It has been over 10 years since I wore a wrist watch on a regular basis. I didn’t like how a watch looked and felt when it tucked under my long sleeves. And I didn’t like the sound of the watch band scratching against my desk when I worked. If I needed to look for time, I could always rely on my phone.

After staying home without much exercise in the past year, I wanted to start doing some simple exercises at home every day.  And I needed a way to keep track of how much I moved each day.

The Apple Watch seemed like a good solution to my problem. After doing some online browsing on different versions of current Apple watches, I bought an Apple Watch Series 6 in gold aluminum case.

(This is my new Apple Watch Series 6 with a pink preve crystal case.)

Today is only my second day using my new Apple Watch. I am surprised how quickly it already changed my behaviors in many ways.

First, adaptation. After not wearing any watches for over 10 years I didn’t need any time to learn to rely on my wrist watch for the time. This morning I was sipping on my coffee and wanted to know what time it was. Without thinking about where I could get the time, I automatically raised my arm to look at my watch. It wasn’t until I found out the time that I realized how quickly I adapted to the convenience of having the time literally on my wrist.

Second, motivation. After setting up my daily activity goals on my Apple Watch. I started to check the progress I made throughout the day. The idea of reaching my daily goals became my motivation to exercise.

Third, persistence. The Apple Watch is not perfect, and it won’t detect all the subtle exercise movements I made. However, this minor functionality shortcoming doesn’t discourage me from using the watch. I will do a short cardio exercise just to get the app on the watch to make the progress on achieving my daily goals.

The idea of working extra hard to get the app on the watch to show the progress on my movement more accurately seems silly. After all, what’s the point of getting a gadget that doesn’t paint the accurate picture or function correctly?

Well, I understand there’s some limitations on the accuracy of the devices like Apple Watch. For me, the point of getting the Apple Watch was to encourage myself to exercise regularly. If the watch can help me make positive change for my health, I think it’s money well spent.

In conclusion, I am happy I bought the new Apple Watch. It’s a small gadget, but it already changed my behaviors in many positive ways.