I broke up with my Fitbit
March 16, 2026
Hello Friend!
So I finally had to do it. After many years of getting along, I finally had to break up with my Fitbit.
Just to provide a little context, my Fitbit was pretty much ancient, given to me by my oldest daughter more than ten years ago when she upgraded to a better version. She thought I might like to try this new craze of counting steps. Fun!
And I did love it, for a long time. I worked hard to get my 10,000 steps a day, and occasionally I managed it. And yeah, I admit to running around the house at the very end of the day to get that dang number to turn over so I could watch the fireworks on my tiny screen and enjoy a sense of accomplishment.
In the end, my Fitbit was good at encouraging me to do just a little more. Just a few more steps. Just a little more activity. All good. But then I discovered the sleep feature and unfortunately it was the beginning of the end.
At some point I realized my Fitbit was smarter than I thought. If I wore it overnight it would record the stages of my sleep, and then tell me if I'd slept well or not. Sounds great, right? The problem is, between hot flashes and an overactive brain, my nights are not always restful. I often lay in the dark at 3:30am listening to Jon and the dog snore, trying not to look at the clock as it rolls around another hour. Ugh. And the problem grew when I knew my Fitbit was watching. I'd wake up in the morning and click over to my sleep score. Fair? Or did I score a Good?? And even when I felt rested, if my dear Fitbit told me otherwise I'd immediately feel tired. Good grief. And it didn't matter that I KNEW it was something of a mind game, I still felt compelled to know...
And so, after many, many months of feeling dependent, I started sleeping without tech on my wrist. It was pretty weird at first, and I definitely had withdrawal when I couldn't check my sleep score. But I worked on listening to my own body, deciding for myself if I felt good in the morning. I know, I know, sounds crazy. But the truth is, aren't we all just a little addicted to some sort of screen or app or some new and wonderful gadget that's supposed to make our lives better? And hey, some of it really is amazing! But I think for myself, I'm trying to be just a little more balanced, more clear eyed and careful when I jump in to something new. In the end, I may even sleep better for it!
