Ok so its now the end of February, that's 1/6 of the year gone already and I am left wondering where the time has gone. Now part of me thinks time is flying simply as we are all becoming busier, as we do more, try to be more efficient, try to do things better, while part of me also thinks its an age thing (but I am not keen to admit to the 2nd option). I also need to acknowledge taking on quite a number of projects however I am finding keeping busy and the diverse nature of the projects to be fun and engaging and therefore keeping me in a more positive place than I was back in December; That said I also need to ensure I do say "No" where appropriate. So with 2 months from 12 gone I thought it might be useful to have a quick review against my pledges from the start of the year, so here goes…..
Doom Scrolling
I think my doom scrolling on my phone has reduced which is good but I still feel I reach for my phone a little too much at the moment. It's the old issue of my phone and its notifications providing me with the dopamine fix, leading to checking my phone more often due to increasing dependency on this fix. It is now less social media I am looking at and more the likes of WhatsApp; Am not sure if that makes it better screen time or not, however the need to constantly check my phone feels like a bad thing. That said for the time period from December to the end of February my average daily screen time had dropped to just below 2hrs 40mins which is below the 3hr target I was looking to hit so this seems to be good progress. I will however need to continue to review this especially around my habits
Fitness
My target was 500km for the year so with 2 months gone I am happy enough with 95km completed. Projecting this out, if I kept up the current rate would get me above the 500km target by the end of the year. I have also seen my pace improve and now am generally sat around the 6min/km which is a pace I am happy with. At this point I still haven't engaged with any social running such as a parkrun so this is definitely something I need to look towards, plus I haven't looked at runs beyond the 5km range so again this is something for me to look at.
Exploring
So far I haven't managed any real exploring, aside from a trip up to Sheffield to work with The National College; There wasn't much exploring done during the couple of days up there due to a focus on filming a number of webinars. So this is definitely something I need to look to address with Easter likely to be the first opportunity although I suspect Easter will be focused on family rather than exploring so it may be that any exploring has to be put off until the summer at the earliest.
Happiness
This is always a difficult question to deal with; At work our perception is likely we are happier when on holiday, but if we quantify our happiness, the reality is we are often happier when busy, engaged and operating autonomously at work. I think I am a little happier at the moment than I was in late December and I suspect a lot of this relates to being busy and engaged in different and diverse projects and events. But maybe this leads to a question about how I balance this out in terms of my downtime? I am reading a bit more and spending time with the velociraptor (she's actually a German Sheppard but having eaten 3 dining room chairs among other things I think the velociraptor reference is more than fair) plus am running regularly and there are a few other things in their early stages which are making me feel a bit better, but I suspect I have a long way to go in finding the balance I want to achieve. My current book, Lost Connections: Why you're depressed and how to find hope, is an interesting read which is helping, although I note I am not reading it as I necessarily feel "depressed" but more because the topic and managing our lives in this busy and technology driven world is something that interests me. We will see how I feel about the book once I am further into it.
Achievements/Contributions
I think as with 2023 things are already shaping up well with the upcoming ISC digital conference, my work on the ISBA's Technology Survey, work with the Association of Network Managers in Education (ANME), an event looking at esports within schools, my work with the amazing Digital Futures Group ahead of EduTech Europe 2024 and a number of other things on the cards. The key in all of these events are the brilliant people they allow me to work with, collaborate with and bounce ideas off of, plus the amazing educators which I get to network and share with. Oh and I can't not mention the really enjoyable Cyber Security webinar I did only the other day with Mark Anderson and Abid Patel; Is always great sharing with these two amazing individuals, but I clearly need to continue to work on Mark in relation to moving over to Scotland's favourite soft drink rather than coffee. Abid is on the Irn-Bru Extra which is at least part way there!
Conclusion
I think, two months into 2024, I am still trying to find my new normal but I am happier with that than I was. Maybe my new normal isn't a fixed place but something more fluid, but where I am more accepting and happy of this fluidity? It is still early days for 2024 but I am positive about what lies ahead and that's a good place to start from.
As I often find myself saying; onwards and upwards!
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