Spring Renewal

How to press refresh without the pressure

April is the New January

April. Not exactly halfway through the year just yet, but we’re finally starting to see warmer weather (though wholly inconsistent on the east coast). Still, it feels like we’re turning a page. A pivotal moment to not only look ahead with hope, but also look back– with honesty– at how the year has gone so far.

So that’s what I did at the start of the month: I looked back at the OKRs (remember those!) I set for myself in January and evaluated how I did. Some goals? I made great progress. Others? They fell to the wayside. But that’s okay. OKRs were never about perfection. They’re a roadmap– a way to make small, intentional strides in the direction of the life we want.

So I hope you’ll join me as I hit a much-needed reset on 2025. Because April can be our January— if we want it to be.

In case you haven’t heard it this month: you’re allowed to begin again.

Revisiting our OKRs

Back in January, I wrote a newsletter about reframing New Year’s resolutions as OKRs– Objectives and Key Results– a tool I use at Allara to set focused, measurable goals. It felt only right to use the same approach in my personal life, too.

One of those goals? Reducing mindless screen time by:

• Limiting screen time to less than 3 hours/day by the end of Q1

• Using app timers to curb social media scrolling

• Creating 3 phone-free zones in my day

For someone who is constantly on her phone for work, wedding planning, and, well, life in general– these were ambitious. But the verdict is in… drumroll please… I hit 2 out of 3! And I’m actually proud of that. Instead of judging myself for what didn’t go perfectly, I took the time to reevaluate:

What worked? What didn’t? And how can I build on this momentum without burning out?

Here’s my updated plan for Q2:

• Designate the hour before bed as screen-free time for reading or meditation

• Use a pocket-sized notebook for late-night brain dumps

• Reduce my social media time limit by another hour

Progress over perfection. Always.

Spring Cleaning (In Every Sense)

Spring cleaning doesn’t just mean sorting through closets or scrubbing down baseboards (though that feels good, too). It’s also a mindset. A chance to take inventory of what’s no longer serving us– mentally, emotionally, digitally. Maybe it’s letting go of a negative self-talk loop you’ve been stuck in or unfollowing accounts that make you feel more “not enough” than inspired.

This month, I’m challenging myself to do a different kind of deep clean– one that goes beyond the junk drawers and into the corners of my mind. Here are a few small yet powerful ways I’m hitting refresh in the places that matter:

• Social Media Sweep: I took 15 minutes to go through my following list and unfollowed accounts that don’t inspire me or feel aligned with where I am now.

• Replacing Negative Loops: This one was hard, but I wrote down the three most common self-critical thoughts I catch myself repeating (“You’re falling behind,” “You’re not doing enough,” “You should have figured this out by now”) and next to each, I wrote a more compassionate, realistic reframe.

• A Mental ‘Junk’ Drawer Dump: I spent one night journaling a list of everything I’ve been quietly carrying– big questions, nagging worries, and half-finished thoughts. Just the act alone of writing it down on paper gave me a clearer sense of what’s important, and made room for new ideas to take root.

Spring is a hopeful season. A reminder that growth takes time. And yes, we need the April showers before we get the May flowers. But when we plant with intention, what blooms is often more beautiful than we imagined.

The Soft Reset

So here’s permission to press refresh, not restart. To reimagine what the rest of the year could look like– not through guilt or pressure, but through gentleness and clarity. Maybe that means revisiting your own OKRs, or just taking stock of what’s feeling light versus what’s weighing you down.

Spring reminds us that things don’t have to be perfect to begin again. It’s a season that whispers, you still have time. So take it. Plant something new. Dust off a dream. And let go of something that no longer fits.