In this entry I listed my New Year Resolutions for 2012.

I’ll be writing about and considering various aspects of these over the next few weeks, not least to help me fully appreciate the considerable task ahead.

Having now published that post, I’m only just beginning to realise the weight of the effort and associated self-discipline that sticking to these is going to take.

The challenge of ‘pixel free’

Perhaps the one that stands out most is my challenge to go ‘pixel free’ at weekends. Anyone who knows me will confirm I’m always planning my next extracurricular project, and complaining there’s just never enough time to accommodate all pursuits. These normally involve pixels, with the weekend being the only time I can find sufficient uninterrupted concentration to make my efforts worthwhile.

For example, I’m frequently in search of time to write and record music, take and sell more photography, and further pursue and improve my design and development skills. I’ll often try finding space for this in the evenings, but the pressure of my work schedule and the time I arrive home means, in reality, this ends up sidelined.

I’m sure there are many people who can empathise. There is the weekend, but this is also a prime opportunity to take time away from the computer; staring at a screen is typically a solitary pursuit that can render you fairly dull to be around. Not good.

I regularly see friends and associates releasing online work—e.g. blog posts, white papers, cinematography—that must have taken considerable time to produce. When do they find time to do this? Can only be at the weekends. If not, I’d like to know their secret for squeezing more hours out of weekdays. I’d also suspect they’re not much fun to be around at home, being distracted by the online stuff they ‘must get done’. This would never have been a problem a few short years ago.

I sense a few readers thinking ‘yep, I can associate with that’.

The times I have been disciplined enough to keep the computer and smartphone off all weekend usually feel pretty good. Staring at a screen can leave you feeling a little stuffy, exasperating those around you when you’re never fully part of any conversation.

Gone are the days

I guess it’s partly a curse of the modern computer age, particularly since the explosion of social networking. Gone are the days of being able to close the office door on a Friday evening, safe in the knowledge that no-one’s going to be continuing business until the following Monday. There’s always more to be done, manifested in its simplest form by the habitual ‘checking’ of email, Twitter and Facebook.

Over the past few years, I’ve had to really master multitasking. Trouble is, this too can become habitual – I complain when at work that there’s too much to be done at any one time, but, when back at home, without thinking I spend the evening with the television, laptop and smartphone on, all simultaneously demanding my attention. I’m sure I’m not alone in this conundrum!

Just too much going on

These days, there really is just too much to keep up with, particularly if you’re involved in the whole technical arena. A snapshot would include news feeds, think tanks, business and management trends, financial trends/analysis, software developments, new gadgets, TV series, social profile updates, etc, etc – the list goes on and on. We seek to counteract the effects by using software to help us manage the overload – a prime example is the explosion of GTD (Getting Things Done) principles, and the many variations of software apps designed to help us get to grips with our back-to-back schedules.

The faster we run, the more tools and apps are released to help us run even faster. Trouble is, as we do, other things begin to fall over.

More and more ‘stuff’

What’s led us to this? Have we consciously decided to fill our lives with more and more ‘stuff’? For the professionals, I guess it’s the fear that they’ll fall behind. If the next person’s pushing forwards, there’s a sense that we ourselves must drive harder to keep ahead. At a personal level, I guess it becomes a decision to slow down and concentrate on what’s really important to your life, rather than allowing the media and societal/peer pressure dictate how you live and what you fill your time pursuing.

What goes through your mind if you take time to stop and ponder what’s truly important in your life? Now, compare that to the reality of how you actually live and the principles that daily direct you. See a disjoin? Feel a pang of regret? I suspect so. Feel powerless to make a lasting change? I suspect so, too. If not, I suspect you’ve simply learned to nullify the emotional impact, like a runner who goes so long that they no longer feel the pain of the damage they’re inflicting upon themselves.

To some, the pace of the race becomes addictive in itself.

Before all this gadgetry

Before all our technical gadgetry—the ability to live virtual lifestyles—we used to live by the pace of the seasons and maintain true self-sufficiency. That’s slowly but surely all but ebbed away. The more secure we’re taught we are (yep, typically by the media again), the truth is surely the more fragile and subject to the powers of ‘big brother’ our existence becomes.

Don’t think about that too much – it may just spoil your day.

Man versus nature

A colleague of mine is a keen advocate of the ‘pixel free’ discipline. They’re also keen promoters of the ideal that everyone should go camping once in a while, live life under canvas, experience the reality of man versus nature. I think this is a very healthy way to think. To me, much of society and the way we’re taught to live has been ‘constructed by man, to keep man in his place’. Hey, keep the middle classes happy and all will be well in the world, right? Keep their eyes focused on the things they ‘must have’, maintain their consumerist desires, love of money, and it becomes the blind leading the blind.

The cleverest leaders are those that assert power over groups of people, rather than individuals alone. People, when influenced as a collective, begin further influencing one another and adopting thought patterns they might not otherwise adopt if singled out of the crowd. There are some clever leaders in the world we live in, and vast groups of people who seemingly can’t help but be influenced. Just look at western society, and the pathway it’s walking down.

This in itself can become a very sinister thing, particularly when true agendas/motives are not recognised, amidst the noise of the crowd.

Three vital elements

I was always taught that humans are created through the unity of three vital elements: mind, body and soul/spirit. Yet, often we neglect our spirits, our souls, losing touch with what makes us human – the core of our being. Instead, we sell-out in our fight for survival, listening to and abiding by the voices of societal pressure – following the path of least resistance.

I’ve deviated, but there are serious life issues at stake if we don’t take stock and go back to the basics of who we are, beyond the realms of our artificial, socially engineered/networked existence.

I’m not suggesting the way we live is wholly flawed, there are some fantastic things within the society we live in, but we mustn’t lose touch with the core of who we are and where we’ve come from. This takes discipline and starts with the simple things.

Onto the action points

So, will you dare to go pixel free for a few weekends, jump out of the rat race for just a couple of days each week? Jump out completely?

Leave the smartphone switched off, don’t check your email, take a break from the TV, go for a walk and take some time to properly reflect on your life. Your true legacy will come from your positive impact on the professional and personal lives of those around you, not how much money you’ve made, awards you’ve won, or professional positions you’ve held…