Is your smartwatch reducing your resilience?
The smartwatch is designed for healthier living. But could it also be stifling your growth and personal development?
The smartwatch is designed for healthier living. But could it also be stifling your growth and personal development?
The smartwatch is undoubtedly clever – and it serves far more functions than simply telling the time.
The theory is that smartwatches help you become healthier by monitoring exercise, sleep patterns, and even oxygen saturation levels. By connecting to an app on your phone, you have a readily available record of your health habits over an extended period of time.
However, they also have a downside. One major issue is that they can be a blunt instrument for measuring your health because they offer no context. This is especially true of the stress level indicator.
This feature is a reminder to prioritise your psychological wellbeing. With an increase in mental health issues across all ages and demographics, it’s a prompt to take time to engage in relaxing activities.
The problem, however, is that the stress level diagnosis is too simplistic and reductive. A smartwatch doesn’t differentiate between good and bad stress – and stress levels depicted on a graph only tell half the story. It doesn’t consider that the stress of meeting a tight deadline can lead to a positive outcome; it merely registers the stress. This reinforces the struggle in our minds rather than reminding us to celebrate the victory.
My worry is that this could be doing more harm than good because it undermines the value of the daily experiences that are necessary for building resilience.
Stop telling me to relax!
On my smartwatch, the stress level indicator calculates my heart rate variability (HRV). If the intervals between my heartbeats become more variable, my watch deems me to be stressed. Some watches also detect changes in sweat levels on the skin.
Like many people, I lead a busy life with numerous responsibilities. I run a business that involves daily contact with a number of clients who have different needs. I’m a trustee for a local charity and I’m involved in other community projects. I have two teenagers studying for exams who are reliant on their in-home taxi service for their social lives. I also have a house to run, bills to pay and two dogs who appreciate a couple of walks a day.
My to-do list is endless, but I wouldn’t describe myself as stressed.
On any given day, I can feel worried, concerned, tense, frustrated or irritated. I can also feel daunted or overwhelmed, rushed or mentally challenged. I consider all of these feelings – however unpleasant at the time – to be useful. They are responses to the everyday pressures that motivate me and give me purpose. Ultimately, they enable me to feel a sense of achievement when I accomplish something significant.
But as these feelings can affect my body in the moment, my smartwatch, with its narrow vocabulary, simply alerts me to high stress levels.
Not all stress is bad
The stress response in humans, and indeed all animals, exists for a reason – survival.
So, stress can be good as well as bad. In the modern working world, good stress is associated with high performance. It helps you focus and gives you drive. This type of stress comes in short bursts. It’s a boost of adrenaline when you need it most and then it dissipates, allowing your body to return to a more relaxed state for recovery.
Bad stress occurs when the stress response remains elevated over a prolonged period, preventing recovery. Our bodies are not designed to stay on high alert on a permanent basis. So, it’s no surprise that this type of stress can negatively affect various aspects of our lives.
However, attempting to avoid stress altogether can also have a detrimental effect on your life. If you are unwilling to risk feeling stress, how will you develop new skills? How will you experience the euphoria that comes from being brave and succeeding at something personally challenging?
My concern is that the smartwatch may inadvertently encourage stress avoidance. I especially worry about the impact of this on young people.
‘Mum, my watch tells me I’m stressed’
Many young people are more aware of their mental health than previous generations, which represents real progress. However, this awareness coincides with the widespread use of smartwatches and the juxtaposition raises some concerns.
None of us are born with the ability to cope. We learn it. And experiencing a range of emotions is crucial for developing that ability. Attaching a crude label of ‘bad stress’ to them all is unhelpful, especially when there is no context.
For example, when my daughter is doing a presentation at school, her smartwatch alerts her to high stress levels. This has the potential to increase her stress further, as it overlooks her hours of preparation and makes no mention that a few deep breaths will help her remember the key points she’s practised.
Similarly, her smartwatch points out that interactions with tricky customers in her weekend job can trigger her stress levels. I admire how she calmly and politely handles these conflict situations and remind her that these are important social interactions that will improve her confidence, assertiveness and communication skills.
But seeing a spiky graph on a smartwatch can have a much more powerful impact than words of encouragement and reassurance from me. This is as true for fully grown adults as it is teenagers.
Celebrating grit
The ‘scientific evidence’ of high levels of stress can lead some people to limit their experiences. If a certain activity or situation makes you stressed, a common solution is to avoid it in the future. This approach – and the limiting mindset it stems from – are the antithesis of the principle that stepping out of your comfort zone is essential for growth. Being uncomfortable builds confidence and resilience.
Everyone faces tough times at some stage. And recognising your ability to overcome difficulties is a vital building block for resilience. This is far more beneficial than an alert that tells you you’re currently in a challenging situation.
Regardless of age or experience, it’s crucial to be aware of the different emotions associated with both good and bad stress. That is how you make sense of them.
If you can name your emotion and understand why it’s occurring, you’re more likely to recall similar feelings from the past – and recognise that you overcame them. You’ll remember how, by digging deep, you were able to face the challenge and find a way forward. And you’ll recall the feeling of triumph and pride that comes afterwards, which will motivate you to push through the discomfort again.
When you celebrate grit, it helps you achieve your goals. So, wouldn’t it be good if your watch could alert you to the times when you’ve demonstrated determination and perseverance? Instead of showing statistics that might make you more risk-averse, it could highlight moments when you built your resilience levels. This would surely empower you to make smarter choices about how you lead your life rather than limiting the pursuit of your ambitions.
Now, that would be a truly smart watch.
DRIVE recognise how stress and anxiety affect wellbeing and performance and can lead to extended periods of employee absence. We show individuals and teams how to manage their own wellbeing and resilience through practical, bespoke strategies. This provides benefits in both the immediate and longer-term for the individual and, consequently, the organisation.