One of the smartest things I ever did with my smart watch

One of the smartest things I ever did with my smart watch

Was take it off.

I admit it, I’m a tech geek. I love the latest and greatest and welcome how the right tech can help make our lives simpler.

When the first Apple Watch was released I was a hold out. Anyone who asked was given the same response, when they add built-in GPS and water resistance I’ll think about it. When they released the Apple Watch 2 with built-in GPS and water resistance, I pulled the trigger. I picked up a 42 mm model with a stainless steel case and sapphire crystal.

I heard my share of comments telling me what a mistake I made paying all that extra money for the stainless steel and sapphire crystal when I could’ve paid half the price and just gotten the aluminum case with the Ion X glass. After having watched several people over the past few years throw their Apple Watch in the garbage after one drop cracked the Ion X glass I was glad I chose what I did. They are not repairable. I never dropped or banged it on purpose but my Apple Watch definitely hit the floor many times and to this day, four or five years later, it took a licking and it kept on ticking.

I loved the convenience of being able to see who was calling, read my text messages and email, and get all of my alerts without having to pick up my phone or take it out of my pocket. It tracked my steps, my calories, my distance run or paddled and even the quality of my sleep. I wore it day and night for years. It was a great addition to my life. Or so I thought at the time.

I never gave it a second thought until earlier this year when I decided I wanted a dressier watch to wear to business meetings or out for a night on the town. I picked up a beautiful Bulova with a skeleton face showing the automatic movement underneath... and I’ve never looked back.

I now have three beautiful Bulova watches in my collection and my Apple Watch spends the majority of its time sitting on the charger.

I hadn’t noticed what I was missing until I took off the smart watch and replaced it with a regular time piece. What I was missing was quality time without distractions. It wasn’t until I stopped getting all the notifications on my wrist and realized that I had just spent two hours enjoying a wonderful conversation over drinks with a friend without a single distraction that I realized the negative impact the smart watch was actually having on my daily life. It wasn’t until I took the smart watch off that I realized just how often my wrist was getting buzzed and vibrated with notifications about this, that and everything else. With every notification, every alert received on my watch, I would look down to see who was calling, who was texting, what email had just come in or who just posted on social media. It was a constant barrage, a constant distraction, but I had become so attuned to it that I no longer noticed.

That first night out, with my phone facedown on the bar so I couldn’t see the screen, I had two of the best hours I’ve had in years. Quality time with a friend. Great conversation. No distractions and no interruptions. I realized immediately that I didn’t miss the smartwatch, what I realized I missed was something I had been missing for years, quality time with another human being without any technological distractions.

I won’t throw out my Apple Watch. I still wear it occasionally when I want to track a workout or my distance run or paddled. But aside from that it will stay on its charger. What I’ve gained is a greater constant awareness of the world around me and the people I’m with. I don’t need to be alerted to every single text, every single email and every time someone posts on social media. It’ll all be there waiting for me when I decide to pick up my phone later.

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