"I look at my Fitbit and note despondently that I have done only 2,247 steps today. I haven't met my 'hydration goal' or crossed everything off my to-do list. I didn't think of three things I was grateful for before I went to sleep last night, nor did I meditate this morning. I didn't wake up early enough, and I probably won't get seven to nine hours of sleep. The perfect version of myself hovers in my peripheral vision - healthy, happy and, above all, productive."
"We live in an age of self-quantification and the glorification of productivity. Bullet journals, habit trackers, smart watches - all of these tools allow us to collect data about ourselves in a frenzy of self-improvement. My Instagram feed is flooded with videos of thin women with smooth shiny foreheads and gleaming white teeth, extolling the virtues of 5 am workouts, lengthy skincare rituals, and gratitude journals."
Contemporary life emphasizes constant self-tracking and productivity through devices, habit tools, and curated social-media routines. People measure steps, hydration, sleep, gratitude practices, and productivity to pursue an idealized, optimized self. Influencer culture amplifies narrow standards of appearance, regimented routines, and efficiency hacks aimed at extracting maximum value from time and possessions. The impulse to quantify and improve the self is not new; it has historical roots in Victorian-era beliefs about progress, innovation, and utopian improvement of both individuals and society. Cultural drives toward perpetual self-optimization connect past and present norms of improvement.
Read at Aeon
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]