Why does everything need to be optimised?
Thoughts on Steven Bartlett's latest viral clip
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It was DJ and author Greg James’ “anti-Bartlett” video that first drew my attention to podcaster and entrepreneur Steven Bartlett’s latest hiccup online. While shooting his podcast, Steven claims drinking two glasses of wine one evening “ruined the next three days of my life”.
Greg explained shared his thoughts perfectly, in how by trying to optimise and measure everything in our lives we are actually making ourselves miserable. We’re imprisoned by our own goals and metrics, panicked by how an evening enjoyed with friends can “derail” our usual routine.
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I’ve been guilty of it in the past, and I’m sure you probably have to. Hell, I still get irritated if my Fitbit dies midday and my steps become unaccounted for.
Steven’s clip, Greg’s video and the ongoing narratives I’ve seen since have all left me thinking pretty hard about this. In the past I’ve written about how my smart watch has worsened my anxiety, and this all falls into the ‘over-optimisation’ of our lives.
An uber-healthy colleague of mine was discussing this with me the other day. She has recently qualified to be a nutritionist, goes on two runs per week and goes to the gym most days; during our conversation she shared she’s started feeling more and more guilt about doing things that are a little indulgent. Drinks with friends on a Saturday night that mean she might miss her Sunday morning run (or, perhaps, perform worse because of those drinks), or going out for ‘treat’ meals instead of eating her perfectly-balanced home-cooked dinners… she’s had to have a word with herself about what brings her joy, versus what is good for her physical health.
It feels a lot like the world is in this bizarre never-ending rat race of productivity at the moment. Everywhere you look online someone is doing a marathon or building a business or creating all of their meals from scratch or reaching some sort of goal. People I know boast that their “Whoop age” is a decade younger than they actually are. We push and optimise and push some more. But when you really think about it, isn’t it a little… depressing?
I am all for living well. But ‘well’ doesn’t mean stripping yourself of happiness and enjoyment for the sake of keeping your body alive a little longer.
Life is all about balance. Just like you shouldn’t indulge in poor habits every single day, you also shouldn’t strip yourself of everything but the optimal healthy choices. Steven Bartlett having two glasses of wine every single night is probably an issue, but once in a blue moon is not going to bring his world crumbling down (despite what he might suggest).
As someone who’s mostly sober, my ‘treats’ often come in the forms of meals out or a sugary snack in front of the telly on a Saturday night. But whatever your indulgence is - I urge you to enjoy it in moderation. On my death bed I won’t be thinking about the steps I did or the workout routines I religiously kept to, I’ll be remembering moments with loved ones and adventures I went on and alllll the feelings that come with a life well lived. And that doesn’t happen if you allow optimisations to run it.
It's so ironic to me that the current trend is "slowing down" and becoming "analog" yet people are still hyper-aware of the numbers. We're walking contradictions -- the pressure to slow down or to live well actually stops us from doing it!!
I absolutely needed to read this today! In fact, I was just surmising the fact that I won’t have ‘gotten my steps in’ today right before I opened your essay. We are beholden to too many rules and data and other things these days – sometimes you just need to lean into how you feel. (Today I feel tired, but I’ve had a productive day at work and can’t wait for a quiet night on the sofa. Forgive me, Fitbit, for letting the steps slide!)