Understanding the Double-Edged Sword of Wearable Technology
These days, millions of us have smart devices strapped to our wrists, fingers, and arms, measuring our metrics and building a picture of the “quantified self” to make us healthier, more active, and better prepared for a medical emergency. Wearables can help improve our well-being and nudge us towards better habits, but it’s less common to hear about the flipside: the anxiety at failing to close your rings, the frantic exercise to ensure you maintain your streak, and the obsession with meeting your targets daily.
These are feelings I know all too well. Having worn some of the best Apple Watches for close to a decade, I’ve watched it become an essential part of my life — so much so that I’ve tried closing my rings when I’m ill, on vacation, or should otherwise be resting and recuperating. I obsess over those little rings on my watch.
But what I wanted to find out was whether this is a more widespread issue and if it is, what can be done about it. Is wearable tech making us more anxious? And can it be redesigned to push back against these tendencies and help us feel more relaxed, not less?
To explore this topic, I spoke to tech and wellness experts who shared their thoughts on the ways wearables can impact our health — for better or worse.
The Endless Streak
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During the FIFA World Cup in July, I was preparing to wake up in the early hours to watch England play Mexico at 1am local time. I set my alarm, went to bed early, and got ready to cheer on my team without waking the neighbors. Yet there was one thought that I couldn’t get out of my mind as I contemplated the looming disruption to my sleep: my Apple Watch is going to hate this.
It’s now become part of my morning ritual to check my sleep score on my Apple Watch. Every high score gives me a little dopamine hit, whereas every low result brings a crushing sense of disappointment. And I knew that waking up at 1am and staying awake for two hours in the middle of the night was going to make my watch very disappointed indeed.
In the end, I rolled over and went back to sleep when my alarm woke me for the game. I didn’t watch it, partly because of the ungodly hour but also because I’ve allowed the scores and metrics on my watch to govern the way I live my life.
That’s not the only way this has happened to me. I recently hit a streak of closing my Move ring for 2,000 consecutive days. But I’d be lying if I said there weren’t days when I entered fake exercise to get past my calorie goal on a day when I was ill, tired, or simply unmotivated. Why cheating is fine, but resting is not, is something I admit doesn’t make much sense.
However, the thought of losing my streak fills me with dread. Two thousand consecutive days on my Move streak sounds like a lot, but knowing myself, I’m sure I’m going to try to continue it until the day I die, such is the anxiety associated with the idea of my streak ending.
The Dark Side of Wearable Tech
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I’ve long had perfectionist tendencies, but through observing the way I interact with my watch, it’s become clear how strongly the device’s gamification of fitness resonates with me — and how it can lead to unhealthy, possibly obsessive behaviors. To gain further insight, I spoke to Dr. Dana McKay, Associate Dean of Interaction, Technology & Information at RMIT University in Australia.
“These technologies are designed to help us form habits,” McKay pointed out. “They often use tools for so-called ‘persuasive design’ to motivate us to do something we wanted to do anyway.”
However, there are two significant risks: the possibility of becoming “unhealthily focused” on the device and the prospect of being persuaded by external parties, like insurance companies, to wear a device and share unwanted data.
Yang Wei, Professor of Wearable Technology at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, echoed these concerns, noting that while wearables can empower users, they may also create pressure, anxiety, guilt, or an unhealthy dependence on data. “Wearables create a framework for what counts as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ activity, sleep, recovery, or productivity,” Wei said, warning that when data is framed incorrectly, it can push users in an unhelpful direction.
One pertinent caution is that users may start to trust the device more than their own body. For instance, someone might feel they slept poorly because their watch indicated a low sleep score, even if they feel fine. Or they may feel defeated because they didn’t close a ring or reach a step target, even if they had a perfectly reasonable day.
That certainly resonates with me: I’ve come to view closing my Apple Watch’s rings as a daily requirement. A full set has almost become a condition for having a ‘good’ day, regardless of how I’m feeling or what I’ve achieved. This overreliance on a piece of tech strapped to my wrist feels central to the negative habits I’ve formed. So what can I do about it?
How to Push Back
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If wearables can form negative habits, what can we do to put things right? Both McKay and Wei argue that the answer is often surprisingly simple: take your watch off from time to time.
“There is no need to wear your device while on vacation unless a health practitioner recommends it,” McKay advised. If your relationship with your fitness tracker has become problematic, she suggests starting by turning off all notifications, limiting how often you check goals, and even considering not using the device at all.
You should also understand your motivations for using the device. “Is it to be more active? To monitor sleep? To address a specific health concern? Or simply to track daily patterns?” Having a clear purpose helps maintain a healthy perspective.
“Treat wearable data as guidance, not judgment,” Wei advised. “These devices can be helpful, but they are not infallible and don’t contextualize your life accurately. Factors like illness, stress, and travel can alter what constitutes a ‘good’ day.”
Moreover, if your device is causing significant anxiety or obsessive behavior, seeking professional medical advice is advisable. As Wei emphasized, “The aim should be for the wearable to support the person, not control their self-perception.”
However, this needn’t solely rely on the user’s actions; the design of wearables themselves should evolve to foster healthier habits and mitigate negative ones. McKay suggested features like customizable notification settings and removing gamification elements, like badges or friend competition, to lessen compulsive behaviors. Many of these options already exist in the settings but can be overlooked by users.
Ultimately, Wei notes, “the best wearable technologies will empower users to feel more confident and informed, not anxious or dependent.”
I may not be able to change how Apple designs its smartwatches, but I can reduce the pressure I place on myself to hit my daily goals, particularly when my body calls for rest. Staying fit and healthy is a commendable goal, yet when it leads to anxiety over a streak, perhaps it’s time to take a step back, remove the watch, and relish some much-deserved tech-free moments with loved ones. After all, losing a streak isn’t the end of the world.
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