Planning with our AT Chat Alumni

We recently checked in with some of the folks we’ve co-produced resources with over the last year, to find out what they use for planning, managing their mental load and any goals they have for this year.

Over the past year, we’ve had the privilege of co‑producing resources with a diverse group of creators, all with different lived experiences of disability. As we step into a new year, we checked in with a few of them to learn more about the tools they rely on to manage their schedules, reduce mental load and set meaningful goals.

In this article, Dom Parker, Ben Rowe and Sam Rowe share the planning habits that work for them, the strategies they use to stay centered when things get overwhelming, and the goals they’re setting for themselves in 2026. Their insights highlight not just productivity, but the importance of making space for wellbeing, creativity and personal growth.

Let’s dive into what’s helping them navigate the year ahead.

Planning

• I like to plan with Google Calendar. I note down all the events I have during the week as a calendar invite so my phone alerts me when I have something on. If it's not in the calendar, it doesn't exist.
• I used Trello at work to track my tasks and to communicate with team members.
• I'm the type of person who plans out my day, like clockwork. I like knowing what I’m doing at all times and change is the enemy :) 
• I use Google Home a lot as well! For simple questions like the weather and driving time. 

Goals

This year for me is about getting better with managing my money. The cost of living is astronomical, and with everything going up in price, I want to know where my money is going. I'm tracking my bills, cutting back on unnecessary spending and properly saving for things I want to do - like travel more.

Planning

For me I tend to use my calendar the most. Outlook seems to be the better option accessibility wise. I tried using Trello but it’s too fiddly for screen reader users and is more for visual planners.  I haven’t really found a perfect option that I keep going back to in a routine sense other than Outlook, so I try to keep things together there.

Goals

Goal setting is a major part of what I do, sometimes I just write things down that I want to do and never look at it again and review at the end of the year. It’s amazing what actually comes to fruition. At Blind Sports WA we are more planned out as we host a lot of events, we tend to put our entire year that we know up on our white board and in Outlook. This year we are being more conscious of deep-workdays, or sessions when we as a team don’t want to be disturbed from the creative work. We are portioning our week to support that better.

For my music, I have definitely developed a number of goals for the year and have done it in a list format on my Notes app on the iPhone. This seems to be the easiest to easily check regularly. My music goals are mainly around releasing music, how many gigs I want to book in and any specific places I would enjoy performing at.

Planning

• I live by Google Calendar for any appointments / social / work things or reminders.
• For my personal life I'm still writing my to-do lists by hand in my notebook. I have tried a number of to-do and organisation apps, and haven't found a free app that works for me yet.

For work, which prefers us to use Microsoft apps, I use a combo of:

• Microsoft Planner: For recording my to-do list of current and upcoming tasks / projects.
• Microsoft To-Do - For recording completed / worked-on tasks.

Focus

When I'm struggling with focus, I take a break and walk around - listening to nature sounds helps. I sometimes find a white noise playlist on Spotify when the office is getting too loud and I can't concentrate.

When I'm getting cognitive overload, calming things help. I listen to classical music, or do meditation - I like Yoga Nidra best as it's a body scan that I can focus on different parts of my body to relax.