Have you ever wanted to quickly uplevel your life? Have you ever wanted to be more productive, be in better shape, better at time management, and overall healthier? I'm guessing that you have! I have too! What if I told you that there was an all-in-one solution to taking your life to the next level? Sounds crazy? A few months ago, I bought a Garmin smartwatch, and today, I'm going to be sharing how I use this watch to improve almost all aspects of my life!
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Updated for 2024 - I still LOVE and use this watch daily!
If you've been reading my blog since almost the beginning of its existence, you'll probably know that I wear a Garmin fitness tracker. I got my first Garmin fitness tracker back in 2017 and I wore it all the time, minus sleeping. (I wore it some of the time when I slept too!). You might want to read my experience with that watch if you know nothing about Garmin watches, and you want to start running.
In 2021, I picked up the hobby of long-distance running. I ran a half-marathon just last Thursday! Anyway, at the end of last year, I obtained a Garmin Smartwatch, which is quite an upgrade from my old fitness tracker.
Recommended Post - How to Exercise More + Stay Motivated
By the way, I just wanted to let you know that this post is not sponsored or compensated by Garmin. I just wanted to write this post because the last post I wrote about my Garmin fitness tracker was quite popular (10,000+ views) so I wanted to update all of you on my fitness journey. :)
To be 100% upfront, Garmin smartwatches are pricey (like in hundreds of dollars pricey), but I think that the money spent was totally worth it. It's probably pretty obvious that I am now a running addict! 😂
I bought the Garmin Forerunner 245, which at the time of writing this post is around $300. There are many wonderful reviews for the watch, so I'm just going to give a brief overview of what I like about the watch, and then I'm going to get into how I use the watch to improve my life.
My Review of the Garmin Forerunner 245 Smartwatch
Garmin products are definitely built to last! I bought my last one in 2018, and it was still going strong when I got my new one, so I gave my old one to a friend, who is enjoying using it very much.
I'm getting around 2-4 days of use out of every charge. This is with using GPS connectivity for around 1 hour daily, and 2 more hours of fitness activities recorded.
Garmin smartwatches are mainly for fitness, but they do have smartwatch functions like notifications, music, alarms, calendars, and timers. Unlike Apple watches, a Garmin watch will not be a phone on your wrist. This in my opinion is beneficial for productivity.
Even though my watch does not have a touchscreen, the five-button navigation and interface were fairly easy to learn. Also, it may not be the most stylish watch on the market, but there are tons of different bands you can buy to make the watch look more formal/classy.
Here are some in-depth reviews you can read if you want to learn more about the Garmin Forerunner 245 running smartwatch.
Now, let's get into how you can use your Garmin smartwatch to uplevel your life, health, and productivity! The Connect IQ App Store has loads of widgets you can download onto your Garmin watch, very similar to downloading apps onto a phone.
How to Use a Garmin Smartwatch to Uplevel Your Life
1. Create Habits/Drop Habits
Where do I start? Garmin watches offer multiple ways to help you create and drop habits. I found this widget called the Habit Tree. Every time you don't do a habit you are trying to create, you reset the widget. Every day you do the habit you are trying to create, a little plant on the widget grows, and after around 30 days, it turns into a tree.
Personally, I think this widget works best for when you are trying to drop a habit because when you are tempted to do that habit, you will have to reset the tree and start all over again. I used this widget to stop eating a certain meal that I loved eating almost daily. Now, I eat healthier foods instead!
You can also set alarms on your watch to remind you to do habits. It will help keep you on track during your day to have reminders on your wrist!
I'll get more into these features later, but Garmin watches are mainly for fitness and health so it has a daily step tracker, move alerts, etc to help you stay active!
2. Daily Schedule/Calendar
My Garmin watch came with the calendar widget, and I'm pretty sure that most of the Garmin smartwatches do. All you have to do is log your activities onto your phone calendar, and it will sync right onto your watch!
If you use time-blocking, you can add an alarm to your calendar along with your appointments so you can be notified when it is time to move to the next task. You can also see your entire daily schedule, and sometimes tomorrow's schedule as well from your watch.
The app store offers multiple other calendars, but I have no complaints about the one that comes pre-installed.
If you are using a Garmin coaching plan, your workouts will also show up on your schedule.
Oh, and do I need to mention that you can get watch faces with the date on it? I hope I'm not the only one who is always forgetting what day it is! 😂
3. Inspirational Quotes
Who here needs a little dose of motivation every once in a while? Okay, to be honest, we might need a large dose of motivation every once in a while too. This widget can help!
I downloaded the Quote of the Day widget onto my smartwatch, and so far it is one of my favorite widgets. Every day, you get a new motivational quote.
My quote of the day for today is "Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fall in order to practice being brave."- Mary Tyler Moore
Most people don't actively search for motivational quotes every day to get inspiration, so it is nice to just have inspirational words accessible right on your wrist.
4. Alarms
I'm just going to come out and say it. I kind of hate alarms, especially in the morning! But alarms can be super helpful. If alarms help you to be more productive, then you will not be disappointed with a Garmin smartwatch.
You can set alarms from the smartwatch, and label them so you know what you are supposed to be doing when the alarm goes off.
You'll never have to worry about being late again!
5. Pomodoro Timer
The Pomodoro method is a method used frequently to increase productivity so I downloaded the app (there are multiple ones, but this is the one I currently use) so I could test it out. If you haven't heard of it before, here is a quick rundown of what the method is...
The Pomodoro technique has two main parts.
- 25 minutes of work
- 5 minutes of rest
For the fourth rest break, you do 20 minutes of rest, instead of just 5. If you find yourself being sedentary for long periods of time, then this can be a great way to get moving during the day, and it will give your brain a break!
If you don't like doing exercise, then just get yourself walking during those 5-minute breaks, and you might not have to do any planned exercise! Pretty good deal, am I right?
Are there any activities that the Pomorodo Technique is not useful for?
Well yes, but it is just my opinion. I think the Pomodoro Technique is not useful for when you want to get into "the zone". For writing, it takes a few minutes to get good ideas coming, and then once I've started writing, I want to get all of my ideas down on paper.
If I have to keep taking breaks, then it is simply a disruption to my writing and it is not helpful. Keep this in mind, whenever you use the Pomodoro Technique. It should be used to take breaks, but it should not be a disruption. Currently, I'm reading the book about the Pomodoro Technique written by the creator, so I can write an informed article about it sometime soon!
The Pomodoro Timer app is super straightforward and easy to use!
6. Timers
What a life-saver! Unlike alarms, I am a huge fan of timers. I use timers literally almost all day. I exercise for 2-3 hours, I use a timer when working on this blog. I use a timer when practicing the piano and singing. Having a timer going helps me focus and stay on task.
The timer app that comes on the watch can be used for multiple timers. Currently, I have a two-hour timer, a one-hour timer, and a fifteen-minute timer.
You can choose to set a new timer or pick one from your list of already set timers. One of my favorite things about this app is that you can pause and reset your timers at any time so you can always take a break and come back to what you are working on.
If your goal is to exercise for one hour a day, you can do it in parts, and if you have a goal of studying for two hours daily, you can take breaks!
7. Fitness Goals/Workout Schedule
As I said before, Garmin watches are mainly for fitness, so this is where the watch really excels, especially over other watches! I'm definitely not going to go in-depth or cover nearly all the features of the watch that I got because there are way too many of them. I'm just going to highlight some of my favorites!
I started using a Garmin coaching plan to run a half-marathon, and the experience so far has been great. Your watch customizes the plan to your fitness, and then the app gives you videos to watch, and articles to read as you progress towards reaching your goal. You can pick to do a 5K, a 10K, or a half-marathon, and then you have a choice of three different coaching styles.
My watch also gives me a daily suggested running workout to do so I don't have an excuse to not go running.
Every day, your watch will give you a step goal to reach, and your watch will alert you to move if you are too sedentary.
You can also control your music and podcasts from your watch!
You can set goals, create workouts, and work your way towards personal bests. To see all of the fitness features, I would recommend looking at the website.
8. Stress + Meditation
Most Garmin smartwatches come with stress tracking so you can see how stressed you are throughout the day. I think it is very helpful to see at a glance how stressed I am. You can use a Garmin watch to incorporate meditation into your life.
You have stress tracking, breathing exercises, a body energy monitor (body battery), and not to mention 24/7 heart rate monitoring.
If you want to get into meditation, then the breathwork on your watch is a great place to start!
How to Use a Garmin Smartwatch to Uplevel Your Life
I know that I just scratched the surface of what Garmin watches can do in this post, but I wanted to give you an overview of how you can use a smartwatch to uplevel your life and your health!
I haven't made any fitness-related bullet journal layouts this year because I'm tracking everything fitness and health-related on my watch and the Garmin app currently.
Here are a few other widgets and apps worth checking out... (some of them aren't available for my watch, but they might be for yours)
If you liked this post, you can read some of my other lifestyle/fitness posts below!
- The #1 Thing That Pushes Me to Reach Over 10,000 Steps a Day
- How to Find Time to Exercise More + Stay Motivated
- Food Tracking in My Bullet Journal
- Healthy Eating + Fitness Tracking in My Bullet Journal
I hope you enjoyed reading this post, and that if you have a Garmin Smartwatch, you got some ideas on how to use it to improve your productivity and life! Thanks for reading. :)
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