Same, I regularly forget to put it back on.

You have to micromanage the thing. It does not just work. You have to constantly adapt strategies depending on usage pattern and lifestyle change.

I do not use smartwatch features (basically useless or worse an intrusion/interruption in your life for little benefits).

People seem to think Apple Watches are good. As an owner for 6 years or different generations, I beg to disagree.

The only thing it's good for is the quality of the data but competitors have caught up and it's not that important (consistency of measurement is more relevant). What's more when you can't use it because of battery issues it becomes moot; a bit worse data is still better than no data at all in the end.

In my opinion the Apple Watch is the perfect representation of Apple lack of focus and inability to make relevant compromise to create actually great products.

They could make a killer sport watch with low refresh rate on the display, minimum power consumption with a chip that would only run the data collection and forgo all the app bullshit to get something that could potentially last up to a week.

But they would rather sell lifestyle fashion accessories.

I'm shocked so many people find it this difficult. Particularly to the point you abandon a $500 device. You take off the watch before showering, stick it on the charger. By the time you're dressed it's fully charged. A bit like how you wouldn't jump in the shower every morning with a mechanical watch.

I've got a Series 10. I've got "always on display" turned off because I do not find it useful. I've got optimized charging set to try to limit it to charging to 80%.

I generally put it on the charger every evening around 7 pm or so when I sit on the couch to do the NYT crossword and Sudoku (which come out at 7 pm in my time zone) and watch some TV or read for a while.

It then goes back on my wrist but in theater mode and with notifications silenced until morning.

It generally uses maybe 5-10% while I sleep. In the morning I turn theater mode off and un-silence notifications, and then use it to track 30-35 minutes of exercise.

It is typically still above 30% when it is time to do the next crossword.

I put it on the charger every evening when watching TV or playing games, i.e. some activities that don’t need any tracking anyways. I go to bed with the watch at 100% and it’s usually at around 30-40% when I put it on the charger again the next evening.

You could always buy two and swap them out.