If you’ve never used a smartwatch before and are still on the fence about whether it can help you improve your lifestyle, let’s go over some of the main ways a smartwatch can do that.
We will use Garmin smartwatches as an example, as they have all the features we’re looking for.
However, suffice it to say that there are many other types, brands, and models of smartwatches to choose from if Garmin isn’t quite your thing.
What Is A Garmin Smartwatch?
If you are new to smartwatches, here’s a quick overview – a Garmin smartwatch is an electronic wristwatch with game-changing technologies and functions you’d typically expect to see on a fitness tracker, a smartphone, or a computer.
Various features allow a smartwatch to function as a fitness tracker – an accelerometer, an optical heart rate monitor, a Pulse Ox sensor, and others.
These are the biggest selling points for many people, as they can help you dial in an optimal exercise routine and maintain a healthy diet.
Additionally, a Garmin smartwatch has other functionalities, such as:
- The Garmin Connect app allows you to connect your watch to your phone and use it to accept or reject phone calls, read text messages, receive app alerts, and more.
- Bluetooth headphone compatibility allows you to listen to music or podcasts via apps such as Spotify or Deezer. You can also download and store your own audio files on the watch.
- It is compatible with thousands of other apps such as Strava, MyFitnessPal, Apple Health, and countless calendar, timer, and sleep aid apps.
However, as multifunctional as a smartwatch is, it’s just a device at the end of the day. So, what matters is not just getting one but how you use it.
How To Use Garmin Smartwatches Effectively?
The purpose of a smartwatch isn’t just to be an alternative to your smartphone but to do much more. Here are the five major smartwatch uses that can help you improve your lifestyle.
1. Maintain Your Daily Schedule With Ease
With a Garmin smartwatch, you can always have your calendar, alarms, timers, and other time-keeping tools with you.
Using a combination of a calendar and a timer, in particular, is a simple yet underrated way to get your daily schedule under control.
Just arrange your schedule in your preferred way and use any of the timer apps available on the smartwatch to ensure you stay on schedule.
This doesn’t just mean pushing yourself to work more either. In fact, you can do the opposite.
A Pomodoro timer app, for example, can help ensure you don’t overwork yourself and remember to take the work breaks you need to stay healthy.
The Pomodoro method is especially useful for people who sit for extended periods at work, but it can really be used by anyone.
2. Keep New Habits On Track And Get Rid Of Old Habits For Good
A Garmin smartwatch is also great for making or breaking habits. Apps such as Streaks (iOS) or HabitNow (Android) work wonders when trying to drop an old habit, as they can give you that extra nudge to stay focused.
A smartwatch is much better than a smartphone for such things, as it’s not just always close to you, but it’s quite literally always on your person.
3. Get Your Fitness To The Next Level
Even if you just use your smartwatch as a fitness tracker, that alone can be more than enough to make the device worth it.
A Garmin smartwatch has almost all the apps and functionalities you’d want from any other fitness tracker, including third-party apps such as MyFitnessPal or Apple Health.
While this particular watch doesn’t have a gyroscope for tracking your laps in a pool or an altimeter for counting the floors climbed, it has most other features that come to mind.
4. De-Stress Your Life
A smartwatch isn’t just for helping you work or exercise more. It can also help you relax your body and mind via apps for stress tracking, body energy monitoring, meditation, breathing exercises, sleeping aid apps, 24/7 heart rate monitoring, and more.
Coupled with something like a Pomodoro timer, such widgets can be a literal lifesaver for people struggling with workaholism.
5. Stop Playing With Your Phone All The Time
Probably the most significant hidden advantage of a good smartwatch like the Garmin is that it allows you to have the valuable aspects of a smartphone on your person at all times without any of the unnecessary ones.
Want to answer calls, keep track of your calendar, and benefit from any other helpful app you like without being tempted to browse Facebook every five minutes? Connect your phone, watch, and wireless headphones together, then set your phone aside while you work.
There is time to browse your phone casually and time to exercise or work – and a smartwatch helps keep these separate. After all, even if you’re itching to scroll through Bored Panda or any entertainment apps on your phone , you can always do that later.
Conclusion
Depending on the widgets you add to your smartwatch, you can improve your lifestyle in even more ways.
You can keep track of your calorie intake, use the watch as a map navigation assistant, listen to music or audiobooks while exercising, and much more.
Even though Garmin smartwatches don’t double as phones like Apple watches do, you can connect your Garmin watch to your phone using the Garmin Connect app, which works with Android and iOS.
That way, you can ensure you do not miss any important calls while keeping your phone out of arm’s reach while working.
While many people still think of smartwatches as unnecessary devices, the exact opposite is true.
A good smartwatch combines the best features of fitness trackers and smartphones and skips on all the fluff that, while often fun, tends to be too distracting.
