The Smartest Watch I've Ever Owned

Lately I've been trying to simplify a few things in my life. 

Not in some dramatic "sell all my stuff and disappear into the woods" kind of way. More like taking inventory of how much of my attention is spoken for before I even start my day. Between my phone, email, social media, work, group chats, podcasts, the news... it feels like everything is competing for a little piece of my brain. Somewhere along the way I realized my watch had become part of that too. It wasn't really a watch anymore. It was another screen.

I wore an Apple Watch for almost ten years, and honestly, I don't have anything bad to say about it. I liked it. The timers were great, I used the workout tracking all the time, and being able to glance at a text without pulling out my phone was genuinely convenient. It served its purpose. I just think I got everything I needed out of it. I needed a change more than I needed another feature.

So I bought a $50 TimeX Expedition.

It tells me the time. It tells me the date. That's about it.

Ironically, I think it's the smartest watch I've ever owned.

What surprised me wasn't the watch itself, it was what happened after I stopped wearing a smartwatch. I found myself paying attention to my own body again. If I'd been sitting at my desk too long, I'd get up because I felt stiff, not because my wrist buzzed. If it was nice outside, I'd go for a walk because I wanted to, not because I needed to close a ring. If I woke up tired, I didn't wait for an app to confirm it. I already knew.

It made me realize how much we've started outsourcing our instincts. We measure everything now, and there are definitely situations where that's useful. But somewhere in all of that, I think we've slowly stopped trusting ourselves. We look for data to validate things our bodies have been trying to tell us all along.

The other thing I never expected was how much I enjoy looking at an analog watch. A digital clock tells you what time it is, but an analog watch lets you watch time passing. You see the second hand making its way around the dial, and before you know it, five minutes are gone. Then ten. Then an hour. There's something strangely grounding about it. It reminds me that time isn't waiting for me to get organized, motivated, or inspired. It's moving whether I'm paying attention or not.

My favorite part, though, is something I never would've thought about before.

At night, when the house is quiet, you can hear it.

Just a faint little…Tick. Tick. Tick.

Most people probably wouldn't even notice it. I actually like it.

It's a reminder that time doesn't stop because I do. While I'm asleep, it's still moving. It'll still be moving tomorrow morning. It'll still be moving years from now and long after I die. That little sound has become less of a clock and more of a quiet reminder that life isn't asking me to hurry, t’s just asking me not to waste what I've already been given.

People always say they're trying to "find time," like it's hiding somewhere. I don't really buy that anymore. There isn't more time coming. Tomorrow isn't extra time, it’s the same clock wearing a different date.

I think that's why this watch has became my favorite.

It isn't smarter because it does more. It's smarter because it asks less of me. It quietly gets out of the way and lets me pay attention to what's in front of me.

I used to think the challenge was figuring out what to do with my time. Now I think it's simpler than that.

The time is already here. It's already moving.

The real question is what I'm going to make of it.