For several years I didn’t wear a watch. I was one of those folk who simply glanced at their mobile phone or the nearest wall clock whenever they needed to know the time.

Then I took up running and got a smartwatch to record distance and pace. I only intended to wear it on runs. At some point, though, I clicked that it also tallied my daily step count, whether I was running or not. And down the rabbit hole I tumbled.

Fast forward 18 months and I now find myself in a slavish relationship with my smartwatch. And it is bordering on obsessive.

It has become a permanent fixture on my wrist. Partly because I have such a pronounced runner’s tan that, even when I’m not wearing a watch, it looks like I am. But mostly because having a gap in its all-seeing analysis gives me serious existential dread.

Several times a day, I will scroll through the myriad settings to check my resting heart rate or peruse the body battery score, which tracks ongoing energy levels.........

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