I Stopped Wearing My Apple Watch — Here's What Happened to My Focus

What happened when I stopped wearing my Apple Watch — and what the research says about why it worked

I Didn't Expect This to Happen to My Brain

Three weeks ago, my Apple Watch battery died. I didn't charge it that day, or the next. And I just... never put it back on.

It wasn't a big decision. I didn't do a cleanse, a detox, or a 30-day reset. But somewhere in those three weeks, something shifted that I wasn't expecting: my brain fog started lifting. My focus came back. I noticed more mental energy, more physical energy, and — maybe most surprising — more motivation the moment I woke up in the morning.

I didn't change my supplements. I didn't overhaul my routine. The biggest variable that changed was how much my attention was being pulled throughout the day — by a screen on my wrist, and by my phone in general, which I've also been using less thanks to Brick.

As it turns out, there's real research behind why this made such a noticeable difference. But before we get into the science, I want to zoom out — because I don't think this is just about a watch.

We Are Living Beyond Human Scale

Brené Brown built an entire podcast series around a phrase that stuck with me the moment I heard it: living beyond human scale. It's the idea that the pace, connectivity, and demands of modern life have outrun what our nervous systems were actually built to handle. We're not just busy — we're operating in a way that exceeds human capacity, and we've normalized it.

If you're a woman reading this, you probably know exactly what that feels like. You're not doing one job — you're doing five. Business owner. Practitioner. Partner. Parent. The person everyone texts when they need something. Every one of those roles asks for a piece of your attention, and most of us are answering all of them at once, all day long.

Here's the problem: capacity is not infinite. And if every notification, buzz, and glance at a screen is quietly draining that capacity, then the thing we need most — the ability to focus, think clearly, and show up fully — is exactly what's being chipped away.

What's Actually Happening in the Brain

This is where the research caught up with what I was already feeling.

There's a concept in cognitive psychology called attention residue, studied by researcher Sophie Leroy. The idea is simple but powerful: every time your attention gets pulled away from what you're doing — even for a second — part of it stays behind on whatever just interrupted you. Your brain doesn't fully return to the task in front of you. A little residue lingers.

Why a Watch on Your Wrist Matters More Than It Seems

Now think about what a smartwatch does all day. It's not one interruption — it's dozens. Heart rate updates. Notifications. Standing reminders. Each one seems small in the moment, but each one asks your brain to shift attention, and each shift leaves a little residue behind. Over the course of a day, that adds up to a real cognitive cost — one most of us never think to question, because it's just "normal" now.

There's experimental evidence for this too. A study out of the University of British Columbia, led by researcher Kostadin Kushlev, had over 200 participants spend one week with phone notifications on and their phone within reach, and another week with notifications off and their phone out of sight. When notifications were on, participants reported significantly higher inattention — and that inattention predicted lower productivity and lower psychological well-being. The mechanism isn't about willpower. Constant interruption measurably degrades focus.

What Changed When I Cut the Noise

Since stepping away from my watch and reducing my phone use with Brick, here's what's actually shifted for me:

• Renewed motivation in the morning — I wake up with more drive than I've had in a while, instead of reaching for a screen before I've even opened my eyes.

• More energy, mental and physical — the kind of energy that used to feel harder to access by midday.

• Noticeably less brain fog — clearer thinking, less of that foggy, scattered feeling.

• Sharper focus — less of my attention getting pulled in five directions before 9 a.m.

None of this happened because I added something. It happened because I removed something — the constant, low-grade pull on my attention that I didn't even realize was there until it was gone.

The Collision: Rising Demand, Shrinking Reserve

Here's something I've been thinking about constantly in my practice. With the women I work with, I'm seeing a clear pattern: our demands are going up — career, kids, aging parents, businesses, leadership, all of it, exponentially, especially in our late 30s, 40s, and 50s. And at the exact same time, our physical reserve — the stuff our bodies draw from when life asks more of us — is quietly decreasing. That collision, demand rising while reserve falls, shows up in nearly every conversation I have with patients.

And I want to be honest about something here, because I'm a hormone girl. I support women through perimenopause and menopause every single day, and I believe deeply in that work. But I'm also seeing so many women walk into my office exhausted, unmotivated, and foggy — and almost by default, everything gets thrown into the hormonal bucket. To be fair, it might belong there. Hormones are real, and they matter.

But I don't want to put a woman on hormone therapy if there's something else going on that she could change first. What I'm noticing — in myself, and in the stories my patients tell me — is that there's a technology and attention-load factor sitting right in the middle of this collision that we're not talking about nearly enough. It's not instead of the hormone conversation. It's alongside it. Before we reach for a prescription, I want us to ask: is some of this coming from a nervous system that's never had a quiet moment in years?

Why This Matters Especially for Women Juggling It All

If you're already stretched across every role in your life, protecting your attention isn't a luxury — it's structural. You cannot pour mental clarity, focus, or energy into your work, your relationships, or your own healing if that capacity is being quietly siphoned off all day by devices designed to interrupt you.

This is also exactly why, in my work with women on hormone balance and whole-person health, I don't look at any one symptom in isolation. Brain fog, low energy, and lack of focus are often treated as separate problems — but they're deeply connected to the total load your nervous system is carrying, and that load includes the digital noise most of us have stopped noticing.

A Small Place to Start

You don't have to overhaul your entire relationship with technology overnight. Start with one honest question: where is my attention being pulled without my permission?

For me, it was a watch on my wrist and a phone I reached for out of habit more than need. For you, it might be something else entirely. But if you're a woman wearing every hat, running on a schedule that was never designed for one nervous system to carry — reclaiming even a little bit of your attention back might be one of the most powerful things you do for your focus, your energy, and your capacity to actually be present in your own life.

Curious how attention, energy, and hormone health connect? This is exactly the kind of whole-person pattern I look at with the women I work with. Reach out to learn more about working together.

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