When “tracking” is running your life (and burning you out)

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Let’s talk about the sneakiest perfectionist habit in the room: obsessive tracking.

At first, it feels empowering.  You’ve got your shit together!! Like you’re on top of your habits, your writing, your health. But soon, it becomes a full-time job.

You’re chasing the high of recording every number, every metric, every “proof” you’re doing it right.  The daily step count, words in the article progression, sleep, time spent on phone, books read, alcohol units consumed, meditative minutes, to dos ticked off, h-index advancement, social media minutes.  

Here’s the truth of obsessive tracking:

• It becomes a control strategy to escape other, largely subconscious, uncomfortable feelings

• It stops being a tool for growth and starts being an addiction to control and feeling safe.

• It burns you out while making you think you’re being productive.

How do I know all this?  This used to be me (takes one to know one). 

I read an amazing book based in Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) called Change for the Better by Elizabeth Wilde McCormick. In it, she describes a mapping technique used often in CAT and I was able to map out my own process (see diagram above).

Now, you don’t need to throw all tracking out the window - although you can test that out if you like. We’re aiming for a system where you to strip it back to what genuinely serves you and rebuild your trust in yourself without constant external proof. And disentangle your sense of self worth from your progress.

PROCESS:

1. Name the habit without judgement
   Become the witness of when and how you track. Get curious—no shaming yourself.

2. Identify the emotional driver
   Ask: What am I hoping this will make me feel? (Calm? Enough? In control?) Then start creating that feeling without the spreadsheet or app.

3. Proof of safety
   Remind yourself you’re safe now. Not because your pedometer says 10,000, but because you’re breathing, fed, and resourced.

4. Detach self-worth from numbers
   Stop making your “success” dependent on hitting arbitrary metrics.

5. Eat the cake first
   If perfectionism has you convinced you must do the hard, “worthy” work before you get joy, reverse it. Start the day with something nourishing, grounding, or fun.

When you move from control to trust, you reclaim energy, creativity, and space for actual results.

Your goals shift into being about living, creating, and delivering at the highest level.

And before you know it, the compulsion to record every scrap of your life loosens its grip.

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