If you’re like most people, when you see someone wearing an apple watch you have a dozen questions pop into your head. What can it do? Is it worth the expense? Should I get one? After a year of wearing one on my wrist, there are a few things leaders need to know about this tool.
Notifications can easily distract you. When your phone buzzes or a little icon flashes across your screen do you instantly begin clicking? With so many distractions in life, it’s convenient to be able to simply glance at your wrist to stay connected. Being able to instantly receive and respond to messages is important for a leader and I have only the important notifications showing up on my watch. No longer am I being distracted by email or Facebook notifications while trying to complete tasks. With apple watch you can receive important notifications through apps like Slack and reminders.
Customized and personal watch face. With a quick glance, I can see not only the date and time but my upcoming calendar events and my physical health and activity for the day. When planning out your day and setting appointments, it’s easy to stay on task by simply spinning the crown to time travel through your day. On days where I want a change of pace, it’s nice to be able to change the face to something relaxing and less busy. Not only does the watch track steps, but with a quick glance, I can also see my daily exercise and activity goals.
Convenience. When you have dirty hands but want to answer a call, an apple watch is convenient. When you want to pause apple tv but can’t find the remote, it’s just a few swipes away. Lose your phone and want to quickly ping it, swipe up and click the icon. Want to set a discrete timer to end your meeting on time, it’s simple. The apple watch and iPhone are interchangeable and many times throughout the day, it’s just more convenient to do things from your wrist.
Time is the new currency and everyone needs to be tracking how they spend their days. Any watch is a great tool in pushing you forward but back to the original question: should you get one? Yes and No. The apple watch is an amazing tool but like all resources, it’s more important how you use it. Notifications can be set up poorly to be a consistent distraction. A customized watch face is great, but if you don’t keep a calendar then looking at your watch will only tell you that you have no appointments. And while it is super convenient to pause Netflix without searching for the remote if you waste all day on the couch this tool isn’t going to help you reach your goals.