I got kinda sick and now my entire philosophy for productivity in 2026 has been uprooted.

I had a lot going for me this January. I had multiple editing projects lined up, including edits for a PhD student’s paper and a memoir by a war survivor. Several blogs and memoir-based pieces I wanted to start working on. I was also about to begin a new workout routine.

And then I developed fever chills.

For two weeks, I dealt with pneumonia and coughed my lungs out thanks to the flu. All of my plans came to a screeching halt. At times, there were small bursts when I could still be productive, but they were often at the cost of feeling worse later that day, and sometimes into the night. I ended up spending much of my waking time thinking about what I want productivity to look like for the remainder of 2026.

Last year, my approach to productivity was intentionally simple. One practice that helped me through a difficult stretch was tracking “one extra thing” I did each day to work toward my goals. Sometimes that meant working on my editing business for 20 minutes. Sometimes it meant going to the gym. Other days, it meant choosing to spend time with my family without worrying about anything else. Being consistently productive mattered more than the way in which I was productive. As long as I had a non-zero day, I allowed myself to feel proud, rather than guilty, about how I spent my time, even if one area of my life went unattended for a while (namely, going to the gym).

This approach was a massive game changer for confronting multiple internal challenges as a first-time father, and it made me much more focused and emotionally present. However, it did not fully address how separate everything felt. My goals seemed like disconnected priorities rather than coexisting parts of myself. This year, I want to fix that by taking the next step: consistently working toward all of my goals. I want to exercise twice a week. I want to edit three times a week. I want to write once a week. I want a day to only focus on being present with my wife and daughter. And I want to allow myself to enjoy a balanced life without neglecting any particular aspect to the point where I’ve lost progress.

Making this change requires the more orthodox way of thinking about productivity at the big-picture level. Instead of measuring my weeks by how much more I could have gotten done, I will need to track whether I showed up for all my commitments. That means talking to myself the way I would talk to someone I am supporting or coaching: with honesty rather than constant self-critique. I don’t exactly have the best record of talking to myself in a healthy way, so I will have to take a page out of my edibuddy Riley Earle’s playbook. But by showing up consistently across work, health, writing, and personal life, each area supports the others, so progress in one reinforces progress in the rest.

Productivity in 2026 will be less about squeezing more out of each week and more about maintaining a tempo I can actually keep up with.