Grand title, I know.
Now let me put some context around it.
Firstly, I love my Apple Watch. I have a 44m Apple Watch Series 6 with a black Nike sports band. Some of the features of this watch include:
- An ECG (Electrical Heart Rate sensor), which measures my heartbeat and notifies me when I drop below 40bpm;
- It’s water-resistant for when I eventually start sea swimming now that I’ve moved to Brighton; and
- The battery life is pretty good - up to 18 hours before it needs a charge;
- I can answer calls and messages from the watch interface (if I wanted to); and
- It records 3 metrics that I try to hit every day - calories burned, standing for at least 1 minute every hour for at least 12 hours every day, and completing at least 30 minutes of exercise.
I’ll leave the full product and feature review to the professionals, but the long and short of it is that I love my Apple Watch.
Aside from being an awesome watch packed full of features, the biggest benefit I get from putting on my Apple Watch Series 6 has nothing to do with its tangibles - what it can do or how it looks.
My perfect morning routine
I recently posted this video on my YouTube channel explaining the 9 steps to my perfect morning routine.
As the video explains, I have a 9 step morning routine that I have perfected over the last few years. The 9 steps are as follows:
- Put on my Apple Watch
- Drink a couple of glasses of water
- 1 or 2 rounds of Wim Hof breathing
- 10 min mobility routine
- A 30-60 min workout
- 1 min box breathing
- 10-20 min meditation
- About 20 mins of journaling; and
- At least 20mins learning something new via reading, podcast, YouTube, or online course
This takes me about 2 hours to complete in the morning and then I’m ready to crush the rest of the day.
I go through this routine Monday to Friday and almost every Saturday and Sunday as well. If I’m short on time because I’ve woken up late, I shorten the time spent on each step, rather than missing out on any of the steps. That means I can complete the routine in about 40 minutes as and when required.
I’ve got my routine down to a point where I don’t have to think about what I need to do next. That’s beneficial for me because I don’t suffer any decision fatigue or dive into my willpower resources at the start of the day, by deciding what I need to do or if I need to do it.
As a result, I’m fresh to face whatever the day has in store even after going through my 2 hour morning routine.
The intangible benefit of my Apple Watch
The first step of my morning routine is not the 5 am alarm that goes off on my Apple Watch, although that is helpful from time to time.
The first step is putting on my Apple Watch. That’s it.
The intangible benefit of my Apple Watch is that, once I put it on, it starts a domino effect for the rest of my morning routine.
Putting on my Apple Watch is the anchor to my morning routine.
It influences the decisions I make after putting on the watch, which is to follow a pre-determined set of steps that I don’t have to think about, which set me up to perform at my best for the rest of the day.
More than any feature or aesthetic, what my Apple Watch represents in the context of how I start my day is the single biggest benefit that I derive from putting it on.
Thank you, Apple.