I took mine off recently too and am enjoying it. Wearing my Omega mostly and spontaneously bought a Tissot chronograph last week so I’m enjoying that now.I occasionally go back to my old mechanical watch. I spent $100 on it maybe a year or two before the original Pebble smartwatch came out (maybe '09 or '10?). Wasn't much of a watch wearer before then. It still looks as beautiful today as it did the day I bought it. Over the last decade or so, I probably spent anywhere between $2500-$3000 on various Pebble and Apple Watches, though I've sold each one as I upgraded to a new one. Some of those watches lasted as little as a year before upgrading again. I appreciate my current AW Ultra for what it is. But, at the same time, it's just a computer strapped to my comparatively small wrist. There's nothing on this Apple Watch that's a must have feature to me. Though, I like knowing my health and fitness metrics, but I think I'd be perfectly fine without them.
I don’t entirely mind the daily charging as it gives my skin a break from the device for a while. Obviously, I'm in full control of what I do with the watch, but I agree that I feel like a slave to it sometimes. I feel like I need to close my rings daily, make sure I stand up when it tells me to. Always start a workout whenever I go out for a run or ride my bike.
I took a break from my AW for a few weeks, and then again when I was in labor and after. Mentally, I felt much more at ease and happy not having to worry about any of that stuff I just listed. I strived for simplicity in my life, and putting my old mechanical watch back on helped a lot with that. I'm coming back to this thread again as I'd like to see others' opinions on it. Your comment stuck out to me as I feel exactly the same way.
I put my AW on each night to track my sleep data and I put it on for any workout, so I’m still getting the important data about my heart health. I will put it on as an all day watch again at some point but it’s nice to rotate, and I agree it’s much nicer mentally to have a device that does nothing - even with notifications turned off, the AW will let you know it needs charging at some point.