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How to resist the urge to optimize everything

How to resist the urge to optimize everything

Update: 2025-12-10
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542. If you’ve ever obsessed over your sleep score, treated self-help like homework, or tried to “maximize” a vacation, you know how easily optimization becomes its own exhausting job. Culture tells us to upgrade everything—habits, productivity, even our emotions—but at a certain point, trying to be our “best self” backfires. This week, instead of automatically optimizing your life, here are five questions to help you step back, recalibrate, and remember what actually matters.

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Find Dr. Jade Wu on her website.

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How to resist the urge to optimize everything

How to resist the urge to optimize everything

Dr. Ellen Hendriksen