Is a smart watch helpful for ADHD and/or sleep issues, or other?
January 19, 2024 8:00 AM
My husband has ADHD and sleep issues (more detail inside). Would a smart watch benefit him? Any other benefits to a smart watch that anyone here has found?
The biggest issues are ADHD-related. Specifically, looking at his Google calendar in advance gives him anxiety, so he doesn't check what appointments he has in upcoming days. He often forgets to look on the day of, so has missed major appointments. He's typically late to all appointments, even those he doesn't forget. He's in a high-powered job and it has had big consequences. He also forgets to take his medications often. He also frequently forgets to look at his iPhone or loses his iPhone and then doesn't reply to messages for many hours to a day. (He has Airtags, bought to solve similar similar problems, which now help him find his keys, wallet, and briefcase, but the phone is still an issue.)
He has an iPhone but not an Apple computer. I'm wondering what kinds of notifications an Apple watch would provide, and how. Could it ping his wrist whenever he has a work-related calendar event? (Is it able to be that specific, or would it ping for all events?). He finds texts distracting, which is why he puts his phone away and forgets it. Could texts only from certain people be set to arrive at certain times, or would all texts come through? And presumably he could find his phone through a watch if a watch were to be bought?
He is also having sleep problems - partly about getting to bed and getting up at set times (losing track of time in the evening), but partly about waking up in the middle of the night. I think it's less likely that a watch could help, but I thought I'd see what sorts of sleep help anyone has experienced with. I'm also interested in general ways a smart watch has or has not benefited your life. Thanks!
The biggest issues are ADHD-related. Specifically, looking at his Google calendar in advance gives him anxiety, so he doesn't check what appointments he has in upcoming days. He often forgets to look on the day of, so has missed major appointments. He's typically late to all appointments, even those he doesn't forget. He's in a high-powered job and it has had big consequences. He also forgets to take his medications often. He also frequently forgets to look at his iPhone or loses his iPhone and then doesn't reply to messages for many hours to a day. (He has Airtags, bought to solve similar similar problems, which now help him find his keys, wallet, and briefcase, but the phone is still an issue.)
He has an iPhone but not an Apple computer. I'm wondering what kinds of notifications an Apple watch would provide, and how. Could it ping his wrist whenever he has a work-related calendar event? (Is it able to be that specific, or would it ping for all events?). He finds texts distracting, which is why he puts his phone away and forgets it. Could texts only from certain people be set to arrive at certain times, or would all texts come through? And presumably he could find his phone through a watch if a watch were to be bought?
He is also having sleep problems - partly about getting to bed and getting up at set times (losing track of time in the evening), but partly about waking up in the middle of the night. I think it's less likely that a watch could help, but I thought I'd see what sorts of sleep help anyone has experienced with. I'm also interested in general ways a smart watch has or has not benefited your life. Thanks!
I use the timer and pedometer primarily on my smartwatch. The calendar notifications annoyed me and I mostly silenced them.i have tried a bunch of ADHD apps for watches for me and my kid and the watch just didn’t work for us. Reddit adhd forums have lots of success stories so it’s very individual. I use an amznfit watch over an Apple Watch because I am so klutzy and have broken pricey Apple Watches.
I recently solved 90% of my lifelong tardiness by paying for the hideous Alarmy app. Once a week I set get ready and leave for/sign into alarms for all my crucial things - meetings, appointments, meals. I have 9-20 alarms every day. Alarmy is Very Loud and you can set informative labels (” get ready or you will be late!”) and different puzzles to solve before the alarm goes off, plus a ghastly check if you are awake nuclear option. I hate it but I am rarely late these days.
Also I am using a tile for my kid’s phone which she often misplaces so we can find it inside the house.
For meds, can he keep them next to his toothbrush or by the coffee machine? I sort out two weeks of doses in advance in a colourful pill thing and it’s next to my deodorant so I always remember to take them.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 8:29 AM on January 19
I recently solved 90% of my lifelong tardiness by paying for the hideous Alarmy app. Once a week I set get ready and leave for/sign into alarms for all my crucial things - meetings, appointments, meals. I have 9-20 alarms every day. Alarmy is Very Loud and you can set informative labels (” get ready or you will be late!”) and different puzzles to solve before the alarm goes off, plus a ghastly check if you are awake nuclear option. I hate it but I am rarely late these days.
Also I am using a tile for my kid’s phone which she often misplaces so we can find it inside the house.
For meds, can he keep them next to his toothbrush or by the coffee machine? I sort out two weeks of doses in advance in a colourful pill thing and it’s next to my deodorant so I always remember to take them.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 8:29 AM on January 19
I have ADHD and I write down my lists, deadlines, notifications by hand in my trusty reporter notebook. The act of physically writing stimulates cognitive activity more than typing or saying the words into a list-making app.
2021 study
A watch or other doo-dad constantly beeping would make me go nuts.
posted by Ideefixe at 8:48 AM on January 19
2021 study
A watch or other doo-dad constantly beeping would make me go nuts.
posted by Ideefixe at 8:48 AM on January 19
My smart watch, combined with a bucket of AirTags, keeps my from losing all the things. I put AirTags on anything and everything I'm likely to lose (keys, wallet, backpack, purse, remote, notebook, dog, dog leash, etc) and having my watch on me (and therefore not lost itself) means I can always find the things.
I also love it so I can control my nighttime podcasts without my phone - no distracting phone at night to keep scrolling until way too late, and my phone stays safely on the charger.
posted by cgg at 9:09 AM on January 19
I also love it so I can control my nighttime podcasts without my phone - no distracting phone at night to keep scrolling until way too late, and my phone stays safely on the charger.
posted by cgg at 9:09 AM on January 19
Oh definitely yes. I use my Apple Watch to find my phone at least 10 times a day. It reminds me to take meds. It buzzes at me when I have an appointment, and I have it set up to show me just the next appointment. I can record todos by voice whenever I think of them.
(It helped SO MUCH, but did not solve all my problems, which is actually what prompted me to get evaluated for ADHD in the first place.)
posted by wyzewoman at 10:41 AM on January 19
(It helped SO MUCH, but did not solve all my problems, which is actually what prompted me to get evaluated for ADHD in the first place.)
posted by wyzewoman at 10:41 AM on January 19
I am dxed ADHD & ASD and I love love love my smartwatch. A big thing it does for me is "gamify" things like sleep and activity, to the point where I get a bit of a dopamine hit for things like making my sleep goal several days in a row. If your husband is into video games at all, this aspect might be attractive to him as well.
As far as notifications go, the watch can do a sort of gentle little haptic reminder that I personally find less obnoxious than my phone buzzing. Appointment management is less of a challenge for me because my problem is making them in the first place (and I obsess over them & being on time to them until they happen), so I can't speak to that aspect in your guy's case, but the nature of the reminders the watch can give might be a feature anyway?
posted by aecorwin at 10:52 AM on January 19
As far as notifications go, the watch can do a sort of gentle little haptic reminder that I personally find less obnoxious than my phone buzzing. Appointment management is less of a challenge for me because my problem is making them in the first place (and I obsess over them & being on time to them until they happen), so I can't speak to that aspect in your guy's case, but the nature of the reminders the watch can give might be a feature anyway?
posted by aecorwin at 10:52 AM on January 19
I find the tap on the wrist reminder a HUGE help for not missing notifications. It's both more discreet and harder to miss than any other kind of notification, and so I can actually relax and let myself rely on it -- and it works! Also I put it on my wrist and it stays there, which is very unlike my phone, and I appreciate that a great deal. Like I think my apple watch is truly highly unaesthetic and I would love to have something more attractive, or nothing, which would also be more attractive, but there is no way, because it's such a critical assistive technology for my anxious ADHD-y self.
posted by redfoxtail at 11:46 AM on January 19
posted by redfoxtail at 11:46 AM on January 19
I love my fitbit sleep tracking because it gives me an idea of how much sleep I have actually gotten, as opposed to how much time I had lain in bed not goddamn sleeping. Like, I wake up, and I can have actual data telling me I should try for more sleep, or I should be ok and can get up and get on with things. It can take a lot of the uncertainty and frustration out of the equation.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:27 PM on January 19
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:27 PM on January 19
Echoing the above with ADHD - very helpful features like haptic alarms only for who and what I want, medication reminders, evening wind down reminders, focus settings, finding your phone. Now, you can ignore the alarms, and I often do. And you can set do not disturb by accident and not get the alarms. But they are helpful and present in a way that a phone is not. You should be able to set all that up with an iPhone and no Mac. It may take a bit of fiddling to get the notification filters set up to be useful but not overwhelming.
One aspect that surprised me is how easily I am manipulated by helpful gamification and metrics - and the watch is much better at that than just an iPhone alone. Those damn Activity Rings are staring me in the face so I'd better get my steps in. I get an encouraging message each time I hit my Sleep Goal, and I don't even hate the messages throughout the day from the Activity and Mindfulness apps. The Time to Stand notification is an annoying asshole, though.
posted by troyer at 2:50 PM on January 19
One aspect that surprised me is how easily I am manipulated by helpful gamification and metrics - and the watch is much better at that than just an iPhone alone. Those damn Activity Rings are staring me in the face so I'd better get my steps in. I get an encouraging message each time I hit my Sleep Goal, and I don't even hate the messages throughout the day from the Activity and Mindfulness apps. The Time to Stand notification is an annoying asshole, though.
posted by troyer at 2:50 PM on January 19
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I use my watch to find my phone all the time. I set timers for things (e.g. steeping tea or cooking something in the oven). I configure notifications for calendar events. Usually 5 minutes before, but if I have to drive somewhere, I set up the reminder for an hour before. I also add reminders to take medicine.
I don't know how you can configure notifications, but I love my smart watch and I can't imagine functioning without it.
posted by skunk pig at 8:26 AM on January 19