You could say it's kind of ironic that Kristen Bell was late for our phone interview to talk about her new role as the face of Fossil watches, but I think that's just a part of her charm. You see, the star of The Good Place, voice to your favorite Disney princess, mother to two, wife of Dax Shepard, and sloth enthusiast has a lot on her plate. Plus, she's profusely apologetic! But just don't ask her how she balances it all. "I hate the word balance because I think it’s a joke and it’s a trick word," says the actress. "There is no balance. You can only do your best." So how does...she continue to kill it, I'll say? With the help of the Fossil Q Neely, of course. A hybrid design that blends the tech of a smartwatch with the face of an analog design, the watch sends her notifications without being intrusive. It makes sense that Bell would be the face of the brand, because it's cool but not over the top. Here, she tells us more about her work with Fossil and why she thinks wasting time is actually a form of self-care.
When I told the team I was going to be interviewing you today, someone wanted me to ask you if you thought sloths should wear smartwatches?
Sloths? No. They're on nobody’s time frame but their own. Absolutely not.
Now that that's out of the way, what made you want to team up with Fossil?
Well, it’s two fold. I think it’s a really good company ethically and I like the product a lot and I actually use it. It has been kind of a godsend to have a smart watch that still has certain notifications because there’s so much noise nowadays. At least I feel there is. I hate the word balance because I think it’s a joke and it’s a trick word. There is no balance. You can only do your best, but between trying to spend time with my kids, my husband, work, and feeling like I’m pulled in a million different directions, I have become dependent on my Q Neely because it still serves my notifications and I can decide who I want to hear from that day.
I find my smartwatch sometimes makes me anxious. Does that ever happen to you?
Well, the one that I wear is a smartwatch but it’s a watch face, which, I mean I guess double dare you to try it, but I think it makes me a lot less anxious because it’s just a watch face. The notifications come by the way of the hand moving and the numbers you set for the people that are you contacting you. It’s a lot less information to process which I feel like is what my brain is craving.
In a video you said you were first introduced to Fossil through Veronica Mars. If she had a smart watch how do you think she'd use it?
Oh wow. Well I definitely think she would wear the Q Neely, the one that I wear, and I feel that she would because she has to stay so focused. She cannot be crowded with nonsensical information. She can’t have crazy texts or emails popping up all day and I feel like her commitment to focus would be why she would wear this one. Veronica Mars is just on point and you kind of need to be on time to be on point. Not to have your smartwatch to be a distraction, but have it be a support system for your day is definitely how Veronica Mars would roll.
Fossil Q Neely, $110; fossil. com SHOP
If your smart watch could do anything for you, what would you have it do?
Wash my dishes. If I could take it off at night, set it by the sink, and wake up in the morning and have the dishes be done, I mean, that would be my dream come true.
Say you found yourself with a giant chunk of free time, what show would you binge watch?
If I had a huge chunk of time I would binge watch The Sopranos, which I’ve only seen a few episodes of but I’m constantly reprimanded by my husband that I should not even be in the entertainment industry because I haven’t seen the Sopranos.
What are you binge watching now?
We just started The Deuce which we’re really loving. What else are we watching? Well I mean it’s not binge watching but we go to the church of John Oliver every Sunday. We’re addicted to documentaries, so finding new podcast documentaries. My husband just found an amazing one (it was recommended to him) called Dirty John. We love The Americans. We never miss a Frontline or 60 Minutes. We love Last Man On Earth. We just finished Atlanta which I truly—and this is hard for me to say because I’m such a Game of Thrones fan—I think it might be the best television show ever made. It’s so real and funny. They strike such a perfect balance of small moments in reality that are incredibly funny and that’s the hardest thing to do.
I loved the episode where they were all at the club and a girl was talking to Paper Boy the entire night, but it turned out she had a boyfriend.
And those moments are hilarious. When you’re in comedy if something’s not funny enough they’re like, 'I guess we’re going to have 20 bowling balls roll down the staircase cause we gotta make a joke,' but Donald Glover has done such a great job of finding the hilarity in real life and keeping those moments so, so tiny while making a hundred comments on modern day culture. You know?
Yeah! Okay, let's talk social media. How much time do you spend on social media a day?
Oh wow. Maybe…half an hour? 5 minute chunks throughout the day. Because when I get home my kids don’t want to see me looking at the phone. I just learned to use Instagram stories because I’m a grandmother so I have been trying. I also like communication and I have digested recently that social media is a form of communication. I feel like I have good messages to share even if that message is that I hope you smile today, so I’ve been trying to utilize social media for that interaction and remind myself that there’s no self-esteem involved.
What do you mean by no self-esteem involved?
I mean like, if someone is good at something on social media whether it’s taking a picture of a dinner they made or a room they decorated or a gorgeous photo of themselves or anything—being happy for the fact that they captured a visually stimulating moment and not immediately and directly relating that to my inadequacy. Refusing to give myself a comparison hangover and say wow that person decorated their house beautifully for Halloween, I haven’t decorated yet. I don’t have to compare those two things.
I sometimes find myself in that situation on Twitter.
Exactly. We’re so susceptible to that but the only healthy way to get out of it is just to know it’s not about comparison. It’s about being happy for other people. It’s about allowing yourself to be. As a creator, which you are as a writer, it’s difficult to not put yourself in that position and think what can I say? But sometimes it’s okay to be an audience member and just enjoy that person’s comment.
I admire how you’re so outspoken you are through your social media.
Thank you. I think it’s important. I think the word taboo should be stricken from the dictionary. I think all of our problems are arising because we’re not talking enough and we’re all striving for perfection and perfection never leads to connection, only vulnerability leads to connection. Talking about the hard stuff is the only thing that’s going to fix us.
Very true. Last question: What are your tricks for not wasting time?
Keeping a really good calendar and weirdly enough, scheduling in time to waste. I know this is counterintuitive but wasting time to me is your brain’s way of saying I need a break. It’s your brain’s way of saying I need to meditate right now, whether that’s actual meditation (which I think is awesome) or whether that’s just surfing the internet and blindly looking at design sites and saying I feel like I can breathe, I’ve done a little self-care. Scheduling self-care even if that self-care is wasting time and flipping through a magazine or organizing your junk drawer or whatever you feel is not productive. Sitting on your couch and closing your eyes for five minutes. I think a schedule is important but only if your schedule includes time where you’re allowed to blow off steam because if you don’t, you’ll explode. That’s proven, that is science. Your brain needs time to decompress.
I was listening to a podcast where the host said you have to let yourself be bored because in those can be some of your most creative moments.
That’s so true. We use that technique with our children. We don’t buy them a lot of toys, they get them more rarely. We're constantly fielding them coming in the kitchen saying I’m bored! And I’m like great, find something to do! This is the time. Go outside and play with rocks or play with leaves or invent a game with your sister. I fully believe that research about it’s the only that fosters creativity and I think you should definitely let your kids be bored. I mean we do crafts and I organize fun games for them but there are plenty of times during the week when I let them off-leash and I just don’t watch them in the house. I mean I make sure they’re not touching knives, but I let them do whatever.
Fossil Q Jacqueline, $155; fossil.com SHOP
