Why "maxxing" is made for social media and terrible for real life

Let's try to minimize our "maxxing," mkay?

It all began with “looksmaxxing,” the practice of young men spending all their time mewing and chewing gum to enhance the jawline, protein-loading, hairstyling, teeth whitening, tanning, taking steroids, getting plastic surgery and practicing at-home facial bone smashing, all to enhance appearance so that online randos will rate them a 7 instead of a 6.

From there, the double-x suffix was aped across all media, misapplied to a spectacular range of activities, including:

• tokenmaxxing — treating the quantity of AI tokens used as a status signal of productivity.

• sleepmaxxing — getting as much sleep as possible, rather than as much as one needs.

• booksmaxxing — reading intensively to appear optimally bookish on a dating profile.

• auramaxxing — enhancing and intensifying one’s invisible personal magnetism or “vibe.”

• smellmaxxing — optimizing one’s aroma expensive colognes.

• ethicsmaxxing — having a code of ethics and applying it rigorously to every decision.

• hobbitmaxxing — adopting hobbit habits: going barefoot, keeping cozy, prioritizing meals, and tending to home and hearth.

• sidequestmaxxing — taking hobbies too seriously or embracing unusual new challenges.

• bootymaxxing — doing exercises to grow a bigger butt.

• tanmaxxing — tanning to maximal darkness by spending more time in the sun.

• bum-maxxing — a male fad of being lazy, self-absorbed, and emotionally distant to somehow seem more attractive to women.

• solomaxxing — deliberately spending time alone and learning to enjoy one’s own company, because relationships are hard.

• catholicmaxxing — a hardcore approach to the religion centered on rules, ritual, deprivation.

• fibermaxxing — a nutritional discipline focused on maximizing dietary fiber intake.

• wokemaxxing — being deliberately or provocatively politically correct.

• chinamaxxing — US TikTokers trying to become more Chinese by wearing slippers, learning Mandarin, or collecting Labubu dolls.

• ballmaxxing — making the scrotum appear larger via saline injections.

• whimsymaxxing — adopting a carefree, playful lifestyle, expressed largely through fashion.

• climaxxing — moving sex up one’s to-do list, and even scheduling on Google Calendar.

• frictionmaxxing — actively seeking out difficulty and avoiding ease, convenience, and AI to build resilience.

• nonnamaxxing — emulating Italian grandmothers: embracing aging, walking, shopping locally, eating a Mediterranean diet, and meddling in other people’s business.

• spermmaxxing — maximizing fertility through testicle ice baths and eating raw garlic.

• gymmaxxing — putting major effort into fitness and workouts, treating exercise as a complete lifestyle.

• studymaxxing — focusing intensely on studying or learning.

• productivitymaxxing — maximizing output through planning, task completion, efficiency, and cutting distractions.

• moneymaxxing — making the most of one’s money by earning more, spending less, or budgeting carefully.

• healthmaxxing — improving overall health broadly (diet, movement, sleep, hydration, habits), beyond just fitness.

• skincaremaxxing — going all in on a skincare routine of cleansing, moisturizing, and protecting the skin.

• confidencemaxxing — actively building confidence, boldness, and better self-presentation.

• skillmaxxing — putting serious, repetitive effort into improving a specific skill.

• routinemaxxing — building the best possible structured daily routine.

• relaxmaxxing — maximizing relaxation, comfort, and rest as the top priority.

• socialmaxxing — focusing on social life, networking, and becoming more socially active.

• datingmaxxing — making a big, deliberate effort to improve one’s dating life.

• gamemaxxing — trying to improve at a videogame as much as possible through practice and strategy.

• glowupmaxxing — making the most of a visible transformation in style, grooming, health, or confidence.

• careermaxxing — focusing heavily on career growth via experience, skills, networking, and advancement.

• peacemaxxing — prioritizing calm and emotional space by avoiding drama and setting boundaries.

• water-maxxing — exaggerating the ordinary habit of staying well hydrated into a performance strategy.

• sunlight-maxxing — exaggerating “going outside and touching grass” into an optimization pursuit.

• birthdaymaxxing — going all-out to celebrate a birthday.

• PTO-maxxing — strategically arranging paid-time-off days around public holidays to maximize total days off.

• credit-card-maxxing — maximizing credit-card rewards and points.

• corsetmaxxing — going to extremes with corset/waist-cinching styling.

• And my favorite: nothingmaxxing — sitting alone in a room doing nothing.

This is a long list, but there are dozens more that have been trotted out by the people on social and in the media.

The reason the “maxxing” idea is lame is that to “maxx” something is to prioritize it by minimizing everything else, as if obsessively pursuing one kind of optimization is the answer to all problems.

Obviously, the way to make your life better is to try to improve all aspects of your life, including health, ethics, relationships, and to stay hydrated. (That one is called lifemaxxing, and that’s the good one.)

The problem is that approaching life with a constructive sense of balance doesn’t play well on TikTok.

“Maxxing” is played. Please keep your “maxxing” to a minimum.