Use this framework to overcome 2026 email marketing overwhelm
Last week, I tried to list everything I want to do before the end of 2026.
Five minutes later, I was staring at the ceiling, drinking cold coffee, and feeling like an utter failure — before I’d even done any work.
It felt kind of silly… but it also made a lot of sense.
Because if you’re anything like me, you have a lot swirling in your head right now:
Big dreams for the new year. Self-improvement goals. Quarterly revenue benchmarks. A new morning routine. The sudden urge to throw your laptop into a snowbank and go into full winter hibernation mode.
I can’t help you wake up at 5 AM for the rest of the year. But I can help with the marketing stuff.
Let’s start with email.
^This is how the rest of my day went, if you were wondering
What’s the best way to tackle your 2026 checklist?
You probably already have a big ‘ole list of what you want your email marketing to look like next year — like:
More consistent nurturing.
More personalized messages.
More engagement.
More conversions.
More trust.
More buyers.
More everything.
You can do it all. But you can’t do it all at once.
If you try, one of two things usually happens:
A) You start way too many projects at the same time. They all end up half-baked, forgotten, or abandoned the second something urgent pops up.
B) You do nothing, because your brain is functioning like an out-of-date browser with too many tabs open.
In both cases, you’ll end 2026 in the same place you started — still overwhelmed, still behind, and still annoyed that none of your ideas turned into reality.
Good news: You can totally break out of that cycle. And it’s easier than it seems.
How to prioritize so things actually get done (faster, better, and easier)
The simplest way I’ve found to cut through overwhelm is this:
Pick one project. Do it well. Then move to the next one.
Sure, it sounds simple. But that first step is the hardest part.
To make it work, you need a method for deciding which project needs your attention first.
My go-to is the ICE Framework (from Sean Ellis).
It helps you rank each idea based on three categories:
Impact: How much will this move you toward your goals?
Ease: How simple is it to implement? Will it take two hours… or two months?
Confidence: How sure are you that this will work?
Rate each idea on a scale from 1–10.
Add the scores.
Start with the highest.
That’s it.
Instead of juggling 12 “someday” projects, you’re knocking out the most valuable one first. And it'll get your full attention, energy, and creativity.
Do that consistently, and your marketing — and productivity — will look unrecognizable in 2026.
Want to know which email projects should be at the top of your list?
Here’s a quick guide to show you which email strategies can make the biggest impact — whether you’re launching them from scratch or optimizing them to work harder in 2026.
This article was originally shared in my embarrassing, brutally-honest newsletter: Sloppy Copy.
If you want to get totally-transparent copywriting lessons like this every week, pop in your email to join the party. 👇
