Your skin temperature does not need a meeting.

We have a societal bias that more data is better.

From dashboards to nanny cams to watches that tell us 48 things about our health, we have started to believe that if we can know something, we must know it.

And if we are not tracking it, attending to it, and acting on it, we are failing.

This is false.

As a doctor, I can tell you that most wearable devices can actually cause harm. I am not saying they cannot do good. They can.

If you are tracking steps because you want to walk more, great.

If you are tracking sleep because you think poor sleep may be affecting your memory or attention, okay. Let’s make sure the tool is actually useful, and let’s decide what you will do with the information.

But wearing something because it promises 48 indices of your health? That’s a trap.In medicine, we say”Do not ask a question unless you are going to do something with the answer.”

Because every answer has weight.

If your watch tells you your skin temperature varies in the afternoon, what are you supposed to do with that? Do you have a problem? Do you need a test? Should you see a specialist?

Should you read about it at 2 a.m. while not sleeping because now you are worried about the variability of your skin temperature?

That is cognitive load. And cognitive load drains resilience.

Knowledge can be power.

But only when it gives us agency, strategy, or a clearer path toward a positive goal.

More data is not always better. Better questions are better.

What are you tracking that may not be helping you?

All my best,

Dr. G