Disconnect to connect
For the last ten years, I have worn a fitness tracker. When I first got it, I marched in place at night when I hadn’t reached my daily 10,000-step goal. Now I glance at it, knowing some days I reach my step goal, some days I do not. I use it mainly to know I slept. Humans are very bad at evaluating their own sleep. This gave me a wealth of information about deep sleep, light sleep, REM, non-REM, and minutes awake. I checked the numbers every morning.
This watch replaced the other watches I own. My watch fetish is revealed in this article.
It has been four days since my watch stopped working.
What now? How will I manage without all that data?
We spend our entire lives being measured. Starting before birth, statistics are gathered on head circumference, weight and limb length. Measurements continue throughout life - temperature, height, body mass index, blood pressure and visual acuity. We depend on measurements to learn about ourselves and to call attention to change.
Thanks to the ability to digitize information, the omnipresence of smartphones and the availability of cheap sensors - we have unprecedented powers of self-measurement. Measurement has been embraced as a tool to understand and control reality. However, measurements are often unreliable and they stress us out.
10,000 steps is the recommended amount of walking for optimal health. This number originated in a Japanese company that promoted a pedometer in 1965. It was called manpo-kei, or “10,000-steps meter.” It was a marketing campaign, not based on science.
Science has since backed up this number. A recent study shows walking 10,000 steps lowers the risk of dementia by 50%, the risk of cancer by 30% and the cardiovascular risk by 75%. For most people, 10,000 steps has been a useful benchmark, easy to remember.
The jury is still out on whether or not fitness trackers make us healthier. One study showed that simply wearing the device increases your activity level. This is an example of the observer effect, when behavior changes simply as a result of being watched. Other studies show there is little evidence that they improve health outcomes.
I have made a conscious decision not to replace my watch. I may go back to it if I am slacking off. Right now I feel it is time to get rid of the middleman and connect with my body directly.
Our body knows how many steps we take and how much sleep we get - it tells us by how we feel rather than a digital readout. This is a chance to tune in and not rely on a device to dictate what the body needs.
I want my freedom back to wear other watches, watches that have a story, that have meaning. I can toss that cumbersome charger and have one less device that demands a charge. It may be sign to buy the Moonswatch.
Right now I have the feeling people get when there is no WiFi, very eerie and hard to describe. It will take some getting used to. But ultimately I hope it leads to a less cluttered, softer connection with my body.
Unplug this week,
Dr. Annie K.