At the start of a new year, the question at the forefront of my mind is, “How can I simplify my life?” The question can come in many forms: “How can I be less busy?" or “What do I need to stop doing for life to be more sustainable?”. At the heart of these questions is a desire to enjoy life and be more present in the here and now.
It was these thoughts buzzing through my mind that led me to start using Pixa, an app that lets you log your life in pixels and see an overview of your year. I knew that before I could make any changes, I needed to understand how I was doing and what I was giving myself to. Pixa has helped me do exactly that.
Pixa makes it possible to create customized logs by changing titles, keys, and colors. It can be used to track a whole range of different things, including exercise, physical health, level of anxiety, periods, or anything else you can think of.
This is part of a regular series of articles exploring the apps that we couldn't live without. Read them all here.
You won’t come across a simpler app to use, although I think the beauty of the app is in its simplicity. Let’s dive further into the app’s features and how you might integrate it into your life.
After downloading the app, the first thing to do is to set up your first log. Before going headfirst into the deep end, take a few minutes to think about what you want to track and why. Unless it’s something that will truly improve your life, then it’s unlikely to last more than a few weeks.
Once you’ve got it set straight in your mind, click on the + button. Pixa will automatically create a fresh log called ‘my log’. Jump into it, select the three dots, and choose ‘edit my log’. Change the name to something more meaningful. With that set, choose the + button on the right-hand side of the log. It is here that you can create your key. Give each one a name and a color. For example, if you’re tracking anxiety levels, then the key might be made up of items such as ‘high’, ‘medium’, ‘low’, and ‘none’.
Now it’s time to get logging. Pixa only lets you add one label per day so keeping on top of your log is super-easy. You can do this by pressing a day block, followed by selecting from your pre-defined key. It’ll be added and immediately visible. Any changes to the colors of your key items will also be automatically updated in your log.
This process of creating and populating logs can be done across multiple areas of your life, assuming you’ve paid for a premium subscription. The free version is limited to two logs.
The real joy of Pixa comes once you’ve done a significant amount of logging. I’ve found that getting at least a month’s worth of data is necessary before Pixa starts to become useful. With sufficient data, Pixa helps you spot trends as well as see whether you’re improving in the areas you want to. I’ve found it particularly helpful to see how much exercise I’m doing and how much I’m doing of different types, including playing football, running, and walking. I like to get a good spread and Pixa helps with that.
These trends can be more easily seen using the built-in bar and pie charts, which take your entered data and present it in graphic form. These are only available in the premium version but are really helpful for giving quick overviews.
I love using Pixa. It takes up barely a minute of my time every day and yet it provides invaluable metrics for helping me achieve my goals. This year, I’m looking forward to tracking what I fill my life with and, in time, cutting a few things out. I trust this will help me be less distracted and more present.
Pixa is available across iOS and Android devices, with the free version limited to two logs. If you’d like access to an unlimited number of logs, bar chart and pie chart statistics, as well as the ability to duplicate logs, then you’ll need a premium subscription. This costs $1.99 / 99p a month or a one-off lifetime fee of $25 / £19.99.
