simple resets for | 10 Simple Resets for 2026

Simple resets for — a quick note to anchor this piece for readers.

Simple resets for: Quick notes

Happy New Year’s Eve.

I don’t know about you, but at this point in my life, I’m full of cheese and Hallmark movie happy endings.

Sigh.

Did you know there’s a name for this week—this wonderful, amazing week between Christmas and New Year’s, where I wrap up in blankets and call my mom and drink coffee out of Santa mugs and eat through the leftovers in the fridge?

It’s called Twixmas.

And I think it’s my favorite holiday.

All that resting and relaxing.

But yesterday I poked my head out of the blankets and decided I needed to work on resetting for 2026. Did I mention all the cheese?

Nothing too overwhelming. Nothing too stressful. Just some simple, easy, tiny ways to restart some new habits for 2026. I made a list, but I got stuck around number 4.

And then inspiration struck.

What if I asked ChatGPT for ideas for the New Year?

So I typed in a prompt and pressed the send button, and all of a sudden a list popped up on the screen.

I had generally low expectations, but I was surprised at how good a few of the suggestions were. Some were amazing. Some were sufficient. But number 5 made me roll my eyes because there’s NO WAY I’m changing that.

Want to try this experiment for yourself? Here’s the prompt I used, along with what ChatGPT suggested for me (and of course, my big opinion on the suggestions).

To get suggestions for the new year, here’s the prompt I used:

“Can you give me a bullet point list of 10 simple, practical, easy reset ideas I can accomplish in the month of January to get me ready for the new year?”

And if you don’t like the suggestions? You can always ask it for more suggestions. The first time I asked it gave me the most general lame suggestions that I could have come up with on my own.

It was when I added the word PRACTICAL that it gave me some real gems. Also—I just asked for a list without explanations. You could always ask for detailed steps, too, if that might be helpful.

Here are my 10 PRACTICAL reset ideas for 2026 (according to ChatGPT):

1. Fix your room first: clean it once, then keep it “5-minute clean” daily.

Okay. I think this is a great suggestion.

Thumbs up.

I’m a big, big, big believer in deep cleaning and then mini clean-ups every day.

Here’s a great post I wrote a while back on 10 things to clean if you only have 5 minutes.

2. Delete 5 apps you waste time on or move them off the home screen.

Oh wait.

Not that kind of phone (although I totally miss phones with cords sometimes because it made life so much simpler).

I thought this suggestion was BRILLIANT.

We were all out to lunch yesterday and I was talking about my list and everyone agreed this was one of the best and immediately deleted apps off their phones (some more than 10). It’s such a great way to get rid of visual clutter.

3. Set one alarm and stop snoozing. No life philosophy, just do it.

Ummm.

I’m kind of on the fence with this one.

I do love an extra five minutes of snooze. I actually think I build snooze into my alarm.

Plus, I didn’t like how bossy this suggestion sounded.

I think we all need a little grace (and some snoozing).

4. Carry a water bottle everywhere. If it’s empty, refill it.

Totally on board with this reset.

Yes, please.

Drinking water has changed my life.

This water bottle is amazing because it diffuses fruit into the water.

You can see all my fruit-infused recipes here.

5. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier than you do now. That’s it.

Nope.

This is never going to happen with me. I know it’s a great suggestion. We can all use more sleep. I get it.

But I just can’t give up on the day. I love every day so much and I don’t want to let go of it.

Sorry Chat. Sorry 2026. This isn’t happening.

6. Eat the same solid breakfast every weekday to remove decision fatigue.

This suggestion was kind of brilliant.

I actually thought I might apply it to lunch as well.

Sometimes when I am trying to decide what to eat, decision fatigue for sure takes over.

I thought this was a great suggestion, including to make sure to actually eat breakfast. Sometimes I get so busy. I’m tempted to skip breakfast, but breakfast is so important for the day ahead.

7. Lift, run, or walk on a fixed schedule (same days every week). No excuses.

Yikes.

This was one that I already had on my list, and one I could be so much better at.

I think the key is the fixed schedule. In other words, knowing the exact day I’m moving my body and then committing to that schedule.

Adding this reset to my list for sure.

8. Save money automatically the day you get paid, even if it’s small.

Brilliant suggestion.

The twins have both started their brand new jobs, and my husband took them down to the bank and set them up on an automatic withdrawal system, whereby it draws money out of every single paycheck and puts it in a savings account.

They love it.

Out of sight, out of mind, and when they checked their savings accounts around Christmas, they couldn’t believe how much money they have saved without even realizing it

9. Write tomorrow’s to-do list the night before so mornings aren’t chaos.

I’m not adding this one to my list because I already do this.

This is one of the ways that I’ve saved so much time, and it’s so much easier to get to sleep because I’m not worried about what I’m going to do tomorrow.

I already have it on a list, and it frees up space in my brain.

Does that make sense?

10. Pick one thing to stop doing that you know is dumb and wasting time.

This was one that I had to think about.

I think I do a lot of things that waste time – that wasn’t the hard part. It was thinking of one that I do that I could stop.

We talked about it last night at dinner, and I think I waste so much time going back and checking to see if I turned off the burner on the stove, or if I unplugged my curling iron, or if I shut off the light in the hallway. I go back and check, and then I forget that I checked it, so I check it again and recheck and recheck and recheck.

That is a whole lot of checking.

My husband suggested that I take a photo of it the first time with my phone so I don’t question if I checked it.

Which I think is a brilliant suggestion.