Sleep. Steps. Sugar. Spending. Savings. Screen time.
And some of us track daily moods, too, which tend to run anxious from all this tracking!
Behold, the Quantified Self, a modern person reduced to so many metrics, in pursuit of excellence. As data recovery specialists, this phenomenon fascinates us, so we recently surveyed people about all the things they track and how it makes them feel.
86% of Americans and Canadians track at least one thing daily, and 91% have felt stressed by their tracking.
Americans are most stressed and anxious from tracking their spending, saving, and weight. More than half of us (56%) spend an hour or more per week tracking and analyzing personal data.
Where do quantified selfers live? People in New Mexico, Texas, and New Hampshire tend to be the most dedicated trackers.
Full Report
The Habits We Track
If you’ve ever wondered how many steps you take each day, there’s an app for that. If you’ve ever been curious about the cost of apps you subscribe to, there’s an app for that, too. If you’ve ever thought, “Gee, I’d like to know how much time I’m spending looking at screens,” there’s an app for that as well. Do you see where we’re going here?
Regardless of what aspect of your life you’re curious about, odds are you can find an app to track that information. While this access to our personal data can seem exciting and motivational, it can also be anxiety-inducing. To gain more insight into this tracking, we surveyed Americans and Canadians regarding their habits.
Leading the way as the most common activity tracked in the U.S. and Canada is spending, and 93.3% of people saying they’ve done it. A couple of dollars for a coffee here and a few bucks to spoil yourself at Target can really add up, but many people want to know just how much.
Weight is up next, ranking second for data tracking, as 92.8% of people say they monitor this information. Many people have personal fitness goals, and a lot of times they revolve around an ideal weight. But when weight is checked obsessively, experts refer to it as body checking. They warn that when done too frequently the behavior may become unhealthy and can be connected to anxiety and eating disorders.
Rounding out our top three is saving, going hand and hand with our number one activity. For 90.8% of people, keeping tabs on the money they aren’t spending is a crucial aspect of their finances.
Habits Tracked by Americans
For Americans specifically, water intake is the number one data tracked daily across the U.S. This is followed by hours slept in second place and bedtimes and wake times in third place, showing an emphasis on quality sleep.
But tracking some behaviors can stress Americans more than others. When it comes to anxiety and tracking, we learned that watching wallets and weight are the biggest culprits. Spending, saving, and weight are the areas that are most likely to cause unease in trackers.
In addition to the individual activities, we also grouped the different areas people track into seven categories: diet, financial, lifestyle, mental health, physical, sleep, and work. Across these categories, we discovered that sleep is the most common habit that Americans track. This is followed by work and diet in second and third place.
Habits Tracked by Canadians
In Canada, rest reigns supreme with hours slept claiming the number one spot for daily tracked habits. This is followed by daily steps, which is a bigger priority in Canada. It ranked fourth among Americans, while nearly 2 in 5 Canadians track their movement each day.
Wrapping up the top three, we return to the topic of sleep as 36.9% of people keep tabs on their bedtimes and wake times. Whether the aim is better quality sleep or avoiding crankiness with a consistent sleep schedule, these Canadians are heading toward an increase in cheery mornings.
When viewing the habits by category, Canadians are not so different from their neighbors to the south, as sleep, work, and diet claim the top three areas of tracking in Canada as well. We find the differences further down the list, however, as physical activity is more commonly tracked in Canada, while mental health is prioritized more in the U.S.
States with the most data trackers
After learning about the specific data collected, we wanted to learn more about where people are most likely to track it. In the U.S., New Mexico is home to the most data trackers, with 57.3% of residents who say they do it. Of all of the data tracked, water intake is the most common data residents of the state keep track of.
In second place, is Texas, where residents align with their neighbors to the west in the importance of staying hydrated — water intake ranks first in the Lone Star State as well. For third place, we travel to the northeastern part of the country where 57.1% of New Hampshire residents take part in self tracking.
On the other end of the scale, we discovered that Kansas residents are the least likely to have a phone full of apps tracking their daily habits. They are followed by Oklahoma and Rhode Island, ranking second and third for the least tracking.
Whether you are an avid tracker or just have one app to monitor your life, there is no judgement here. Ultimately, you are taking the steps to better yourself, but keep in mind that it is possible to overdo it.
Conclusion
From the work documents on your computer to the personal information on your health tracking apps, we store a lot of important data on our technology. For some, this data is stored on multiple devices for safe keeping, but this isn’t the case for everyone.
You have enough to worry about keeping tabs on all the areas of your life. You don’t need to add the anxiety of worrying about the safety of your data. Whether it be a damaged device after being dropped while trying to achieve your step goal or water spilled on your laptop as you try to check how much more you need to drink, we at Secure Data Recovery understand that life happens.
Whatever the cause, our team of experts are here to help recover your lost data because we know how important it is to you. From hard drive recovery to iPhone data recovery, we are trained across a variety of devices and can help regardless of how the data was lost. Get started today by requesting a free quote.
Methodology
In March 2025, we surveyed 2,999 people (2,499 Americans and 500 Canadians), asking what sorts of data they track, how frequently, and how these practices make them feel. Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 76 years old, and were 49% female, 50% male, and 1% nonbinary.
