Stop Self-Control to Relieve Stress and Live a Free Life
Self-tracking can be helpful if you use it correctly . However, if you spend too much time focusing on all the numbers in your life rather than living them, you are likely to stress yourself.
As the minimalist lifestyle website The Art of Simple explains, the simple act of having a number on your face that you can focus on can disrupt your thought process. The author, Jerusalem Greer, learned this lesson when her speedometer broke. While she can use the app to determine her speed, she sometimes turns it off when driving out of town and just walks at a leisurely pace. The absence of a constant numerical reminder of how much her speed is “knocked down” or how much faster she could move, relieves a lot of stress:
Now I don’t spend a lot of time traveling. I am lengthening my check-out and arrival times to accommodate slow drivers, trucks filled with hay bales, unexpected traffic jams in the city center (think the size of the Star Hollow downtown).
Sometimes I drive into a city an hour’s drive away, and when I get off the interstate, I open the app, set cruise control, and leave.
Yes, I drive faster, but I still can’t rush. I’ve lost my edge. And I love that.
Obviously it’s a bad idea for all of us to rip speedometers out of our cars, but Greer continues to suggest that this freedom can be applied elsewhere. For example, Greer chose not to buy Fitbit because she would rather enjoy her days than force herself to constantly count steps. Self-tracking has a purpose, but it’s easy to get obsessed with the numbers rather than the value you’re trying to achieve with them. If tracking becomes a source of stress, skip it.
Why won’t I buy Fitbit | The art of the simple