Today’s habit/ routine that I’m optimizing is:
charging my Apple watch.
I have had weirdly problematic issues with keeping my devices charged lately (specifically my watch). To the point that I basically gave up and stopped wearing my Apple watch for several months. (Long enough that I forgot my little 4 digit passcode and had to factory re-set my watch in order to re-set it. 🙄)
I used to always charge my phone overnight, and charge my watch during the day and wear my watch to bed.
But then in the morning, my watch battery always seemed to be getting low (right about the time I was heading out to walk the dog and wanted to count my steps!).
I tried to get in the habit of charging it while I showered, but a) sometimes that was too late and b) I often shower downstairs (and I keep my charger in my room). I’d usually realize I hadn’t put my watch on the charger just as I was about to step in the shower….
Then I’d try to make a point of charging it during the work day, when I was just sitting anyway, but I always forgot.
Anyway, I am sure this sounds like a silly problem and I’m not quite sure WHY this is such a stumbling block, but for whatever reason, it’s been a real issue.
There could be many solutions to this. I realize I could also buy more chargers, this is true. (I currently just have the one brick + 1 Apple cord for my phone and 1 cord for my watch. They both live in a little basket in my room.) I could do something like set a reminder on my phone to put my watch on the charger. I could pair it with something like brushing my teeth in the morning. There are options.
But I decided, you know what? I have been sleeping great lately. I do not really care about my sleep data at all. Why not just charge my watch overnight??! Then I can make sure it is fully charged to count my steps all day long. 😉
This of course means that I am not charging my phone overnight anymore (which, I think is supposed to be bad for your phone anyway? Maybe it’s also bad for my watch, I don’t know).
But it’s easier for me to notice when my phone battery is low and pop it on the charger during the day versus my watch, where the battery symbol is not as visible.
(I’ve also been trying to get in the habit of docking my phone in the evening an hour or so before bedtime anyway, so many days I just charge my phone from like 8-9 pm before bed, and then put my watch on the charger when I actually go to bed and my steps are done for the day.)
I started this last week and so far it has been working great!
As a bonus habit for today’s “Project Routine Optimization”, related to the steps thing, I have also started walking around in between sets when I’m lifting weights (when able).
On both Monday and Tuesday this week, I reserved a Workout Bay, like I said yesterday. These are located up on the “sprint track” at my gym. It’s technically meant to be used for sprinting– track athletes come up to practice here. But there have been no track athletes when I’ve been there lately (there rarely are…), and the track has been wide open.
I decided to slowly/ casually walk back and forth during my 1:30-2 minute rest times in between lifts. It feels better than just sitting there anyway, and boosts my step count before 8 a.m.
That’s all for today’s routine series installment: Charge my watch overnight, and get in extra steps during my workout.
Am I the only one who struggles to keep their Apple watch charged….???
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for hitting 4 MONTHS SODA-FREE today! 🙌🙌
GRATEFUL KAE 
Definitely not the only one – I have the same issue! I’d suggest getting one of those little docking stations that you can charge multiple devices at once. I have one on my desk and one on my bedside table (the one on the beside table also functions as a lamp, it’s very cool). The one on my desk I use to stick my phone on during the days as well. It doubles as a mount, so I can use it to control the music on spotify etc. But it’s also got the watch point, so on the odd times I need to charge my watch during the day I can sit it in front of me. At this of getting marked as spam, this is the little light one that I’ve got, to give you an idea (it also now travels everywhere with me because sometimes it’s easier than packing multiple charging cables).
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DGTHJBYF?
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I don’t have an Apple watch- I have a Garmin that I just wear for running. It has a very long battery life so I just need to remember to charge it every once in a while. I purposely don’t wear it at night because I know whether or not I’ve slept well, and if I didn’t sleep well it would just stress me out to have my watch confirming it.
It’s funny how a problem can have such a simple solution. And, I’m still so envious of your empty workout space. If I wanted to walk around sets I would be dodging people in my crowded gym.
Congrats on the 4 month anniversary!!! I hope we get another update post on the soda situation. How are you feeling about it???
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four months!!!! Yay!!! Well done.
I do not own any Apple Watch or any of the wearables – Oura ring etc. i have my Bulova watch that Tony gave me as a birthday gift years ago- when we first started dating- and I still wear it. Had to replace batteries many times.
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I always walk around during rest between sets! In fact, trainers at the gym now ask me about getting my steps bc of it – ha. Every little bit counts and I agree, it is a much better way to spend the time between bc it feels good to move.
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I’m with Jenny- I also have a Garmin and the charge lasts for at least a week, sometimes closer to 2 weeks! It’s for sure one of my favorite parts of the watch. I think it tracks my sleep, but that stat is only available on the app, which I rarely check, so I’m not too stressed about it. I do get notifications on my watch, but I can’t respond to anything via the watch, so it is markedly more “dumb” than an Apple Watch.
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I charge my watch when I am reading before bed. I have to charge it daily or it will run out of battery the next day. I just barely get one full day of use when it’s fully charged! I should look into replacing the battery but haven’t gotten around to it.
I charge my phone on a charging dock in my bedroom when I go to bed. I use the vibrating alarm on my Apple Watch to get up so I need to sleep with it. Phil gets up at a different time from me so I don’t use an alarm with sound so he can stay asleep.
I don’t have an issue with my phone or watch battery dying but it’s part of my bedtime routine so it would be weird to skip that step! But I am one of those nutty strict routine kind of people where I do things in the same order every morning/night!
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Battery life is/was my BIGGEST pet peeve about the Apple Watch. I still use mine, but since I got a new Garmin, I rely much less on the Apple Watch. The Garmin has battery life for 10+ days (even when I use it for running)… it’s amazing. It also charges super fast (<1hr from empty to completely full). I had such a struggle with keeping my Apple Watch charged, and I did what you did: charge when I was in the shower and basically at every other opportunity where I was just “sitting”.
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