What time do you go to bed and wake up currently?
Yes, I admit it: She runs my sleep schedule.
I jumped onboard the Apple Watch wagon last year, no looking back.
I’m sure nobody was expecting a smartwatch story.
I started my watch-overlord journey almost 10 years ago with Fitbit. It got great reviews and good results. And, at the time, BestBuy had a lifetime warranty on smartwatches. After three or four crapped out, BB quit their warranty and Fitbit really just wasn’t floating my boat. The final stray was Fitbit selling out to an Apple competitor and then trying to convince me that I needed to pay a monthly subscription fee so that my data would sync with Apple Health.
Apple Watch still wasn’t ready, though.
The price tag was undesirable for the battery lifespan. Fitbit, for all its issues, would run for days on end.
Next came Garmin. Not a bad tradeup. It was a great fitness watch. I wasn’t cool on the interface, but it did what I needed it to. It tracked my workouts. Gave me my vital “stuff” and told the time.
Queue planned obsolescence. (this made me sad)
I don’t wear a smart anything to work. Reasons. So it’s not like garmin was attached to me 24/7. We were weekend and afterwork buddies, only. And, yes, it did get regular anti-bacterial washes.
The watch rash hit me. Hard.
So I switched wrists, thinking overuse or something? Less than 12 hours of wear and watch rash is now on the other side. Well, that’s nice.
I washed it real well, gave me time to heal on both sides. I did all of the recommended things.
Sorry, Charlie. Insta-rash.
My conclusion (garmin says it doesn’t do this) is that whatever coating they “don’t” apply wore off and holy cheese balls, I don’t tolerate well what is underneath.
Buh bye.
There was no second Garmin.
Towards the end of that relationship, a friend of mine gave his honest review of Apple’s Ultra. I was interested in picking up diving again, and it seemed like a decent upgrade. And? The battery life doesn’t suck. No, it isn’t a week. Meh. It’s ok. I’m good for about 48 hours before it starts to cry at me.
But I do love this thing. I set up “sleep” within the first week. I told it when I wanted to wake up, and how much sleep I’d like, and “she” does the rest. She even blocks my non-essential junk so I don’t wake up because some genius is sending pig pictures to group chat at 2 a.m. (Another story).
It’s been over a year and I really enjoy the watch and its features. It isn’t perfect, but still the best so far.
Oh, the question. The watch starts to buzz at 5 in the morning, and lets me know it’s time to get ready for bed at 8:40.
Yes, I am sleeping better on a regular schedule. I know that’s a hard pill to swallow. What?? No sleeping in on weekends? Nope…
Julie M Anderson 