Apple Watch laying on an Apple laptop

Is the Apple Watch Worth it? Thoughts from a Former Skeptic

Is Apple’s watch worth it? Yes.

I use it to track my habits and exercise, when to give my cat and dog their pills, the timer reminds me to switch off the garden sprinkler or hang out the laundry, and the little red notification dot – or lack thereof – helps me reduce my device time.

I’m at a point where I kinda feel naked without it. Except for showers. Then it just feels weird to wear it, as you’re meant to be in your birthday suit anyway.

Is an Apple Watch Worth It Contents

Why Was I Skeptical?

I already have three progressively smaller devices which allow me to watch movies, read articles about antique fountain pens, and find DIY recipes for pet friendly weedkiller. I can even learn what the weather is doing outside my window, without having to actually go outside.

So, do I need to add a fourth device, with similar functionality, to the mix? Technically, no. Not really.

For the basic stuff an Apple Watch can do, I already have substitutes – the afore mentioned devices. And for the fancy exercise tracking and timing stuff there’s a drawer in a downstairs desk where an old heart rate monitor and a couple of analog watches sit next to my half-empty bullet journal gathering dust.

The final nail in the coffin, the last technophobic driven excuse: I would have to upgrade my phone if I were to get a new watch. My phone – bought second hand and with me for over seven years – still does the trick. As long as I’m no more than 30 minutes from a power supply.

Besides, my phone’s primary use is to be ignored. Especially when someone has the temerity to call me. A more expensive chunk of silicone and glass won’t change that fact.

Why Did I Change My Mind?

A significant shift in lifestyle and a genuine need to be reachable at all times, or at least between the hours of 7am and 11pm. That’s what changed my mind.

No more missed notifications

My wife drives a lot for work and works late into the night while on call. One particular night, the car broke down in the middle of nowhere and it was 20 minutes before I saw her missed calls. I don’t carry my phone or iPad everywhere I go, so it’s all too easy to miss important calls and messages.

Being notified of an incoming message via a soothing chirp and a fizz on my wrist, rather than having to carry around my phone in my back pocket and worry about forgetting it when I sit down, is very comforting. Not having to set the notification volume to match a transatlantic fog horn is also a big positive.

The crash detection and emergency calling is a neat feature too.

At some point, we’ll try the walkie-talkie feature. But for now, we’ll continue to shout at each other like lunatics through the walls.

Encourage better habits

The other drive to purchase a watch comes from my new healthy habit of exercising. I’m six months into a consistent streak of working out – something I’ve struggled with the last year or so, to be honest, the last decade – and being able to track heart rate, calories burnt, and time spent in sweating, puffing purgatory is appealing.

There is an enormous amount of satisfaction in adjusting the exercise time from 10 minutes to 12 to 15 to 20 to 25. Something about spinning the crown and watching the numbers climb just hits the spot for me.

A Drive Towards Simplicity

An advantage of the Apple Watch is it does everything I need in one device. It sits unobtrusively on my wrist – which is convenient being that my wrist also goes where I go – and won’t need to be replaced for quite a while.

No more having to find the heart rate monitor before I get changed into my workout gear, or hunting for my bullet journal to tell me which exercises to do today, or leaving my iPad behind for the timer. All of which are great excuses NOT to start exercising.

With the watch, it’s all there, all the time. No more wasted time looking for stuff. I get changed and go. It’s that simple.

Which watch did I get and why?

I bought a refurbished Series 8 directly from Apple.

The Ultra was super-nice, but way more watch than I need, and the Series 9 didn’t feel like a big enough step up from the 8 to make it worthwhile.

The money I saved by buying a refurbed, prior model, went towards upgrading my phone, as my first generation SE was too old to pair with the watch. Now I’m the owner of a brand new third generation SE with a battery that lasts all day. Bliss! Why didn’t I upgrade sooner? That’s right, the mortgage payments.

How I Use My Apple Watch

The apps I use the most on my watch are:

  • Reminders
  • Streaks
  • Timers
  • Workouts
  • Activity
  • Calendar
  • Sleep
  • Calculator
  • Alarms

My days are more structured now, with repeating reminders and friendly notifications that appear when I close my activity rings. No more missed pet meds, forgotten laundry, or drowning the garden and wasting water because I forgot to turn the sprinkler off.

I trust my watch to ding when it needs to and to tell me what to do next, which might sound a tad Big Brother or The Matrix, but it removes a huge amount of worry for me and allows me to use my mental energy where it’s best spent. Which isn’t wondering whether I’ve pilled the dog or not. Is the reminder “Pill Goof Ball” still active? Let me check. It’s no longer on today’s list which means I’ve pilled my lovable, happy goof ball and he gets to stay healthy. No more worries about under- or over-medicating.

For me, structure is good, structure is necessary. Without it my days would be an unholy mess.

Positive behaviour changes from having an Apple Watch

My exercising is still tough to do some days, but now I have a purpose and a weird sense of accountability. I don’t want to disappoint my watch by not exercising.

Which brings me to three unexpected benefits.

The Apple Watch has helped me think and act more deliberately

I use the Streaks app to track my habits, whether that’s writing my book, exercising, or not biting my fingernails. The habit of marking these behaviours as complete adds a layer of thoughtfulness to my actions.

For example, as a reward for exercising, I get to push the exercise icon in the Streaks app and hear a happy little ping! When it’s time to exercise, it’s no longer a drag to get going, or wasted time debating with myself about the pros and cons of stepping on to the elliptical. Now, it’s a deliberate thought, “I want to exercise”.

My mind has tricked me into wanting to exercise, to get that tiny rush of dopamine from the completion reward.

My terrible habit of biting my fingernails has also seen a shift. Previous to the watch, the thought about not biting my fingernails would come after the act. Nothing deliberate there at all, it was as subconscious and automatic as breathing.

But now, if I bite my nails, I have to push the Streaks icon, which resets the number of days since I last bit my nails, and listen to the sad, disappointed beep.

These days, when I go to bite my nails, I pause for a moment before the satisfying rip, and think, “do I want to push the button and hear the crestfallen chime?”

More often than not, that’s enough for me to lower my fingers from my mouth. Not always, but it’s been a surprising boon.

I check my devices less

The next benefit is a reduced amount of time spent checking my iPad and getting distracted.

No more worries about missed calls or messages. No more checking the device and then feeling guilty about reading the news or searching for that 1912 Waterman pen on eBay. I look at my watch and see if the red notification dot is there or not. No? Then no missed messages or calls. Yes – along with the chirp and fizzy vibration – and there’s a message.

If the watch is quiet, then no-one’s trying to get in touch. And I know no-one’s trying to get in touch, which brings a level of calm and serenity.

This all means I can complete my chores without a guilty break in the middle of them, or fret over important messages that have gone unread.

The Apple Watch allowed me to reduce my digital footprint

The third benefit is a reduction and simplification in the number of apps and services I use.

In my freelance days, I had apps and services galore, but since my shift to working for someone else, I no longer need half of what I installed or subscribed to. And I never got rid of anything, because, well, “you never know…” This is, of course, complete bunkum, codswallop, claptrap, and balderdash. I did know, I just didn’t want to take the effort to remove them.

Setting up my new phone was the perfect reason to unsubscribe and not install the apps and services that had fallen into oblivion over the last year. Like turning over a fresh, blank page in my favourite notebook.

Fewer apps means fewer syncs and setups. No more wasted time adding an event to my Google calendar, only to edit the event and mess with sync settings and notifications when things don’t work the way I thought they would.

The upshot is fewer apps means more use of Apple’s native apps. The downside is fewer features in some cases, but as my life is simpler than it used to be, it makes sense to have a simpler approach to my digital choices. And I don’t miss the features I’m not using.

It’s like having a wardrobe full of white shirts and dark trousers. It’s easy to know what to wear for work each day, leaving more brain power for the important decisions I need to make. Sure, it might bore some, but for me, I’m putting the right level of energy into the right actions. Like being deliberate with my positive behaviours.

Another way to think of it is, do I need a super-duper, high-powered task management app with projects and powerful filters when all I need is a simple shopping list? And no, I don’t need a fancy task management app and a shopping list app. All I need is one straightforward reminders app.

The and logic only applies to dessert when the choice is between ice cream or whipped cream. In that case, the correct answer is always, “and”.

UPDATE: After 12 Months Do I Still Think the Apple Watch is Worth It?

Yes. Absolutely. Without a doubt, unequivocally.

Here’s why:

  • My anxiety about missed calls and notifications is gone
  • I don’t waste time thinking about what I should be doing next in my day, the watch remembers all that
  • I’m still exercising consistently and getting healthier
  • My procrastination is greatly diminished and my motivation to get stuff done has increased
  • My life is simpler, smoother, and my dog’s still happy and healthy

Am I still happy with the older model watch? Yes. I made the right choice and have no interest in the latest model. Maybe in another five or so years I might be.

After a year, what condition is your watch in?

It’s in great condition.

I’m currently on my fourth watch cover – I buy the cheap covers from Amazon – as I keep banging my wrist off counter tops and the like, and the main watch face and body is still pristine.

Which watch apps do you use?

Off all the apps, I use Reminders and it’s scheduling function the most.

Reminders tells me specifically what to do each day. For example, Monday: Rowing Machine, Tidy the Sitting Room. Tuesday: Weights, Tidy the Dining Room. Every Second Friday: Put out the Recycle Bin.

These are the good notifications that keep my body moving, my house clean, and most importantly, my mind at ease.

I still use all of the apps mentioned earlier in the post, except for the Sleep app. For a while it was interesting to see how much of my night I was awake or in REM sleep, but ultimately it didn’t help me. My body tells me whether I’ve had a good night’s sleep or not. I don’t need the watch for that.

Final Thoughts: Is the Apple Watch Worth It?

Thanks to the Apple watch:

  • My days are organized in a way that works for me
  • My digital life is simpler and cheaper
  • My pets get their pills when they need them – very important for their prolonged health and quality of life
  • We no longer run out of bread or milk – a global-level crisis when it happens
  • I’m still exercising and can see a healthy difference in my heart rate and stamina levels with the data tracking

The watch is both easy and fun to use, and when my other devices are just tools for work, or to avoid work through procrastination, it’s refreshing to have a device that helps me smile and enjoy life.

So, yes, the Apple Watch is worth it.

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