Anybody Else Buying Into These Prompts?

[rambo47]

I had an s2 Watch a couple years ago but found it too intrusive. Ditched it and went back to mechanical watches. Tried a Samsung Gear S3 and quickly tired of the intrusiveness again. For a while a Jawbone Up24 was good enough, and then a FitBit Alta2. Suddenly the LACK of integration was bugging me. I guess there is just no pleasing me.

Fast forward to earlier this month and on an impulse I bought an s5 Watch, 44mm, space gray aluminum. My FitBit wasn't doing enough for me and I wanted a little nudge. My son loves his s5 Watch so I figured I'd dive back in. Now, instead of resenting the prompts and notifications I find I'm buying in, doing the breathing exercises, standing and moving, and taking a one mile walk every night after work. These little goals are actually motivating me!

 

[Apple_Robert]

I love my Apple Watch. It is my favorite Apple device.

In regards to the breathing app, I deleted it. I got tired of the worthless prompts. I also deleted the cycle app, seeing how I will not have need of that. loi

Good on you for revisiting the watch.

 

[Shirasaki]

I disable every single notification on my watch except those that are absolutely necessary and those that I cant disable anyways, same as my iPhone. If I care about something I will keep an eye on it. If I don’t, I don’t want my watch bugs me “oh come back and fight for humanity!” Lol.

 

[lclev]

Glad you like your S5. I love mine. I turned off the breathing app and the stand up app. But I swim laps for a total of a mile six times a week with my watch. It tracks my laps, heart rate, calories burned, and length of time. I did not realize how it motivated me until Covid hit and I had to figure out a new way to close the rings!

Keep up the good work! The watch can be a good motivator.

 

[rambo47]

I've never been the type to join in or need motivation. I just did my thing and it all worked out. But a few years have gone by, a few pounds have happened, and I'm busier at work than ever. I retired from Wall Street but after a couple years I was losing my mind. No purpose, and my life was getting filled up with stupid crap, taking on family members' problems, etc. I was adrift. So I took a part-time job at FedEx - polar opposite of what I had done for several decades. Turns out I LOVE doing the job at FedEx. It's like a giant game of Tetris and involves imposing order on chaos. In typical fashion, when you show an aptitude for something and are motivated they give you more and more responsibility. My part-time hours became full-time hours and even overtime. I've always been the kind of worker that believes in doing whatever is needed to get the job done. I got certified as a yard switcher while I was a basic package handler so I got a lot of calls to come in and jockey around the trailers for loading/unloading. Then I got promoted to Ops Admin, and that job ballooned into more than intended.

My personal time shrank and gym time was the first casualty. This silly watch is filling a void I didn't even realize I had allowed to creep up on me. Turns out it's just the thing I needed.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I've never been the type to join in or need motivation. I just did my thing and it all worked out. But a few years have gone by, a few pounds have happened, and I'm busier at work than ever. I retired from Wall Street but after a couple years I was losing my mind. No purpose, and my life was getting filled up with stupid crap, taking on family members' problems, etc. I was adrift. So I took a part-time job at FedEx - polar opposite of what I had done for several decades. Turns out I LOVE doing the job at FedEx. It's like a giant game of Tetris and involves imposing order on chaos. In typical fashion, when you show an aptitude for something and are motivated they give you more and more responsibility. My part-time hours became full-time hours and even overtime. I've always been the kind of worker that believes in doing whatever is needed to get the job done. I got certified as a yard switcher while I was a basic package handler so I got a lot of calls to come in and jockey around the trailers for loading/unloading. Then I got promoted to Ops Admin, and that job ballooned into more than intended.

My personal time shrank and gym time was the first casualty. This silly watch is filling a void I didn't even realize I had allowed to creep up on me. Turns out it's just the thing I needed.

Standing periodically at work will help. While at it, do a few side-bends, it'll help flatten that mid-section over a short period of time (best with 10 reps/side x 2 or 3 sets and with light-weight). It's one of 3 key abdominal exercises and easy to do with just 20/25lbs at the office when Apple Watch reminds you to stand. Get some steel ankle weights too. On lunch breaks (make your lunches at home and carry to work), take the stairs up to the office (especially if higher than 10 floors). Don't allow yourself to get lazy.

Drink a LOT of water through the day. Force yourself!
kick away any processes carbs (pies, lavish sweets, etc) - again make your food at home (Sunday & Wednesday nights) balances freshness for the week. You'll save a LOT more than you realize in just 6mths. Use those corporate dollars for taking the wife and kids out 1x a month for dinner

Alerts - I'm not a big fan of alerts on Apple Watch ... not just for the battery drain just annoyed.
Public transit alerts (only when congestion happens in rush hours I allow)
iMessage/SMS - allows me to be discreet while working.
Reminders for learning things : DuoLingo (Yo estudio Espanol - I don't use Spanish keyboard on my Mac)

Lastly ... make the time to work out even if it's 30mins every other evening before bed! If it's warm all year round where you live, maybe take up bike riding to/from the office; start the weekends for leisure first - you don't want to be sweating buckets arriving at the office ~ yuck. But you get the idea. Enlist your family and your friends to give you that healthy push and congratulations on loosing weight.

A healthy body frees a healthy mind to work much much better.

 

[rambo47]

I disable every single notification on my watch except those that are absolutely necessary and those that I cant disable anyways, same as my iPhone. If I care about something I will keep an eye on it. If I don’t, I don’t want my watch bugs me “oh come back and fight for humanity!” Lol.

That's the kind of stuff that lead me to ditch my first Watch and then the Gear S3. Plus the Samsung watch was just too darn heavy. And it was Samsung, which means Android.

 

[rambo47]

Standing periodically at work will help. While at it, do a few side-bends, it'll help flatten that mid-section over a short period of time (best with 10 reps/side x 2 or 3 sets and with light-weight). It's one of 3 key abdominal exercises and easy to do with just 20/25lbs at the office when Apple Watch reminds you to stand. Get some steel ankle weights too. On lunch breaks (make your lunches at home and carry to work), take the stairs up to the office (especially if higher than 10 floors). Don't allow yourself to get lazy.

Drink a LOT of water through the day. Force yourself!
kick away any processes carbs (pies, lavish sweets, etc) - again make your food at home (Sunday & Wednesday nights) balances freshness for the week. You'll save a LOT more than you realize in just 6mths. Use those corporate dollars for taking the wife and kids out 1x a month for dinner

Alerts - I'm not a big fan of alerts on Apple Watch ... not just for the battery drain just annoyed.
Public transit alerts (only when congestion happens in rush hours I allow)
iMessage/SMS - allows me to be discreet while working.
Reminders for learning things : DuoLingo (Yo estudio Espanol - I don't use Spanish keyboard on my Mac)

Lastly ... make the time to work out even if it's 30mins every other evening before bed! If it's warm all year round where you live, maybe take up bike riding to/from the office; start the weekends for leisure first - you don't want to be sweating buckets arriving at the office ~ yuck. But you get the idea. Enlist your family and your friends to give you that healthy push and congratulations on loosing weight.

A healthy body frees a healthy mind to work much much better.

I appreciate the tips! I've recently been drinking a lot of water and cutting waaaay back on the coffee. I notice several huge differences already. I sleep better, no joint pain, and my eyes focus better at work when looking at small print. Kind of shocking what a difference water makes. It shouldn't be a surprise, but wow.

 

[akash.nu]

I don’t necessarily chase any goals / badges set out by the watch because I’m generally an active person. Although the lockdown had made me into a couch potato to some extent but I did take a bit of bike ride or walk around from time to time.

Now that the gyms are open for us again, the exercise ring goes in circles on the days I go to the gym.

I don’t necessarily follow the breathing or drinking water prompts but I do follow the standing up and walking around for a minute prompt from time to time.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

I disable every single notification on my watch except those that are absolutely necessary and those that I cant disable anyways, same as my iPhone. If I care about something I will keep an eye on it. If I don’t, I don’t want my watch bugs me “oh come back and fight for humanity!” Lol.

I'm not quite to this level, but I'm getting there.

I used to be the guy that had all the ESPN alerts on, all the social media alerts, notifications for every email, etc and my phone was buzzing all day.

Now I don't do social media alerts other than private messages. I don't do sports alerts, and I've turned off email alerts except for VIPs. I still get some that are important to me. For example, I kept breaking news alerts on for ESPN, I keep podcasts alerts, and some youtube account subscriptions.

But I find that only having alerts for things I'm actually interested in is a better balance than the massive amount I used to be getting.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I like to be alerted instantly on my watch when there is a new article on MacRumors, or my go to news source. I like getting iMessage alerts, calls, tracking weather, seeing my calendar, and a few other things. It is so much easier than pulling my phone out of my pocket (when I have it with me). I also like the sleep and health tracking.

 

[EknCn]

If u get used to Apple Watch you can't use other watches even if they are Rolex.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I appreciate the tips! I've recently been drinking a lot of water and cutting waaaay back on the coffee. I notice several huge differences already. I sleep better, no joint pain, and my eyes focus better at work when looking at small print. Kind of shocking what a difference water makes. It shouldn't be a surprise, but wow.

great steps in the right direction! Excellent and keep it up!

many bodybuilders take a daily log of what they eat. The benefit here is you can look back to see what energy levels were like for a day of the week, strength or even negative reactions (vowel movements or just feeling queasy). Especially helpful if a food alert was sent out - at least you’ll know if the meat you ate was bad at the store.

many people don’t nearly drink enough water and it affects blood pressure healthy if you do drink enough, heart rate skin tone and temperature regulation. Clears the mind too.

enjoy your new found health.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I like to be alerted instantly on my watch when there is a new article on MacRumors, or my go to news source. I like getting iMessage alerts, calls, tracking weather, seeing my calendar, and a few other things. It is so much easier than pulling my phone out of my pocket (when I have it with me). I also like the sleep and health tracking.

just remember NOT to use it while driving. Enable DND while driving as using it does count as distracted driving ~ worse as one hand is off the wheel along with your focus when swiping about.

 

[Apple_Robert]

just remember NOT to use it while driving. Enable DND while driving as using it does count as distracted driving ~ worse as one hand is off the wheel along with your focus when swiping about.

Agreed. My phone and my watch automatically go to DND while in the car.

 

[ufgatorvet]

Took the Apple Watch plunge last November and I have found it highly motivating. I was skeptical - every watch I have ever owned eventually found their way to Goodwill.

The monthly activity challenges, the stand reminds, the encouraging "You're off to a great start! Keep it going!". Yep, I'm totally buying the Kool Aid.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Took the Apple Watch plunge last November and I have found it highly motivating. I was skeptical - every watch I have ever owned eventually found their way to Goodwill.

The monthly activity challenges, the stand reminds, the encouraging "You're off to a great start! Keep it going!". Yep, I'm totally buying the Kool Aid.

Also don't ignore the breath app. When I watched the introduction I was like 'freak'in hippy juju talk' yet since I have a VERY very stressful job (I.T. Service Desk), I found out just how helpful it was to my daily sanity in the office and heart health. It's not good to have your heart right spike up and down so spontaneously during the day/night when from each time you're mostly sedentary.

Try explaining your daily job routines to someone that has no clue what your job is like. You'll be amazed their response of summation. Someone told me over drinks that my job is 'basically you take sh*t from everyone in the company everyday, fix their problems and barely ever get thanked or rewarded, do I got that right?" :O LMAO ... man that was a great drinking night and made a life long friend.

 

[harriska2]

I don't use the reminders. I do try to drink a minimum of 64 oz a day. I use the hell out of timers, alarms, weather, time, schedule, activities, and apple pay.

 

[rambo47]

If u get used to Apple Watch you can't use other watches even if they are Rolex.

I haven't taken my Rolex GMT Master II off the winder since I got my Watch.

 

[fridayxiii]

I'm still a new AW user, but I totally dig the notifications & reminders. The Breathe app is helpful for me, and getting a gentle nudge to get up & move is good for me too. I guess I've bought in whole heartedly.

 

[rambo47]

I'm still a new AW user, but I totally dig the notifications & reminders. The Breathe app is helpful for me, and getting a gentle nudge to get up & move is good for me too. I guess I've bought in whole heartedly.

Me too. And I'm surprised at my doing that, but it's nice. It's a change, pushing me out of my comfort zone that more and more was couch-based. Baby steps...

 

[ufgatorvet]

Also don't ignore the breath app. When I watched the introduction I was like 'freak'in hippy juju talk' yet since I have a VERY very stressful job (I.T. Service Desk), I found out just how helpful it was to my daily sanity in the office and heart health. It's not good to have your heart right spike up and down so spontaneously during the day/night when from each time you're mostly sedentary.

Try explaining your daily job routines to someone that has no clue what your job is like. You'll be amazed their response of summation. Someone told me over drinks that my job is 'basically you take sh*t from everyone in the company everyday, fix their problems and barely ever get thanked or rewarded, do I got that right?" :O LMAO ... man that was a great drinking night and made a life long friend.

I tend to silence those breathing reminders, but perhaps I should give them a try?