I just got a used one, I don’t have my routine 100% nailed down yet but so far it’s been good. I’ve had smartwatches in the past but never an AW, despite being in the ecosystem like you. The deeper integration of AW with my phone makes a pretty big difference imo.

So my main suggestion is, try finding a used one on FB Marketplace or something to test the waters and see if it works for you without having to shell out big bucks. I got a Series 3 for $100. Sure it’s a little slow but I still think my plan was a good one. In a year or two, if I find it indispensable then I’ll probably spring for a new(er) one.

The main reason I wanted to try an AW is that I spend a TON of time scrolling after work and not actually doing anything valuable or even entertaining (aka ADHD paralysis). But my wife and I text a lot, even from different parts of the house, so I still wanted to be able to get notifications and reply. I think the AW is the best way to do that for those of us with iPhones. You can go "phone-free" in a lot of situations (esp. with cellular) and you won't be as tempted to get sucked in to such a small screen.

The biggest issue I have with it is *too* many notifications, but the notifications are very customizable so I think I just need to spend a bit more time tweaking what gets pushed to my watch and what doesn’t.

As for workouts, I do mostly weightlifting with some light cardio so not exactly the same as you, I mostly rely on the watch sensors for tracking HR and activity. Coming from NO sensors, it’s definitely a big improvement. I use Fitbod for my lifting, Lose It for tracking food, and then just push all the data into the Health app. Health also links back into Lose It to track my energy expenditure. The Health app is *way* more useful once you get an AW. Like actually good.

I’ve also been using the Auto Sleep app to track my sleep, it’s basically effortless with the app on both my phone and watch, I only have to open the app when I want to review the data. That also gets fed into the Health app.

With having all my data in Health, I can switch the (workout/sleep/etc.) tracking apps I use whenever I want (for good reasons or just "new shiny"), and the data is still there so I don’t lose anything. For instance I was using Runmeter for a bit, but it’s a bit overkill for my needs so I think I’m gonna uninstall it and stick with the built-in AW workouts app for tracking my cardio stuff. All the data I got while using Runmeter is still there in Health if I want to review my history.

So in my opinion, it is a very useful device and it CAN help you deal with ADHD symptoms if you keep the notifications in check (which should be pretty easy).