Smartwatches have functionalities of many other devices, and therefore some might use them to fight phone addiction, reduce screen time and improve productivity. Let’s explore the advantages and disadvantages of using a smartwatch for improvement in productivity and digital detox.
Use notifications
You can receive notifications on your phone and reduce the need to check out your smartphone. You can filter notifications to only important ones. The filter reduces the need to use devices for distracting content. You can also receive reminders and timers via vibration for tasks, meetings, or deadlines. Therefore, it’s good to turn off irrelevant notifications like social media or mobile games and only leave important ones. Though, for some people filtering notifications won’t work, because they may check their phone more often. The key is not to check every notification, but only an urgent one.
Use smartwatch tracking to increase productivity
Smartwatches have physical activity trackers, fitness trackers, and calorie counters. They may have sleep trackers to watch your sleep duration and quality. They also have mindfulness and focus reminders to remind you to take a break, do a breathing exercise, or meditate. These trackers can help with concentration, reduce stress, improve your well-being
and increase productivity and focus.
Get a smartwatch with cellular technology
There are quite a few smartwatches on the market that support cellular technology. Those smartwatches have an eSIM inside, which enables a smartwatch to connect to the cellular network without needing a smartphone or Wi-Fi. Cellular smartwatches can send and receive text messages, make phone calls, and connect to the Internet. They work similarly to mobile phones, which also possess a SIM card to connect to the cellular network. You may find with your local mobile carrier which cellular smartwatches they support. You will often need to pay a carrier plan to use cellular technology in a smartwatch. The advantage of a cellular smartwatch is that you can spend time away from your smartphone but remain connected.
A smartwatch can be an additional device that you use
Minimalistic living would be having the least amount of devices you possibly can. You already own a smartphone, which replaces a camera, computer, music player, e-book reader, and more. The smartphone itself is already a minimalistic device. A smartwatch could become an additional device to use in everyday life. Therefore, a good idea is to get a cheaper used smartwatch to see whether you need it. You can always sell it later.
Stop using the smartphone at home
It’s good to keep your smartphone in one place at home and use it at a specific time of the day. Use a smartwatch to check for important notifications, messages, or calls. You can determine whether to pull out the phone to deal with them or check it later in the day.
You can end up spending excessive time on your smartwatch
Smartwatches can come with additional apps on your computer or smartphone. Those apps are for customizing the watch features. As setting up the smartwatch is fun, you can spend extra time tweaking the watch. Smartwatches also need to be charged daily, which is an additional thing to worry about.
Practice smartphone usage discipline
You should still practice smartphone discipline to reduce screen time. Keep the phone in one place at your home. Remove social media apps. Put your phone screen into grayscale so that scrolling pics on social media becomes boring. Track your screen time on the smartphone by using Screen Time app on iPhone and Digital Wellbeing on Android. Remove unnecessary notifications on your phone. Curate the feed on your social media to only necessary stuff.
Use smartwatch features to be more productive at work
If you work a hectic job where you can’t be seen using your phone like retail, you can receive notifications on your smartwatch, without taking out your phone. If you work in loud environments like nightclubs, you can be notified upon receiving a notification with vibration instead of sound that you can’t hear anyway. In quiet environments like libraries, you can also be notified with vibration instead of sound. Smartwatches are useful if you work outdoors as you can adjust your job according to the weather immediately. If you are on call during the night, you can also check whether notification is important without getting out of bed.
