Wearables - Enter Safe Mode

I have tried every “Focus Timer” on the App Store. Forest, Session, Pomofocus, generic countdowns: they all share the same fatal flaw: They live on my phone.

To check how much time is left in my creative writing sprint, I have to wake up a device that contains my email, the endless possibilities of AI, and countless notifications. It is similar to trying to be gluten-free while holding a soy sesame bagel. The tool for focus is housed inside the machine of distraction.

Enter the Casio AE-1300WH.

It looks like the famous Casio Royale (AE-1200), but the internals are completely different. While the Royale is designed for “travelers” (world maps), the 1300 is designed for referees and coaches. It is an interval training engine. And by accident, it is the perfect wrist-mounted Pomodoro machine.

This review is for people who want health data without turning their wrist into another screen.

As a marketing exec and passionate creative, I live a data-driven life. I have dashboards for spend, spreadsheets for ROI, and analytics for this very blog. I might even have a chart for tracking ridiculous expenses. Information is everywhere.

Most modern wearables deliver health data like the Vegas Strip: they buzz, they light up, they make demands. They turn your biological metrics into just another notification competing for your awareness.

I need the data, but I despise the distraction.

I have been wearing a Whoop for over five years, recently upgrading to the Whoop 5.0 with EKG. It is a strap. That’s it. No screen. No buttons. No lights.

It creates a boundary that modern tech has forgotten: The data exists, but only when I ask for it.

Enter Safe Mode

Category: Wearables

Casio AE-1300WH Review: The $40 Pomodoro Technique Machine

Whoop 5.0 Long-Term Review: The Fitness Tracker for People Who Hate Being Tracked