TL;DR: It’s a simple wristwatch that has a vibrating alarm/timer.

Right now my favorite INTJ productivity tool, aside from plain-text editor software, is this Casio W735H-1AVCF wristwatch (non-affiliate links here people). It comes in several colors, and Casio also makes some G-Shock models with the vibration function.

Which leads me to why I like this watch.

It vibrates. And it has a timer that can be pre-set to whatever interval you want. The timer won’t auto-continue after the time is up, but a single button press restarts the timer.

The vibrating timer on my arm for about $25 USD has been a huge productivity helper. Here’s what I use it for:

• Long conversations
  • When you know you’ll be stuck talking to someone for a while
    • Like on a long car ride
      • Not even kidding, I’ve used it for this and will continue to do so
  • The vibration can remind you of your conversation-with-this-person framework. Link in case you missed the conversation on frameworks.
    • Example: When talking to an ESFJ, it becomes my reminder, every few minutes, to stop talking about myself and my thoughts, to empathize, to listen to cries for help in feeler-terms. To ask about details.
      • Oh BTW, one of my ESFJ friends mistook this watch for a G-Shock, which I thought was pretty cool.
      • I did not actually correct him, either
      • I do own a few G-Shocks but I use this watch way more, so that’s cool
• Any other framework-related item
  • Like in my deadline framework, this watch reminds me every 10 minutes that I am working on a deadline.
    • This means it’s easy to take a break for 10 minutes, guilt-free.
    • This also means that when I get too distracted, only 10 minutes will pass, max, before I’m reminded of that fact.
• Measurement of my day
  • Has it been a lot of vibrations since I got something done?
    • OK, time to refer back to my framework for getting things done, or to refine the framework somehow.

OK, so at least the $25 gets me that far.

Oooh, and I almost forgot: I really like the “Super Illuminator” light. It’s easily my favorite of all the lighting options on watches these days. The whitish light color is so…neutral. Who knew two little LEDs could bring such pleasure.

I realize that A) it’s dangerous to talk about tools with INTJs because all INTJs, practically from birth, Wish to Be Consulted About Productivity Tools and Getting Things Done. It’s just part of who we are. Inferior Se makes us very keenly aware of how much impact we’re having on the world, how much stuff we’re getting done. If there’s a way to get more done, we either already know about it or we want to know about it. (We also tend to repress an inner slouch who gets nothing done, ever. “The slouch is after us! Aaah, run! Work harder! Don’t stop!”)

Also B) I realize that phones can vibrate, they have apps, they have Pomodoro Timers with Advanced Features, and so on. Well, that’s fine but it’s not working for me at the moment. And I know there are smart watches that do other stuff too. I really like the novelty of this particular watch, I guess. The vibration is so subtle, the mechanism so simple. I’ve tried using apps on my phone and still do sometimes, so what the future holds, I don’t know.

Anyway, fun to talk about the tools a bit.

Oh, and BTW this talking countdown timer is freakin’ awesome too. I use it for exercise all the time. THIRTY SECONDS. TWENTY SECONDS. TEN. NINE. EIGHT… see? It’s like back when you worked for NASA, exercising on the Space Shuttle. Although they apparently use a slightly different model of kitchen timer. And they wear…business suits in space, that I didn’t know about.

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