Smartwatches have been a part of my tech arsenal since about my sophomore year of high school, thanks to a good friend who had a connection at the local Best Buy and got me the Garmin Forerunner 45 for a steal. This watch was awesome—I could get my notifications from my phone, track my runs, and it was overall a useful tool. I loved this watch, still love this watch, and wore it just about every day. I would have the most heinous tan line where the watch sit on my wrist.
As time went on, I began to notice minor things that made me not the biggest fan of the watch. More so, things that were small inconveniences, but they were things similar to that of stepping on a Lego. If you step on one, it’s going to hurt, but you’ll get over it. If you step on two or three, it is probably going to hurt more, but you’ll still get over it. Now if you're walking on these Legos every day, every couple of hours, you’ll eventually pick up the Legos.
That is exactly what happened with my little Garmin. Tracking runs became a bit of a nuisance since you had to wait for the GPS to kick in, which is only supposed to take 1-2 minutes, Garmin claims on their website, but that was never the case. I would usually get .15 of a mile in, and it would finicky connect to GPS. And speaking of tracking a run, when I would run with a friend and they’d track on the Strava app, they would hit a mile when I was at about .75 of a mile, even though we had just run the same run. Reading texts was also a pain because you were limited to a few words and if the text was too long, you’d have to tap the down button and typically the watch would say that's enough, open your phone if you want to see the rest. Design-wise, the watch faces were a little limited and some of the widgets, like the temperature, wouldn’t work. So eventually, these small things built up to not so small, and I knew I should upgrade.
So, I set my eyes on an Apple Watch. I typically like to make well-informed purchases so I did my usual research before and deciphered, is this a good purchase? I looked at recent models and how long they would last me. Needing to upgrade soon would defeat the purpose. I also saw a rich man buying $500 boots once a year and a poor man paying $250 twice a year - something along those lines. So, trying to be economically conscious, I went with the Series 9 Apple Watch and got a bit of a bargain on Prime Day (against recommended advice).
When I finally got the watch, I was so ecstatic. I set it up expeditiously. It was great, everything I imagined. I was motivated to run and track my runs accurately (hopefully), I could read my texts in totality on my phone, I now had access to miniature versions of all (most) my apps on my phone but on my watch. The Spotify app is one that I was particularly geeked about since I could like the songs without having to take my phone out of my pocket. The Strava app is also great and had more features than just running. All the Legos I had been walking on were picked up, swept away, and non-existent anymore! I truly could not complain.
That was until recently (the last month or so) I became more aware of my chronic phone usage. While my screen time was not incredibly high, because I work and try to keep myself busy, I was realizing that my free time was consumed with being on my phone. Entire lunch breaks dedicated to my phone, when I woke up, I got on the phone, when I was merely walking around the apartment watching the phone. I was constantly on this damn thing. I wasn’t even in denial at this point, I knew there was an issue. And unfortunately, the watch only amplified this issue. While I wasn’t picking up my phone all the time, I was still using my phone from my wrist. The notifications also were rampant and more appealing when you have a smartwatch, giving you the slightest reason to pick up your phone.
With that long story, that brings me to today. I have gone back and started wearing a normal (non-smart) watch. I already feel a difference with my insistent want to pick up or be on my phone. This slip back into a traditional watch has eased my digital overload. Will I get rid of my apple watch? Probably not. It still has its purposes. However, while smartwatches are undoubtedly powerful tools that can enhance productivity and connectivity, it's essential to find a balance that doesn't compromise our well-being. Sometimes, stepping back to simpler technologies can provide the space we need to reflect and recalibrate our interactions with the digital world.