How I Use My Smartwatch to Hack My Dopamine (Without Dying in the Attempt)

At first, productivity apps made us fall in love; they offered pure immersion in a screen designed for instant pleasure. I’m talking about the era when smartphones and apps were the great new novelty. But time passed, work became deeply digitized, and the cell phone turned into a “cowbell”: a tracking device (for your boss, your family, or the government) that you carry constantly in your pocket.

Today, for many of us, the smartphone is a distraction cocktail meticulously designed to ruin an entire hour of your day. You open it just to jot down a quick reminder and end up looking at your grandmother’s WhatsApp memes, banking alerts, or work-related migrations. Depending on how many social media networks you use, the notifications or simple temptations pile up, and so does the time wasted.

That is why I have decided to give the advantage to the Smartwatch. And I use a specific event as an argument:

The Gift from the “Crème de la Crème” of IT

Recently at my workplace, the IT department gave a smartwatch to a retiring director. Why would technology experts choose a wearable over a more complex gadget? Because the smartwatch is, above all, a guardian of your health and your time.

For some of us, the hardest part is not actually getting things done, but remembering to do them (including taking care of our own health). The wearable addresses this perfectly without requiring you to unlock an endless screen full of distractions.

The Advantage of “Technological Sluggishness”

Here is the secret nobody tells you: the smartwatch works because it is not yet advanced enough to distract you.

• Limited screen estate: There is simply no room for infinite scrolling.

• Noise filtering: Reading a notification on your wrist is a quick-glance process, not a deep-dive immersion