re: Why I gave up my smartwatch

30 Jun, 2025

I recently found Joan Westenberg's article about deleting her second brain. I appreciated the article - not enough to wipe out my own Obsidian vaults - but took away some things like the fact that I should wipe out my 'to-read' list that is made up of books I don't yet own but wrote down because I came across a random recommendation or the description looked interesting. I don't remember how I learned of most of those books on the list¹.

But I digress. I went searching through more of Joan's essays / blog posts to see if any other pieces resonated with me. That's where I found "Why I Gave Up My Smartwatch". It's along the same lines as the "second brain" essay, but not quite the same.

I've struggled with my own smartwatch usage many times but ultimately stick with it, because I find more pros than cons for the device. I like that it helps me receive notifications² and phone calls, and I like the fitness tracking. I've stepped up using the fitness tracking recently for my 75 day challenge.

I disagree with Westenberg's assessment of the smartwatch, however.

Maybe it's the way Westenberg writes, but the essay sounds like an argument against a smartwatch for everyone, not just for them. And an assumption that everyone else feels the same way that they do. A few paragraphs gave me that impression:

At first, it’s exciting. You learn how long you sleep, how fast your heart beats, how many steps you walk. But knowledge invites expectation. And expectation breeds disappointment. A night of rest that feels refreshing gets downgraded by your sleep score. A jog becomes unsatisfying if the zone chart looks too flat. Even sitting still can trigger a guilt-inducing vibration to "stand up and move."

You end up managing the metrics, not the reality. You sleep longer, but feel exhausted. You hit 10,000 steps, but your knees ache. You meet every daily goal, and yet somehow, you feel like you’ve failed.

The first paragraph sounds to me like a misuse of the data the watch collects. There's another way to misuse it as well; the trap I personally fell into was that the data I was collecting became meaningless. I was collecting for the sake of collecting.

The second paragraph is related to the first. If you're relying solely on the data that's being collected and not listening to your body, then you're focusing on the wrong thing. The metrics any health-focused watch gather are meant to help you quantify things. Admittedly not everyone needs all the tools that they provide, but for something like sleep tracking, maybe your use might be to check your sleep stats when you've had a bad night to see what's happening.

What I mean is that the quantified data should be used for analysis, and not as confirmation that you're doing things "right" or "wrong".

On another note, regarding the second paragraph; 10,000 steps is a random number that became a benchmark because it was misunderstood. I don't aim for 10k steps, I aim for 7500. When I consistently hit (and exceed) that mark, I know it's time to increase the goal. And there are a couple of other things I take issue with:

"You sleep longer, but feel exhausted." <- sometimes sleeping too long can be as bad as sleeping too little.

"You hit 10,000 steps, but your knees ache." <- As I mentioned above your step count should be based on individual needs. If your knees hurt because you're walking too much, then 10,000 steps is too much for you.

Westenberg later mentions that after going without the smartwatch she felt better, and left the Apple Watch in a drawer (that's an expensive paperweight, I hope she sold it instead!).

What returned: a sense of calm. I could go to sleep without being scored. I could go for a walk without a badge. I started noticing things again - how I feel after coffee, the way my breath slows near water.

I understand this feeling. It's one reason I will occasionally wear a regular watch on the weekends instead of my smartwatch. It is most definitely freeing not to have to care about steps or exercise or sleep.

It's an individual choice, and I think that is the point of the article, but I fear some people might misconstrue the individual experience for facts about smartwatches.

Just ask yourself: did you feel negatively about your smartwatch before the article, and therefore nodded your head as you read it? Then maybe ditching it might be a good thing for you. If not, I hope you don't suddenly change your mind about it because of a strongly voiced opinion piece.

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