April 2020 Goals
March was a month for the history books – literally. I knew we'd be spending a lot of this season in our lives at home, but I couldn't have imagined this reality. In some ways, not much has changed for us. In other ways, nothing is "normal." I'm hoping to blog some thoughts on it, just as a way to record and preserve my memories of it. I was writing in my son's baby book a few days ago, and it felt so surreal to describe what life looks like right now. I'm just trying to focus on each present moment, as much as possible, instead of the uncertainty of the future.
I completed most of my March goals, probably because they were all relatively small tasks. I made them with newborn life in mind, which was fitting for this stay-at-home season, too. My list looks a little long for April, but the goals are still in that same vein. And if I accomplish none of them? That's okay, too. Productivity during a pandemic isn't entirely possible – or even my main priority right now. But for me, projects can be a good distraction!
On My Calendar:
– The baby's two-month well check
– Easter, even though it will look very different this year
– Starting to plan for my big boy's fourth birthday
– As much time outdoors at possible
Currently Obsessing Over:
– The launch of the 2020-2021 Simplified Planners! I went rogue this year and chose this Gold Dot Dapperdesk, though I'm still eyeing the Happy Floral Weekly, too. I don't need it, but it's hard to resist its beauty...
– Happy Planner recently released new bookish-themed items, and I bought this planner for my 2021 reading journal and this notebook for my next bookish bullet journal. I can't wait to use them both!
– Scribd was offering a free thirty-day trial with no credit card required to activate it, so I decided to give it a try. I probably won't continue when the trial ends, but I've loved having access to even more audiobooks right now.
– After one too many sleepless nights, I bought Taking Cara Babies' Newborn Sleep Course. It's not cheap, but I wish I'd done it sooner. I'll share a review in a few weeks if I continue to have success. I love her Instagram, too!
Yearly Goals:
(These should stay the same all year, so I'll just do month-to-month progress reports!)
– Read through the Bible in one year.
– Read a devotional every morning.
– Track my spending in the Goodbudget app.
– Blog 2x per week.
March progress:
– Pretty good! I missed a handful of days but caught back up in the end.
– This was about the same as my Bible reading. Missed a few days, but still on track.
– It's pretty easy to do this when you don't go anywhere. Nick and I will review the past quarter soon.
– I posted nine times, so I only "missed" one post. I'm very pleased with this progress!
Revisiting My March Goals:
Find (or make) a nature scavenger hunt for my big boy to complete. / After some searching, I found this cute printable that was exactly what I had in mind. Our big boy just completed it this past weekend!
– Send baby announcements. / I should've broken this down into smaller steps. Collecting addresses and picking a design took longer than anticipated. But I ordered them at the end of the month and will mail them in April.
Finish the Contentment Challenge, which is three months of no shopping. / Completed! See the post above for what I learned from the project. I'll probably write at least one more related post, too.
My April Goals:
– Schedule a monthly planning session.
– Research some possible activities for my preschooler.
– Ease back into the habit of meal planning and cooking.
– Organize my closet + both boys' closets and dressers.
– Complete three 20 in 2020 items, such as a backyard picnic and making a bird house.
– Complete Two Months in the baby's journal + take monthly photo.
– Cull, download, rename, and backup March 2020 photos.
– Cull the 700ish videos currently stored on my phone.
– Extend my new-to-me book buying ban another month, with one exception.
– Write a blog post about life lately.
– Cull my bookshelves + Goodreads.
– Have a Q1 financial review with Nick to look at our budget, savings, etc.
I completed most of my March goals, probably because they were all relatively small tasks. I made them with newborn life in mind, which was fitting for this stay-at-home season, too. My list looks a little long for April, but the goals are still in that same vein. And if I accomplish none of them? That's okay, too. Productivity during a pandemic isn't entirely possible – or even my main priority right now. But for me, projects can be a good distraction!
– The baby's two-month well check
– Easter, even though it will look very different this year
– Starting to plan for my big boy's fourth birthday
– As much time outdoors at possible
Currently Obsessing Over:
– The launch of the 2020-2021 Simplified Planners! I went rogue this year and chose this Gold Dot Dapperdesk, though I'm still eyeing the Happy Floral Weekly, too. I don't need it, but it's hard to resist its beauty...
– Happy Planner recently released new bookish-themed items, and I bought this planner for my 2021 reading journal and this notebook for my next bookish bullet journal. I can't wait to use them both!
– Scribd was offering a free thirty-day trial with no credit card required to activate it, so I decided to give it a try. I probably won't continue when the trial ends, but I've loved having access to even more audiobooks right now.
– After one too many sleepless nights, I bought Taking Cara Babies' Newborn Sleep Course. It's not cheap, but I wish I'd done it sooner. I'll share a review in a few weeks if I continue to have success. I love her Instagram, too!
Yearly Goals:
(These should stay the same all year, so I'll just do month-to-month progress reports!)
– Read through the Bible in one year.
– Read a devotional every morning.
– Track my spending in the Goodbudget app.
– Blog 2x per week.
March progress:
– Pretty good! I missed a handful of days but caught back up in the end.
– This was about the same as my Bible reading. Missed a few days, but still on track.
– It's pretty easy to do this when you don't go anywhere. Nick and I will review the past quarter soon.
– I posted nine times, so I only "missed" one post. I'm very pleased with this progress!
– Schedule a monthly planning session. / Yep! I completed all my review & prep work in two afternoons at home.
– Start to find a new daily rhythm. / We did start to find a flexible daily rhythm by the end of the month. It's mostly starting the day at a consistent time, watching wake windows & sleepy cues for naps, and a bedtime routine.
– – Send baby announcements. / I should've broken this down into smaller steps. Collecting addresses and picking a design took longer than anticipated. But I ordered them at the end of the month and will mail them in April.
– Complete One Month in the baby's journal. / I finished this a few days after he turned one month and remembered to take a monthly photo, too. I can't believe he's grown so much already!
–Cull, download, rename, and backup February 2020 photos. / I did some of this throughout the month of February and then finished it off in the first few days of March. Here's my routine for digital photos.
–
– Cull the 7,000 photos currently stored on my phone. / I used the Flic app, mentioned in the post linked in the bullet point above, to get this done. I may go through one more time, but I still feel so accomplished.
– Make a Spring TBR, and post it on the blog! / Here it is, and I've read (or DNF'd) 10 books already!
– Write a discussion post for the blog. / I wrote two: my 12 favorite things to do at home and 8 things I learned from my no-spend challenge. This goal motivated me since I typically procrastinate writing this type of post.
– My April Goals:
– Schedule a monthly planning session.
– Research some possible activities for my preschooler.
– Ease back into the habit of meal planning and cooking.
– Organize my closet + both boys' closets and dressers.
– Complete three 20 in 2020 items, such as a backyard picnic and making a bird house.
– Complete Two Months in the baby's journal + take monthly photo.
– Cull, download, rename, and backup March 2020 photos.
– Cull the 700ish videos currently stored on my phone.
– Extend my new-to-me book buying ban another month, with one exception.
– Write a blog post about life lately.
– Cull my bookshelves + Goodreads.
– Have a Q1 financial review with Nick to look at our budget, savings, etc.
Do you have any goals for April?
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