January 2026 Printable Calendar – Monday Start

Both January Holidays Sit Inside Their Weeks

January 2026 begins on Thursday the 1st and ends on Saturday the 31st. On a Monday-start grid the month's two federal holidays fall inside rows rather than at their edges: New Year's Day on Thursday the 1st removes the fourth cell of the first row, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday the 19th removes the first cell of the fourth row. Seeing those as missing cells rather than as free days is the point of the layout — the weeks they belong to are visibly shorter.

The Month Read as Working Weeks

There are 31 days, 22 weekdays, and nine weekend days — five Saturdays (3, 10, 17, 24, 31) and four Sundays (4, 11, 18, 25). Removing the two holidays leaves 20 federal working days, two fewer than December and among the lowest totals of the first quarter. Laid out Monday first, the month runs:

• Row 1 (Dec 29 - Jan 4): four January working days, with New Year's Day breaking the middle.
• Row 2 (5-11): the first complete five-day working week of the year.
• Row 3 (12-18): a second complete week, and the best run of the month for substantial work.
• Row 4 (19-25): opens with the holiday, leaving four working days.
• Row 5 (26-31): five working days ending on a Saturday.

Why Monday Start Suits First-Quarter Planning

Quarterly targets are almost always written as weekly figures, and a Monday-first grid is built from weeks. That match matters more in January than in any other month, because the quarter's plan is usually written here. Two consequences follow. A weekly target maps to one row, so progress can be marked off line by line without arithmetic. And a week shortened by a holiday is visible before it starts, which is what stops the first and fourth rows from being counted as full weeks in the plan.

The Contrast With a Sunday-Start Sheet

Printed Sunday first, the same month groups the dates differently: the weekend sits at one end of each row rather than at both, working weeks span two lines, and the two holiday gaps land in positions that are harder to compare with each other. Nothing is wrong with that layout for personal use. For a January spent setting targets and reviewing them weekly, the Monday version removes a step from every comparison.

A Row-by-Row Method for the First Quarter

The layout gives the quarter a natural working rhythm. Write the quarter's weekly targets against rows two and three first, since those are the two complete weeks that nothing breaks. Then mark the two holiday cells so the shortened rows are counted honestly. Then place the review cycle: most quarterly plans want a checkpoint every three or four weeks, and the row boundaries make those checkpoints fall on dates that are easy to remember and easy to compare from one review to the next.

Printing for the Desk

The sheet fits one page of A4 or US Letter paper and prints cleanly in black and white, which is what most offices produce. Printing one copy per person is worth the extra sheet, since the layout is designed to be marked up row by row. Use the print button for an immediate copy, or download the PDF to print later or keep the same format through the quarter.