Is Everything Supposed to Be Optimized?

We live in a fast-paced world, and everything seems to be moving at a really fast pace. I don’t know if people feel that elsewhere, but life in the US feels this way to me. There is so much happening on a daily basis- so much technological advancement, so much change, and so much information. If I try to find simple information about one thing, suddenly it feels like opening Pandora’s box. All this technology tracks search history, and I start seeing ads or related information about that particular subject everywhere.

On one hand, I really love that the information I want is so accessible. I literally have to search once, and then I am given this platter of information about it. On the other hand, though, it is overwhelming, to say the least. The algorithm catches everything so quickly that even if I do not wish to see it, somehow, I get engrossed in the subject matter by this force that is seemingly invisible.

In recent times, I have followed certain Subject Matter Experts in medical fields. When I say SMEs, it’s not just a random influencer on Instagram, I am talking about people with credentials who are experts in their field. I feel like I am learning a lot from them. I don’t deny that I do learn a lot of good information from them. In fact, I was able to advocate for myself in a recent medical visit because I had prior information about what I was asking the provider. It is great having all this information right at your fingertips.

Recently though, I think I am feeling the real exhaustion from all this information being bombarded at me. And what is even more exhausting is how much the talk of optimization is out there. Hear me out on what I am getting into. I am also interested in knowing if other people feel this same way.

I have been into running since mid-last year. I started out with a mile-a-day challenge that I created for myself. At that point, I did have some prior running experience. I did some running at different points in 2023 and 2024 as well. When I started out, though, I struggled to run for five straight minutes. I would always say I could feel my cerebrospinal fluid moving when I ran. All this to say, I had no endurance or strength to run.

Then, somehow, I convinced myself to train regularly starting mid-last year, and I have made great progress to a point that I just ran my first 10K race (not including practice 10Ks) in February. It took a lot of discipline, courage, and determination to go out and do all this training. I also follow the Nike App (it’s free, by the way) for training, and it’s been life changing.

Because I got into running, I naturally started following people who are into running as well. And you know the algorithm— I started getting all this information about running. I am not saying that we should not aim to improve, but what I do not like is how everything is always about numbers or optimization.

Listen, getting out of the house after a long day of work and choosing to run is a great win for me. Being able to run 5K casually on any day is a win for me. Doing a 10K race is amazing for someone who always believed she could not run. These are all great milestones. But when I see social media, people are always talking about numbers, or a certain way of breathing, or cutting down time, or whatnot.

Again, I am not saying these are not great things to strive for, but can we enjoy something without attaching all these extra things? I am out on a run to free my mind. I don’t want to be thinking about the right way of breathing. My body will adjust to it. You see where I am getting to? This is about running, but this is also not about running.

I follow all these highly talented doctors who all seem to have a book—OMG, all of them have written a book. I love that I get information from them for free without having to pay for a visit and all. In a way, I have access to healthcare through social media. But again the talk of optimization.

There is so much optimization of lifestyle in almost every piece of content they put out. I have gotten to a point where I ask myself--how much optimization should I really make in my life? I wonder if it is because they are trying to market their book and pushing out content is a necessary marketing strategy. At the end of the day, you gotta do what you gotta do, but it literally feels like the content is all about optimizing each and every aspect of your life.

One could easily argue with me that if you want a better life, then you should optimize. You should do all these little things from the time you wake up to bedtime. I am a disciplined person, and I do have a good routine. I live a healthy lifestyle, eat a nutritious diet, and exercise. I am not saying I am going to throw everything I have out the window. But I am saying can we enjoy our lives without thinking about optimizing it every single second of the day?

If we put so much pressure into living an optimized life, aren’t we robbing ourselves of joy? Having said that, I am not going to finish a box of cookies in one go. But when I eat my rice, can I just enjoy that one meal without having to think about how I can reduce the starch or whatever?

Again, it’s not just about the meal.

I know I am putting down all my feelings into this, but is anyone kind of getting where I am going with this?

To put it simply, I am just tired of seeing everything being about an optimized life. Can we talk about a happy, joyful life? Apart from being disciplined and having healthy habits for a good life, can we also focus on actually living life and not getting away from the living part while optimizing our life all the time?

Can we pause sometimes from always striving to be somewhere, and actually be where we are right now? Can we just cancel some of the noise around us and just live a peaceful life?

As I wrote this, I started thinking, it’s really simple, cut out the noise, do not use social media, and just BE, do what brings you joy. But is it that simple though? And also, I don’t think that was my whole point.

I think it’s the environment we are in now, the world we are living in, the things we are constantly being exposed to. How do we filter what’s important and put our focus on what brings us joy without having to perfect it? How can we prioritize what’s important?

Funny enough, I think I am already thinking of my answers to these questions. If we have a conversation, I am sure I can argue on the contrary side. Let’s not problem solve this in this writing. Maybe I can write a follow-up to this. Today I want to indulge in all these questions, and I want to invite my readers to do the same. I want to leave this open-ended for today. You may even wanna call it unfinished writing, so be it. This is not a quest to problem solve, rather an open invitation to dialogue.

I am really curious to hear back, what do you all think? How do you feel about all this? Or am I the only one getting into this spiral? LOL... Please comment.

I appreciate you stopping by and indulging in my thoughts.

See you next time!