realistic.

Tools to try: ChatGPT, Gemini, CoPilot, Claude (be sure it’s connected to your calendar)

Try this prompt:

“Create an ideal weekly schedule based on my workload, energy levels, and goals.”

Prioritize Like a Pro

Ever feel like everything on your to-do list is equally important? Spoiler alert: it’s not. Prioritizing isn’t just about deciding what to do first—it’s about choosing what not to do at all. AI can help here by organizing your tasks by urgency and importance (hello, Eisenhower Matrix).

Once your calendar is connected to AI it can read your cal and help you prioritize. Or if it’s just a todo list it can help you there too!

Try this prompt:

“Sort my tasks into urgent/important, important/not urgent, urgent/not important, and neither.”
“Suggest which tasks I can delegate or drop entirely.”

Avoid Overcommitting

Raise your hand if you’ve said “yes” to too many things and regretted it later. (Yep, same.) AI doesn’t just help with scheduling—it can analyze your past commitments and point out when you’re biting off more than you can chew.

Try this prompt:

“Based on my calendar from the last three months, identify patterns where I’ve consistently overcommitted. Suggest ways to streamline my future commitments.”

Look Back to Move Forward

Retrospectives aren’t just for corporate boardrooms. The start of the year is the perfect time to look at what worked (and what flopped) last year. If you have data sales numbers, time tracking, or even journal entries AI can spot patterns you might miss.

Try this prompt:

“Help me review last year. What should I continue, stop, and start doing this year?”

Support Your “Soft” Life

We often think of AI as a productivity robot, but it’s actually great for personal well-being too. I’ve used it to come up with ideas to get me unstuck when I’m stuck, or to design a workout routine that doesn’t require a gym membership. Think of it as a supportive coach in your pocket.

New research shows that talking out your problems with AI can dramatically improve your mood and even your healing and ability to deal with stress.

Try this prompt:

“Create a simple daily routine that supports my energy, focus, and well-being.”

Start Small

Here’s the most important part: You don’t need to use all of these tools. That’s a recipe for overwhelm.

Just pick one. Maybe you just need help organizing your calendar this week. Start there. Let the tech handle the heavy lifting so you can focus on the human stuff.

Here’s to a smarter, calmer year ahead.

What’s the one task you’re going to hand off to AI this new year? Hit reply and let me know I’d love to hear what you’re working on.

Cheers,

-Nicole Donnelly
Founder, AI Smart Ventures