From self-optimisation to self-regulation: the wellness shift we need

What if your fitness tracker rewarded you for resting? A quiet but important shift is happening in wellness tech – and it’s about time

Optimise, optimise, optimise. That’s been the wellness mantra for over a decade, driving everything from fitness and health to productivity culture. But if the rising tide of burnout has taught us anything, it’s this: we can’t keep sprinting forever. We need a new metric for success.

Regulation has always been part of the conversation – especially in therapy rooms and wellness spaces – but now it’s stepping into the mainstream. We’re all talking about it, and it’s starting to reshape how we design health, fitness, and wellness experiences – including the tech we use.

When I first began writing about health and fitness tech, tracking everything felt niche, even a little strange. Why count steps, calories, minutes of sleep? Fast forward ten years, and self-quantification is everywhere. Biohacking, productivity apps, hustle culture – we’ve normalised the idea that every part of life can (and should) be tracked, measured, optimised.