Losing the Apple Watch Might Be the Smartest Breakup Decision Ever

One of Apple's most impressive products is the Apple Watch.

I'm not exactly sure what series I received that one Christmas a while back, but I've most certainly owned one for quite some time. That is, of course, until it got sand and ocean water inside it last summer and started malfunctioning. The emergency button kept getting stuck, ringing an obnoxiously loud alarm while also dialing 911. I knew there was no fixing it. I had to let it die and bury it in the junk drawer to collect dust.

After the first few hours, the FOMO kicked in. My wrist felt naked without a watch wrapped around it, so I dug out the broken one and began to just wear it for kicks to fill a void. As much as I enjoyed getting alerts for texts on my wrist, I started to realize that I'd been more connected to technology than I wanted to be.

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At first, I was anxiety-stricken that I would miss a phone call or not text back fast enough but that soon took a turn ... for the best.

As days turned to weeks and eventually into months, I detached from technology and detoxed from immediate responses. I didn't owe the world anything and it felt good to take care of business on my time.

If there's anything I do miss, it's the heart feature on the watch since I've had a history of some cardiac issues, but then again I went years without a built-in monitor and I can continue without it now that my watch is toast.

The step tracker was nice to have, but again, who's counting? Do we really need to count? Not me, that's for sure. I do enough walking. I know it by feeling.

Finally, I have to say that I found clarity in not wearing a smartwatch anymore. I was so plugged into the internet and social media that it was just another vice for my mental health. It's never easy to cold-turkey quit anything, especially the freedom and ease a smartphone provides.

It turns out, friends, that the freedom I was searching for was not having a watch all along.