I was never a big fan of smartwatches until this year. This year, when I felt compelled to use technology more than ever before and felt I could not escape it, smartwatches gave me the distance I needed.

I've always appreciated the engineering of the best smartwatches, such as the Apple Watch 6 and Samsung's Galaxy Watch 3, but I never found much use for them. Perhaps that's because they tout fitness and outdoor features.

Like many people around the world, I spent more time indoors this year than usual. This has resulted in what was supposed to be a pub meet-up becoming a Zoom call over drinks, DnD sessions being moved to Roll20, and even after-work socializing with colleagues having to be done via Google Meet.

This worked well enough for the first few weeks of the pandemic, but it soon began to wear out. Not only did I start to hear about "Zoom fatigue" all over the place, even on social media. Even cell phone notifications soon became grating. It didn't matter if it was a work email or a group chat meme, I couldn't bring myself to pick up my phone to see what had been sent, let alone reply.

It was then that I ran into an apparently unsolvable problem: I could turn off my phone to stop the stream of pings and beeps, but doing so would completely disconnect me from my work and personal life. There seemed to be no middle ground between being completely cut off from communication or being constantly bombarded with messages. [Wearing a smartwatch, however, allowed me to break out of this pattern. Ironically, despite my lack of interest in a sports-specific watch, I ended up using the very rugged Honor Watch GS Pro model. This rugged hunk of plastic is designed for the most demanding sporting activities, and Honor is pushing military-grade resistance specs and GPS-enabled navigation. But it was the long 25-day battery life that convinced me to give this smartwatch a try. I've come to embrace the ritual of plugging in my iPhone every night, but less than a day of use on a smartwatch always seemed like too much of a burden.

The notification system on the Watch GS Pro is very simple. When an approved app posts a notification, the watch vibrates, and when you raise your arm to check the display, the text of the notification appears in simple white letters on a black background, with the app's logo at the top for reference. And combined with the Honor Watch's impressive Bluetooth range across multiple rooms, I found a way around two conflicting desires.

On many nights later this year, I put my phone on silent mode while wearing my Watch GS Pro and left it in another room. This means that notifications reach me only by vibration, not by an alert tone whose meaning I can easily understand.

That part can be accomplished by keeping the phone on silent in my pocket, but keeping the phone away from me means that I have no way to instantly respond to messages, and I don't feel that each alert is something I need to answer immediately . However, when I am curious or anticipate an important message, I can check my watch to see what is going on, and I am not pressured to reply to the number of bubbles that appear in the notification shade.

I can't say for sure if wearing a smartwatch this year has helped me maintain my mental health, but it certainly hasn't hurt. If you, too, are tired of having your entire life online, but are struggling with the idea of a digital detox, I encourage you to choose the smartwatch that best fits your budget and the device you choose. This year has convinced me of its value, not just as a way to measure my heart rate or more conveniently use NFC payments. Maybe my experience has convinced you as well.