With another January comes another set of promises to ourselves. But a lot of us are tired of setting the same cliche goals year after year. In 2026, how can we implement creative resolutions to grow into healthier, more artistic people?
When New Year’s rolls around, we like to make plans to journal more, create more art, or pick up a new hobby. But we often fall short of our goals and fail to reap the benefits they may have provided. This results in disappointment down the line, as well as greater pressure on the following year’s resolutions.
So let’s talk about how we can better execute creative resolutions and what we can learn from experts regarding the smartest habits to adopt.
Big goals can be fun – but focus on the day-to-day
It’s exciting to pursue ambitious goals, like “sell more art,” “fill a sketchbook,” or “complete a large painting.” However, these phrases lack solid day-to-day direction. When we create resolutions that are too lofty or vague, we struggle to fulfill them.
It’s also important that we find ways to incorporate art into our daily routines rather than fixating on major milestones. By making creativity part of the everyday, we increase our chances of making progress and completing projects.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at some helpful creative resolutions we can bring into 2026.
Resolution inspiration
A doodle a day
To brainstorm resolutions, I spoke with Attiya Awadallah, a licensed creative art therapist. She suggested a simple exercise that she uses with her clients, which she calls a doodle a day.
“…it can be abstract, it can be a doodle, it can be a whole drawing or a sketch. But a lot of the time it helps them to kind of gather everything that they’re holding for that day and externalize it.”
Awadallah emphasized that the drawings don’t have to take a long time or even look good to be effective. Doodling is inherently grounding and will improve your state of mind. But if you are hoping to improve your skills, a daily doodle helps with that too! Even silly scribbles serve to exercise your creative brain and strengthen your drawing capabilities.
Expose yourself to more art
One of the hardest parts of sustaining our creative spark throughout the year is finding inspiration, which we frequently search for online. While this can sometimes be effective, it’s all too easy to succumb to the toxic habit of doom-scrolling. We also tend to compare ourselves to other, “better” artists we see online.
To avoid a creative rut, try stepping outside and visiting a museum or local gallery. Exposing yourself to a range of different styles and artists can reignite inspiration.
And if museums are too expensive or inaccessible, fear not! There are other ways to experience physical art.
Consider organizing an art swap, exchanging doodles with a pen pal, or subscribing to an art magazine.
Set aside time for a hobby you love
Our lives are busy, and sometimes it can be challenging to find time to do the things that we actually love to do. Even if you don’t view yourself as an “artist,” there are plenty of creative passions to explore.
“There’s so many ways to be creative, right? People always think, you know, ‘Oh I’m not good at drawing so I can’t be creative,’ but it’s really not just about that.”
-Attiya Awadallah
Awadallah pointed to hobbies like dancing or building Lego sets and how it can be helpful to set aside a designated amount of time for these interests.
“If they’re a dancer and like to move, ‘I’m gonna dance for five minutes in the morning and that’s gonna help me throughout the rest of my day to be in a better mood.'”
Similarly to the “doodle a day” practice, this mentality shifts the focus to small habit changes that cement your hobbies in your daily life. Just five minutes of creativity can put you in a better mood and hone your skills.
Decenter screens
Creative ambitions aside, many of us make resolutions that revolve around decreasing our screen time. We’re all aware of the negative effects of scrolling, from eye strain to reduced attention spans.
But spending too much time on our phones also takes away from time we might have spent being creative, leaving us demotivated and uninspired. So how can we replace this time with a more beneficial practice? And how can we hold ourselves accountable in our quest to unglue ourselves from the screen?
I recently came across a series of TikTok videos that provided the answers to both of these questions. User annie.locket went into 2026 with a new reading goal: to read for the same amount of time that she’d spent on her phone the previous day.
In one video, she reads for two hours and nine minutes. In another, she nearly reaches three hours.
This goal is effective for two reasons. First, it carves out time to devote to a hobby. (Note that if reading isn’t your thing, or you want to concentrate on creative output, you could easily adjust this resolution by replacing a book with a painting kit or knitting needles.)
Second, it makes you more conscious of your screen time. After following Annie on TikTok, I decided to try her method myself. Now every time I pick up my phone, I’m aware of how much time I’m spending on it, because I know what that will mean later on. And as much as I love reading, I don’t always have four hours a day to spend on it…
And remember, this is just a suggestion for a resolution. If even one hour feels daunting, remember Awadallah’s advice to start with five minutes. Remember to keep your goals realistic and know that even small changes can make a big impact.
When contemplating your screen time goals for the new year, try to rethink your relationship with your devices and what you’re really craving when you reach for them.
Taliah Good, another art therapist I interviewed, gave useful insight into the way screens temporarily pacify us and how they impact our creative habits:
“Instead of asking how reducing screen time impacts creativity, I often find it more helpful to flip the question: How does creativity impact screen time?”
Good told me that while screens make us feel better in the moment, they prove ineffective at fostering long-term happiness the way art can. Bringing creativity into the picture enables us to decenter screens–not just by pushing them out but by replacing them with something better.
Know that both creativity and screen-centered entertainment can play a role in your life. It’s all about finding the balance.
“One gentle experiment is to add creativity alongside screen time rather than trying to eliminate it. If the TV is on and your hands are busy — coloring, knitting, making repetitive marks with paint pens, building a small Lego project — the nervous system often settles in a different way.”
-Taliah Good
When we are more grounded in our bodies, the screen slips into the background. Satisfying our needs in a creative manner also makes us less likely to turn to screens in the first place, simply because we won’t feel as though we need them.
Make art more accessible
Part of what pushes us to scroll on our phones is accessibility. It’s incredibly convenient to reach into our pockets and pull out limitless entertainment to distract ourselves in moments of waiting or rest. But what if we had an equally convenient alterantive?
Good explained how spatial arrangement can inspire more frequent creativity:
“It might look like leaving a coloring book and favorite markers on the coffee table, keeping acrylic paint pens nearby for calming, repetitive mark-making during a show, creating a small basket of art supplies that doesn’t require setup, or taking a short walk and arranging leaves or stones into a simple pattern.”
By keeping supplies within reach, we’re more likely to end up using them. And this accessibility doesn’t need to be limited to our homes; it’s also achievable on-the-go.
If you’re looking for a good excuse to go to the art store, (I know I always am), try browsing pocket notebooks, travel art kits, and anything else that’s easy to take with you.
During a school trip last January, I brought a small watercolor kit and used it to document everything I saw, ate, and did. While waiting for my food at a restaurant, I might have normally taken out my phone or stared mindlessly at the TV. But with my notebook and paints, I was able to keep myself entertained while doing something that was fun and enriching.
Making art in this manner encourages us to put OUT information rather than constantly taking it in. Awadallah described the benefits experienced by her clients:
“They’re a lot more grounded, they’re more in-tune with their body, they’re less reactive to stress and things that are challenging in their life.”
By using physical media to make art more accessible in your day-to-day life, you can process the world around you and reflect instead of reacting.
Make it a goal to host more art events
While creativity benefits us on a very personal level, Awadallah told me it also impacts the relationships we have with other people. So, why not make art a social activity and include our loved ones?
If you need more inspo for your 2026 vision board, think about inviting friends over and crafting together. You could host a painting party or a puzzle night, or you could take things into the kitchen and decorate cookies or cupcakes.
And if you don’t feel like hosting, there are countless other options, whether it’s an art festival with friends or a local museum with a date. You can aim for one art-related hangout every month.
Your most creative year yet!
Now that you’re armed with inspiration, it’s time to develop your plan for the New Year. Maybe you want to experiment with several different suggestions or tweak one or two for your own use.
Remember that creative resolutions are meant to help you, not stress you out or push you too hard, so it’s okay to start small and build upon the habits that are most beneficial to you. Prioritize the creative habits that resonate, and you’re sure to walk away feeling calm, collected, and inspired.
“People begin noticing signals they’ve learned to override: I’m shut down and need something repetitive and calming. I’m restless and need movement. I’m hungry — not emotionally, but physically. Some strategies offer quick relief, while others create a more lasting sense of regulation and connection. Creativity often falls into the latter category.”
-Taliah Good
Setting reasonable goals yields significant improvements in your artistic abilities, your mental health, and your dedication to your favorite hobbies. With discipline and creative inspiration, who knows how much progress you’ll make in a year!
If you want to read more about taking on the New Year and how Gen Z specifically is reimagining New Year’s resolutions, be sure to check out this article.
