Is the Apple Watch a costly gimmick or a productivity game changer? I can only speak for myself, but I have plenty to say, so let's get started. Let me be honest with you: I never expected to get an Apple Watch.
I have nothing against Apple. I've been using Apple products for over 15 years; I have an iPhone, an iPad, and while I no longer use Apple computers, I am a PC gal.
I love a good Apple mobile device these days, and I've been on the iphone and ipad bandwagon for a long time, but ever since the apple watch first launched, I couldn't help but wonder if it actually adds value, as in does it make any sense for you and me?
I began to believe that an Apple Watch could be the solution to many, but not all, of my problems, and it turns out that an Apple Watch can be quite life-changing for the right person at the right time.
APPLE WATCH SERIES 7 FEATURES
Let's start with some introductions: I purchased the Apple Watch Series 7 in 41 millimeters of gold stainless steel with a gold milanese loop band from Apple.
I chose a smaller watch face, which was a difficult decision because I am 5'10 and my bone structure is proportionate to my height, but I don't have huge wrists and I was worried that the larger watch face would be too much for my wrist.
Also, I'm more likely to smash it into door frames and other various objects, which may not be a problem for you, but for the clumsy among us, it may be a problem, and I'm so happy about that.
I chose a smaller watch face because it feels more comfortable on my wrist; the screen is more than large enough for everything I use my watch for; it's simple to use; and it's not huge, bulky, or overwhelming.
I like wearing this one on a daily basis because it's a little more casual, it's a little more comfortable on the wrist because the edges aren't quite as stiff and hard, and it's also a little easier to adjust because it has that magnetic strip.
It's two separate pieces, and you can choose how tight you want it to be. The milanese loop is easy to adjust and isn't uncomfortable, but for my personal preference and what I do on a daily basis, I've found this one to be a little more of a comfortable day-to-day band.
It also works a little bit better for exercising in my opinion. If I'm doing a home workout doing yoga, I find that this band moves a little bit easier with my wrist and I don't have to constantly swap out the band.
APPLE WATCH Series 7 watch faces
I rotate between four primary watch faces, and I feel like over the last few months I've really gotten a feel for which watch faces work best for me in different areas of my life. My first watch face is what I consider my work watch phase; this one is all about functionality and less about fashion.
So, in terms of aesthetics, this has my most used apps and things that I want to be able to see the status of at a glance. On the top left is the workout app if I need to quickly start a workout, and on the top right is my inbox where I can check my emails.
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Bottom right is the calendar, which allows me to quickly see the day of the week and the date, and if I tap on it, I can see any events I have scheduled for that day.
Bottom left is the battery life remaining on my watch; your watch will notify you when you reach 10 battery, but I prefer to know much sooner.
So that I can optimize charging my watch at a time that is more convenient for me rather than getting down to 10% and having to charge it at a less convenient time and my watch running out of battery.
There is, of course, an analog watch face that displays the time in hours, minutes, and seconds; from the top, I have my activity rings; and to the right, I have my routinery app, which I will discuss in detail later.
Can I make calls from my Apple Watch 7?
Let's just say it's one of the best parts about having an Apple Watch for me personally. The bottom is for making phone calls one of the things that I never expected to love about the Apple Watch but has completely taken over is making and answering phone calls from it.
I believe the only phone calls I've made from my actual phone since getting the Apple Watch are those to my husband, friends, and family, or my therapist.
The last option on the left is for quickly checking text messages. I like having it here because it shows how many unread messages I have, and I try to keep all of my messages read, so it usually doesn't have a number, so if my watch vibrates to tell me I have a message but I'm distracted and don't notice it.
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So instead of seeing the pop-up notification, when I look at my watch face, I'll see a number and realize I have an unread text message, and I can quickly tap it to see who messaged me and if it's something urgent or something I can leave for later.
You can put whatever you want, I know a lot of people put the weather, but I don't go outside very often, you could install an app that will pop up inspirational quotes, whatever works for you, whatever works for me, I like looking at my watch and getting a random word and its definition every now and then.
It's a word I've never heard of before, which is always exciting. A lot of the time, it just reminds me to use more varied vocabulary in my day-to-day life, which is fun for me. Finally, I have three minor complications.
On the left, you can see my activity rings. I like to have those on every watch face because one of the main reasons I got an apple watch was to encourage myself to move more and more frequently at the end of my work day when I switch over to the APPLE WATCH 7 watch face.
Here on my relaxation watch face, in the center, I have the battery life of the watch again; it's just one of those things that I always want to know because I hate it when things run out of battery, what can I say? And on the right, I have my routinery app again. life-changing
Of course, there are numerous options, and any of these watch faces can be customized to a great extent in terms of color and complications. Most of them have a couple variations for style or options. Of course, you could start with any of a slew of other base watch faces besides these four.
I'm not going to go into the details of how to build a watch face because there are so many videos on that subject on the internet go forth and google but I do love how easy it is to make watch faces, reorder them, edit them, and change them up.
I've really enjoyed trying out different formats of watch faces with different combinations of complications until I found my top four that are currently the best suited to me and my life if you have an apple watch and are having trouble making it work for you.
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I highly recommend experimenting with different watch faces because I found that having a watch face that has my most used apps right there easy to tap without having to go in and look through all of my apps and find what I'm looking for has really increased the productivity and efficiency of using my watch and led me to reach for my watch first rather than my phone.
What apps should you download on Apple Watch?
Now that I've thoroughly introduced you to my watch, let's talk about my most used apps. Because my goal with my apple watch was to improve productivity and wellness, my most used apps fall into those categories as well. I'll start with an app that comes with the apple watch, which is the timer app.
I don't know about you, but I adore a good timer. I love to set timers for just about anything because I easily lose track of time, and setting a timer for 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or an hour helps me keep track of time.
Whatever it is that I require makes a huge difference and I've been using timers on my iphone for years at this point and it has become a core tenet of getting literally anything done in my life but it can be a bit of a hassle to set a timer on my phone and then have to carry my phone around with me everywhere I go from room to room in case it goes off and I don't hear it the way that the apple watch handles timers is just next level efficient and I
So you can easily set a timer by going into the timer app and repeating one of your recent timers, selecting one of their standard timers, or creating a custom timer for whatever time you need to track, but my favorite way to set a timer is to simply ask Siri, "Hey Siri, set a timer for five minutes counting down perfect." Not only can you see the timer on your watch, but you can also hear it.
you can set multiple timers your watch will vibrate when the timer is over so you're very unlikely to miss that your timer has ended it's easy to repeat timers or end them you can activate siri by saying hey siri or you can activate siri by pressing and holding the crown pressing and holding the crown is my go-to but it's great that
you can also activate siri hands-free just with your voice in case maybe you're in the middle of washing your hands or you're cooking or your hands are dirty for some reason you're in a hostage situation and your hands are tied behind your back.
You can program multiple timers. When the timer expires, your watch will vibrate, making it very unlikely that you will miss the fact that your timer has expired. Timers can be easily repeated or terminated.
Does Apple Watch 7 have Siri?
You can activate Siri by saying "Hey Siri" or by pressing and holding the crown. My preferred method is to press and hold the crown, but it's great that.
You can also use your voice to activate Siri hands-free if you're in the middle of washing your hands, cooking, or your hands are dirty for some reason, or you're in a hostage situation and your hands are tied behind your back.
Here's my massive floof of a cat chewie, and he's assisting, so now I know that for some people, audiobooks are more distracting than helpful, so your mileage may vary, but even if audiobooks don't work for you in terms of productivity, they can certainly help with wellness.
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I get a lot of questions about how I read so much, usually more than 100 books a year, and the answer is audiobooks. You can listen to fiction if that's your thing, escapism, relaxation, or excitement.
If it's a thriller or a brain teaser, if it's a mystery, or if you prefer non-fiction, audiobooks are the best, and I'll keep saying it because it's true audible has done such a good job with their Apple Watch app.
So many companies that have great apps for iPhones and iPads make terrible versions for the Apple Watch or make a version that is basically devoid of any functionality, which audible did not do, thank goodness.
Apple Watch app
Their Apple Watch app makes sense and is enjoyable to use. Send a book to your watch from your phone's app, listen to it with your wireless earbuds or headphones, and it will live on your watch.
You don't have to worry about delays because you're not streaming or having to connect to your phone to listen. You can change the speed and skip between chapters right on your watch.
If you like to wear your watch to bed, you can also set a sleep timer from your watch. It's so well designed, simple, and easy to use that I absolutely love it.
The audible app allows you to listen to music whenever and wherever you want, whether you're running errands, working out, doing chores, or even working, as I do as an audible member.
You can keep one title per month from their entire catalog, including new releases and bestsellers. I enjoy listening to audiobooks from my favorite genres, such as sci-fi, fantasy, non-fiction, mystery, and others, on audible.
I'm currently listening to James Clear's book Atomic Habits, and so far I'm finding it very encouraging, with really great concepts and ideas to apply to my own life, such as the idea of tackling your habits or goals with tiny consistent action every single day rather than focusing on large changes that aren't sustainable in the long run.
The next app I'd like to discuss isn't even an app; it's an accessibility feature included with the Apple Watch, and it's the ability to set haptic chimes on your watch.
You can set these to go off every quarter-hour, half-hour, or hour, as I have mine set up, and all it does is make your watch vibrate and make a sound if you have sound on at that set interval for me.
I'm currently stuck in a black hole of doing the next app I want to talk about is another one that comes with the apple watch, and that is the lists or reminders app. I'm aware that this app has existed on phones for a very long time, but I must admit that I have never used it on my phone.
I find it inconvenient to have my bullet journal open and referring to a list while shopping, and in the past I've just tried to remember everything that I need.
I forgot a lot of things and had to run errands over and over, but with my watch, I can just tell Siri to add something to my grocery list or shopping list, and she does it right away, so I don't have to think about it.
Then, when I go out to do errands, my list is on my watch with me, so I can't possibly forget it at home, and I can go down the list checking things off and they disappear, so I don't have to look at or think about them anymore.
It's super convenient, and it's caused me to be so much more efficient and productive with my time when I'm doing errands. I can do one trip in a week and get everything I need without forgetting anything.
It's such a time saver again it's one of those things that I feel is greatly improved by how it's used on the apple watch versus something like a phone or an ipad similar to how timers work on the apple watch and that functionality improvement In my opinion, the lists on the Apple Watch are far more functional.
The next app I'd like to discuss is all about sleep, and I must admit that I've never been good at sleeping; I don't understand how people can just get in bed, close their eyes, and sleep for eight hours straight and wake up feeling refreshed.
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It's an alien concept to me. I've always struggled to fall asleep, stay asleep, and feel rested in my life. One thing I knew I wanted to do with my Apple Watch was find a good app for tracking sleep to hopefully help me foster some healthier sleep habits.
The sleep app that comes with the Apple Watch was disappointing to me. I tried a couple of other sleep apps that were also disappointing in my opinion, but I recently discovered auto sleep, which is by far the best sleep app that I have used on my watch.
So far, this app is so comprehensive and simple to use that all you have to do is wear your watch to sleep and it will automatically track your sleep using various features on the Apple Watch.
It will monitor your heart rate. It will record when you move and when you are still, and it will calculate how long it takes you to fall asleep and how long you are asleep for. It will also track the cycles of your sleep.
So, when you're in deep sleep, restful sleep, light sleep, or awake, it will examine the efficiency of your sleep, or how many hours you spend in bed compared to how many hours you're actually asleep.
There's also a smart alarm feature that allows the app to wake you up within a 15-minute window of your target wake time based on where you are in a sleep cycle, allowing you to wake up and stay awake without feeling groggy or startled awake.
I've been using this app every night since I discovered it, and while it can be a little depressing to wake up and realize that I only slept for five hours despite being in bed for nine.
I'm finding it extremely beneficial to re-evaluate my habits and try to improve on the things that I can control, such as getting into bed earlier and eliminating distractions once I'm in bed. Reducing the amount of light and noise in my bedroom in order to reduce the number of times I am woken up during the night I like how the information is displayed on the app.
You can get a little bit of information on the Apple Watch, but the best way to see all of your information is to open the app on your phone. I really like this app and think it's worth a try if you, like me, are trying to improve your sleep habits and sleep quality.
So far, I can really feel it's starting to change my habits and hopefully, over time, it will also help my overall sleep quality and how rested I feel, which will in turn help to improve my mental and physical health.
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The next app I'd like to discuss is another one that comes with the Apple Watch, and that is the activity app. Having access to those activity rings was the number one reason that convinced me to purchase the Apple Watch.
I'm not sure about you, but in the last couple years I've moved much less than I ever have in my life. I grew up very active, and I had a very active career until a couple years ago, but that has changed in the last two years.
I've never been more sedentary, and it's had a significant impact on my physical and mental health, knowing who I am and how my brain works. I've been moving a lot more since getting the watch, and I'm feeling a lot more energetic, sleeping better, and overall happier and less stressed. Of course, it may not be as effective for you.
It really depends on your brain, what motivates you, what keeps you engaged, and what stresses you out, because I've noticed a disturbing trend with people who become a little obsessed with completing their rings.
Also, as someone who has struggled with unhealthy relationships with food and exercise in the past, I didn't want to tempt that back into my life.
I've been pleasantly surprised by the fact that I haven't felt a lot of pressure to fill my rings every day, and when I do, I've been pretty good about reminding myself that it's not a requirement it's great.
The last app I'm going to mention is one I had never heard of before purchasing the Apple Watch, but I am so grateful to the person who recommended it on Reddit because it is absolutely life-changing and is the routinery app.
This is an app all about creating your own routines, and the way it interacts with the Apple Watch is simply divine. This app has the potential to be the most game changer for me in terms of productivity and well-being. The routinery app allows you to create custom routines and walks.
you through them holding you accountable and encouraging you to complete the entire routine for possibly the first time ever i've been sticking to a morning routine every single day and I don't know how absurd that is for me I'm terrible at routines.
I start them with the best of intentions, create the perfect routine, promise myself I'll do it, and then I do it for maybe a day, maybe two, maybe three if we're lucky, and then I never do it again.
I've gone through that routine so many times, and for the first time ever, thanks to the routinery app, I'm actually doing my routine day in and day out, even on days when I don't feel like it.
When I don't feel up to it, I at least start the routine; I may not complete every single task; I may have to skip one here and there for time or because my body isn't feeling well, or for whatever reason.
So I start the routine and do a few of the steps, and most days, just starting it encourages me to do every single part of the routine, even the parts I didn't intend to do when I started, and it's just been.
It's been life-changing for me. My routines are meticulously planned, but depending on how your brain works and how good you are at sticking to routines in general, you might want to make them more general.
I highly recommend this app to get you started; it's truly mind-boggling how helpful it is. I don't do every routine in its entirety every single day; flexibility is key when it comes to establishing routines and habits in your life, but my morning and night routines have become daily occurrences.
As James Clear puts it, "small changes every day add up to a hole that's greater than its parts," and it's clearly improving my life. So, if you've struggled to stick to routines in the past, I highly recommend this app.
I'd like to take a step back and talk about it now that I've shared some of my favorite Apple Watch apps. Is the Apple Watch, in general, a net positive in terms of productivity and wellness, or does the watch's stress or distraction outweigh those benefits?
This will vary depending on you and your personal circumstances; I can only speak for myself, but I have found that the positives far outweigh the negatives.
I was concerned that my watch would be extremely distracting, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. For example, I might receive a notification that someone has dm'd me on Instagram, but I can't access Instagram from my watch because there isn't an Instagram app.
I can't get distracted and scroll for an hour because I don't have that option. I can't go on YouTube and mindlessly watch for hours, I can't go on Reddit and read a bunch of posts and all the comments, I can't do any of the apps that are the biggest time sucks for me, the most distracting, and have a negative impact on my mental health.
The majority do not exist on the Apple Watch, but what does exist on the Apple Watch are all of those little apps and features that work together to really enhance my day-to-day life, help me in the places where I need that support, but also take a step back in the areas where I definitely need to take a step back from scrolling on Instagram or tik tok.
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If you're a gen z, getting distracted on my phone has been a problem for years, and the watch simply takes the most important notifications and apps that I need access to, such as being able to read and respond to emails without the black hole of distraction that is all of the apps that come with a phone.
I'm pleasantly surprised that a piece of technology can actually help me unplug super quickly bonus round of some of my favorite extra features on the apple watch that I use constantly that I didn't expect to like.
So many top apple pay the best I don't have to bring my wallet in when I go to the grocery store or get gas for my car because Apple Pay is amazing. It also makes me feel like I'm living in Star Trek, which is my goal for every single day of my life.
It makes me happy the hand washing timer who knew how satisfying it would be to have a timer counting down the optimal number of seconds?
I should wash my hands and then have it vibrate and tell me I did a good job at the end just to boost my self-esteem every time I wash my hands and find my phone, ipad, or keys with an apple tag on them.
So helpful, especially now that I don't have to carry my phone with me everywhere I go. I lose it more frequently, and the fact that I can just tap on my watch to find my phone, keys, ipad, or my husband's phone, ipad, or keys is a game changer.
My last favorite feature to mention will obviously depend on your vehicle, but if you have a car with an auto start that uses an app, you should definitely check to see if there is an apple watch version because my husband and I have a Ford and we can start, unlock, or lock our vehicle using our apple watch.
It from our watches feels like we're living in the future in the best way possible, especially considering we live in Saskatchewan where it's often below freezing in the winter and you really want to auto start the car and get it warmed up before you go out.
I personally believe that the Apple Watch is fantastic for productivity and wellness, and it has had a significant positive impact on my life. I'm very glad I bought it again. I apologize for sounding like a broken record, but I believe it is important to emphasize that my experience is not universal, and your needs or the way your brain works may not be compatible with an Apple Watch. That is perfectly acceptable.
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It doesn't have to work for everyone, and I don't think it would be as useful as a tool if it did, so you'll probably have to do some self-reflection. Consider how you use technology in your daily life. Consider what motivates and demotivates you.
You have to have enough self-awareness to recognize if an apple watch has the potential to help you, but to a certain extent, you just have to try it to know.
So, in the comments, tell me if you have an Apple Watch and if so, do you love it or hate it, and why. Also, do you have any favorite apps that I should try, or have you tried some of the apps that I mentioned in this article and they don't work for you at all, please share them in the comments section and let's talk about all things Apple Watch.
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