I didn’t buy a smartwatch because I thought it might make parenting easier — I bought it because it was cute and shiny and I like new toys. (I owned a Casio calculator watch long before they were popular. Oh, wait: They were never popular.)

It’s been fun to fiddle with — I can change the watch face and check the weather and I no longer have to get off the couch just to look up the date. What’s surprised me the most, though, are the ways in which this little device is helping me be more present and less stressed with my kids. Here’s how it can be used for good. (Note: I have an Apple Watch, but these features are available on most smartwatches.)

If you carry around an iPhone as your smartphone of choice then the Apple Watch is hands-down the best option for a smartwatch, for the seamless integration if nothing else. But what about the rest of us? You've got more options than you might realise for a companion wearable, and we're going to get into the pros and cons of each.

With generalist smartwatches like the Apple Watch and various Android Wear, Fitbit and other devices on the market, the ante has been raised when it comes to sport watches. My first running watches, in the 1990s were basically glorified stopwatches with connectivity to a chest-strap heart rate monitor. But today's models are far more sophisticated. Enter the Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR - a very competent device that's suited to triathletes.

Have an ancient mobile phone sitting around? Tinkernut shows you how to make use of it by turning it into a smartwatch with a Genuino brain.