Moving Backwards to Move Forwards

Recently, I did something I never thought I’d do: I intentionally moved backwards in tech.

For years I wore my Apple Watch without a second thought. It was sleek, efficient, and gave me every notification in real time. But one day, I swapped it for an old-fashioned analogue watch. Why? Because my anxious brain needed a break.

At first, I resisted the idea. Who willingly gives up efficiency in a world that thrives on speed? My Apple Watch was basically a command centre on my wrist. It gave me news faster than my phone, reminded me of meetings, tracked my fitness, and kept me looped into everything that was happening, everywhere, at any time.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: did I really need to know the news instantly? Did I need to reply to every message within seconds? Did the world collapse if I didn’t? Of course not. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it could have waited.

What I began to notice was that the watch wasn’t just keeping me “informed”—it was training me to react. I’d be sitting at the dinner table with friends or family, yet my attention would snap instantly to the vibration on my wrist. I became a prisoner of the very efficiency I thought was helping me.

One particular moment made me stop in my tracks. A colleague’s wife once told me I’d woken her up at 2 a.m. because my latest “brilliant idea” had triggered her husband’s phone to buzz. That was the line. That was the moment I knew I’d gone too far.