I stopped tracking sleep because Gemini told me to. It completely changed the way I feel

For the first time in years, I deliberately stopped tracking my sleep or activity over the last few days.

But I didn't decide to do it on a whim, and no doctor, my partner, or any human being suggested I take a break. It was Google Gemini.

As a staunch advocate for wearing your wearable tech, I felt it was important to remind everyone that stopping can be equally important, and to highlight how AI excels as a useful, comforting, and friendly companion.

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By  Andy Boxall

Many wearables tracking my every move

Not the standard use case

Here's how all this came about. I have worn an Oura Ring for the last five years, almost without stopping, and am currently wearing the Oura Ring 5.

I have also worn the Fitbit Air since reviewing it, as I find the AI Health Coach motivating and useful.

I'm also reviewing the RingConn Gen 3 smart ring, which means I'm currently using three devices to track my sleep, health, and activity.

This isn't uncommon for me, but I realize it won't be the case for anyone who isn't a technology journalist. However, whether you get data from one device or three, it doesn't really matter. Data is data.

The data doesn't know you

Out of context, it doesn't always help

Long-term wearable tech usage returns all-important baseline data and trend reports. This is often more important than daily numbers, since it relies less on precise accuracy. You can see changes over time, which can highlight areas that may need attention.

Changes in my baseline made me pay closer attention to my stats than usual. It wasn't only me either. The Oura Ring noted some alterations, and the Vitals page in the Google Health app reflected them too.

Over a month, the trend continued. It was a bit concerning, so I asked the AI Health Coach about it. Its response was informative but noncommittal, and the AI Advisor in the Oura Ring's app was the same.

The RingConn Gen 3 turned out to be a scaremonger. The app is less intelligent than Oura or Google Health, and it made recommendations and used language that worried me.

I wasn't about to call the doctor at this stage. I know this is what to do, but for most blokes, it's also the last resort. Instead, I did what everyone does in 2026. I asked AI for advice.

A long conversation with Gemini

Talking through my concerns

I'm not advocating this as a course of action. If you're concerned about your health and well-being, you should call your healthcare provider.

However, my resulting conversation with Google Gemini was enlightening. I explained my concerns, showed it data, and shared important recent medical history. We then talked it through and came to some conclusions.

I've recently changed some medication, and Gemini and I linked how I was feeling with recognized withdrawal symptoms.

It returned bullet points on red flags to watch for, a possible timeline to expect, a link to a video from a physician explaining how wearable data can be affected by different factors, and even recommendations on how to cope if it lasted until a vacation I had planned.

Writing it down like this does the process an injustice. It was in-depth, informative, and most importantly, collaborative.

We talked, and I found that what it said matched most of what I already knew and what my doctor had told me. It pulled it all together, organized it, and did so in a way that wasn't clouded by my anxiety.

The back-and-forth conversation didn't replace speaking to another human, but Gemini is more informed than most humans who aren't medically trained, helping me get unbiased information. It's also immediate and always available no matter the time.

Gemini never crossed into giving me medical advice, but it reassured me and helped clarify what I was already thinking, while still informing me.

It also told me to contact my doctor and never tried to replace a qualified professional. Also, nothing I was seeing was life-threatening, so it wasn't ignoring or downplaying truly concerning data.

The data was to blame

Increased anxiety

I know I'm not the first to ask AI about a health concern, or to find it helpful. However, one piece of advice surprised me, and it turned out to be transformative.

It told me to stop tracking my sleep data for a while.

It was a lightbulb moment. Rather than a "head in the sand" response, it was sensible, as my body was going through some changes that made the data unreliable.

Taking a break would alleviate the sudden anxiety, which was affecting my sleep and therefore my stats, causing a negative feedback loop.

Seeing raw data changes in an app is one thing, but it has no context. Listening to your mind and body without the data, if you're feeling overwhelmed, is another. If I feel unwell without seeing the data, that's when I call the professionals.

I put all three wearables aside and slept without tracking any data, for the first time in a very long time. I have paid attention to how I feel, and not what an app tells me.

Tracking sleep and activity data is second nature to me, partly because of my job, but also because I like seeing all the graphs and numbers. I am sure I'm not the only one.

Gemini told me to stop for a bit, and it turned out to be genius advice that the tech journalist in me would never have considered.

Data and AI working together

Solid advice

Taking a break from tracking my sleep and activity has been surprisingly freeing. I didn't care about the apps, and couldn't tell you my Readiness score. Instead, I paid attention to how I felt, and it has made a big difference.

I feel better than I did at one point, which backs up Gemini's advice. The data I was worried about wasn't the whole story, and seeing it was doing more harm than good.

The experience has also reinforced my belief that many modern AIs' strengths lie in advice and companionship, as Gemini's compassionate but never condescending or minimizing responses proved.

I'll be back to tracking sleep and activity again in a few days, but I won't forget Gemini's advice. I'll also call an actual doctor if I'm concerned. Gemini's great, but it's not Dr. House.