Cheap Tech, Big Results: How a $50 Digital Watch Fixed My Focus

Told myself I would never buy a smartwatch, yet here I am writing this to tell you to also buy one, not because you need another thing to add to your cart, but because it can truly help you stay focused and increase your productivity level drastically.

Lowkey, spiritually I'm 60, but technically I'm in my early 30s. Having this old spirit, I tend to gravitate towards more vintage pieces, like a traditional timepiece. Even though I still prefer the look and feel of an analog watch, this $50 iTouch AIR 5 Smartwatch has changed my life. I mainly bought it for the timer feature, but the other features have been growing on me too.

First, let's focus on the one feature that helps me stay focused, and the main reason I purchased it: the timer setting. When I was working for myself and creating my own schedule, I quickly found out that setting alarms was more helpful than just having a calendar filled. Every time I needed to switch tasks, my alarm would go off. For some reason, my brain does better with physical reminders than digital ones. I know you can just set calendar reminders, but I work best under pressure, and maybe the timer is a psychological trick I need to perform better. I don't have ADHD — I can focus for long periods of time — but if you do, a smartwatch will truly help you stay on track.

My belief is that when we have too much time to accomplish something, we procrastinate or wait until the last second to get it done. Why do we do that to ourselves? In my opinion, it's for the adrenaline rush. Some of us need that extra adrenaline to get moving. The timer does that for me.

Now, aside from the timer, there are many other features I enjoy. I love the reminder pop-ups that tell me to drink water, and if I'm sitting too long, it alerts me to get active and start moving. Similar to the Apple Watch, it's connected to your phone, so it will notify you when you have incoming calls, texts, and other notifications. Since we live in an age of many distractions, I have my settings set to only notify me when family calls or texts. I love that my watch helps me be less distracted by my phone. As time goes on, I'll eventually grow my collection of gadgets that will help me systemize my life and workflow.