Before getting an Apple Watch, I didn’t think I’d use it for much. Yes, we have some die-hard Apple Watch enthusiasts here at iPhone Life, but I couldn’t imagine using it as more than a glorified step tracker. Some of the stats it can record sounded cool, but it never seemed like something I needed, much less something that would make me a better person.
Fast forward six months, and not only has my Apple Watch soared to the top of my Objects I Would Save in a House Fire list, but it’s led to real, sustained changes in my lifestyle. These changes not only benefit me, but also my friends, family, and even my workplace. How can a tiny smartwatch bring about such substantial improvements? I’m glad you asked.
1. It Makes Me More Attentive.
This is the biggest, and perhaps most surprising, benefit I’ve discovered in owning an Apple Watch. I expected having a device on my wrist 24/7 would make me more distracted, but instead, it’s allowed me to put down my iPhone and engage with people in a more focused way than before. While I still get notifications, I can glance at them and see what they are, then dismiss them without worrying that I’ll forget about them, since they’ll still be waiting for me on my iPhone. When I see a notification on my phone, I’m likely to want to attend to it since my phone is already in my hand but seeing it on my watch keeps my phone in my pocket, erasing the temptation to answer a text and risk getting lost in the digital world.
2. It Makes Me Less Anxious.
I’m naturally an anxious person, and I think coming of age alongside the launch of the first iPhone didn’t help. I’ve spent my adult life being totally reachable by anyone at all hours of the day, and not being reachable can send me into a panic. What if someone is trying to reach me about something important? Am I going to miss an emergency call? Because of this, I almost always have my iPhone on me, which can lead to distractibility and doom scrolling. With my Apple Watch, I can see notifications as they come in and even answer calls while my iPhone stays stored away, out of arm’s reach.
3. It Makes Me Take Better Care of Myself.
While having the resources to take care of yourself isn’t any kind of ethical victory, we all know the old saying, you can’t pour from an empty cup. My Apple Watch is constantly monitoring me to see if I’m treating myself right, congratulating me on getting enough sleep, reminding me to take my vitamins, and gently encouraging me to take a moment to breathe. My favorite app, Welltory (free), which I cover on page 26 in the Best Apps section of this issue, can even let me know if I’m at risk of coming down with something. Somehow, my little robot timepiece has become my life coach.
4. It Makes Me Better at My Job.
This one isn’t surprising, as the whole reason I got an Apple Watch was so that I could write about it. Even outside of that, this little guy has supported my job performance since I first donned it back in the fall. Not only does it keep me focused (as detailed in point one), but its gentle buzzing on my wrist reminds me of meetings I might otherwise have forgotten about while concentrating on an article. It feels a bit like a discreet butler, standing in the background, only interrupting me when I’ve forgotten something crucial.
5. It Makes Me More Energetic.
As part of my improved daily self-care, I’ve started moving more, thanks to my daily Exercise, Move, and Stand Goals. That, combined with my Sleep goals, has noticeably improved my daily energy levels. The more I break up my hours of sitting behind my computer with one-minute breaks to stand, the easier it is to get up out of my chair, move, take a walk, or complete little chores around the house. The movement gets my brain working again, and I can return to my sitting task brighter and more focused.
6. It Makes Me a Better Friend.
Before my Apple Watch, I felt beholden to read and answer texts from my friends as they came in. If I opened the text to see what my friend was saying and then closed it again, I’d usually forget it came in at all and end up never replying. This was a frequent occurrence since I have a small child in my house who constantly demands attention, breaking my flow of digital communication. Now, when a text comes in from a friend, I can check the preview and decide if I need to answer right away or not. If not, I still have the notification on my iPhone reminding me to reply once I have a chance to settle down, and my friends aren’t left hanging mid-conversation.
7. It Makes Me a Better Spouse.
In a household with two working parents and a child under the age of four, little things can fall through the cracks. While having reminders on my wrist is an excellent way to stay both on top of things and also keep my iPhone out of sight, my Apple Watch’s Stand reminders have an unexpected benefit to my household. When I get that little wrist vibration that it’s time to stand up, I now use that opportunity to complete tasks around the house that otherwise would have fallen by the wayside. I try to take at least one five-minute sprint a day to fold some of the laundry my husband religiously washes and use the other one-minute Stand breaks to put away toys my daughter left strewn about, wipe down our kitchen counter, or do other small tasks that help keep us afloat.
8. It Makes Me a Better Parent.
While my daughter definitely tracks how often I glance at a notification on my wrist, the difference between that and pulling my phone out when we’re spending time together is huge. Additionally, my desire to close my rings has made me more creative in how I engage with her, starting us on a new tradition of getting up and dancing every time there’s music on TV (which in kid shows is a lot). Lastly, it also lets her use my phone for uninterrupted stretches when I promise her she can watch a video or do her daily Duolingo ABC. Before my Apple Watch, I’d have to take my phone away to check the time or a message that just came in, but my Apple Watch gives her space to enjoy the little screen time I give her on her own terms.
9. It Makes Me Look at the Big Picture.
While I’ve always been someone who strives for a healthy yet balanced lifestyle, I can get lost in the minutia of my daily decisions. If I walked a lot in a day, I’m convinced my life is forever changed, but if I spend a day on the couch, I’m obviously someone who will never move again. This kind of thinking isn’t helpful or accurate, and the Trends feature in my Health app gathers data from my Apple Watch to give me a more realistic view. In the summer, my daily steps regularly hit my personal goal, and my steps per day trend reflected that. In the colder weather, though, that number fell significantly, since I wasn’t spending as much time outside. But instead of feeling defeated, I saw that my reduced number was still pretty close to what I was hoping to hit as a minimum, so instead of falling into a defeatist mindset, I found little ways to integrate more steps into my day, making sure I was at least lightly active on a day-to-day basis and feeling faith that I’d shift back to something more ambitious once the weather warmed.
10. It Makes Me Feel Like a Superhero.
As someone who grew up in the era of Spy Kids, talking into my watch is the coolest thing ever. No, answering phone calls on my Apple Watch does not make me a better person, but it makes me feel like I’m saving the world. Have I said “copy that” more times than is organic? That’s between me and the guy letting me know that my extended warranty is about to expire. But, hey, it does motivate me to answer more calls from unknown numbers just so I can talk to my wrist, so who’s to say that I won’t answer a call from the U.S. government recruiting me on a top-secret ultra-important spy mission that I would have otherwise sent to voicemail?
Top image credit: agsandrew / Shutterstock.com
