While I was in the pool this morning (yes, I made it again), I found myself thinking about quantification and gamification. My trigger for this thought was contemplating whether or not I should count how many lengths I swam in the half an hour I had available before I had to leave for work, and ultimately I decided that no, I didn't need to; that wasn't why I was here.
Today, we're encouraged to quantify and gamify almost everything in our lives. Step counters on our phones check to see if we've been active enough. Websites provide experience points and achievements for engaging with their content. And, of course, social media, for many, is spent in the never-ending pursuit of higher numbers of likes and shares.
Quantifying things can, at times, be valuable. It's helpful to know, for example, how many people a particular surgeon has killed (preferably zero), or how many civilian facilities a bomber pilot has destroyed (likewise). It's also helpful if you're trying to train for something specific; if you're hoping to run a marathon, for example, you'd want to see how long it takes you to run various distances so you can track your improvement in speed and endurance as time goes on.
But that doesn't mean we need to attach numbers to absolutely everything. I deliberately chose not to count my lengths in the swimming pool this morning because all I'm trying to do is simply something vaguely active. How "well" I do at that is irrelevant; I'm not trying to get better (at least not right now) — I'm just trying to do something.
It's easy to lose sight of that today in a world filled with jobs that constantly demand you meet "KPIs", likes and shares on social media corresponding to the amount of value people feel they should place on your opinion and a society that, in general, seems to think that you should never be satisfied and happy with who you are right now.
In some respects, it's good to constantly strive to improve. But sometimes you just need a break from the pressure, and to be able to do something just for the sake of it. At those times, you need to ignore all the numbers and just lose yourself in whatever you're doing. And enjoy it!
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