Of course it’s impossible to track all of the things that affect your life. You didn’t mention this, but it’s also impossible to quantify the value of your life, in order to optimize it. When it comes to something as big and precious as a life, how do you define “performance” anyway? And if you do have a definition of performance, how do you “improve performance” if you can’t measure it? And if you can measure it, why not write it down? Your post is not consistent on this point.

I do think recording some things — was I sick? how much sleep did I get? how often do I really go out with my friends? — can help us overcome our faulty memories and have a more realistic picture of our lives. And even if it doesn’t help us to “optimize” anything, isn’t it interesting to do?

Life logging and self awareness are not mutually exclusive. In fact, if you agree that we have faulty memories, then you probably agree that life logging can improve self awareness.

Long-time practitioners of mindfulness meditation would tell us that when we are really aware of the present moment, then we are also aware of the past, because the past exists in the present moment.

But I don’t mind also having a record.