Why I now mute my watch

I am a user of a smartwatch. It is already the third smartwatch in my life (first the Sony SmartWatch 3, then the Samsung Galaxy Watch and now the Galaxy Watch 4) and I am actually quite satisfied with it. I always need an easy way to see the time, even when I’m riding my bike and can’t look at my smartphone (being on time is important to me!), plus it counts my steps and gives me the ability to view notifications right on my wrist so I don’t always have to get my smartphone out of my pocket first.

But especially with the latter, I feel like I’m stressed more often lately. Whenever the watch vibrates on my wrist, I HAVE to check what notification has arrived, it could be something important after all. This somehow leads to a permanent tension and often distracts me when I just want to concentrate on something.

But most of the notifications are not important at all. If someone wants something urgent from me, they can call me. Why do I think I always have to reply to every message, even though a reply can wait a few minutes or hours?

Anyway, for the sake of my mental health, I have now decided that only selected apps are allowed to let my watch vibrate anymore: For example, the phone app, banking apps, or the parcel app that notifies me when my packages are about to arrive.

I’m curious whether this will help me to become more relaxed again…

Interactions & Comments