Are smartwatches distracting?

Before I bought my first smartwatch, I wondered if the smartwatch would distract me by providing constant access to notifications.

To make it short: No, with good notification management I do not feel like the smartwatch is distracting me. It even allows me to keep my phone constantly on mute.

Managing Notifications

As with smartphones themselves, the most effective way to minimize distractions is to mute all unimportant notifications. My first smartwatch, a Samsung Galaxy Watch even allows separate notification settings for the phone and the watch. As far as I know, Apple Watches do not have this feature.

After minimizing notifications, if a notification still reaches me, I can look on my wrist to decide if need to take action and do something on the phone. This might still distract me, but not using the phone prevents me from accidentally doing more than just check the notification.

Conclusion

As a conclusion, I believe that you do not need to worry about being distracted when considering to buy a smartwatch.