Welcome to TSR first of all. Fair play on the career change too, and thank you to you and your watch.
I'm not an expert to be advising people but I'll stick my oar in anyway. Electric razors did my nut in. May as well grow a beard and then rip it out with your hands. Carts and goop are preferable, which is where I turned after giving up on electric decades ago.
The problem with carts (environment issues aside) is that they shave below the skin so it's more likely that you'll get bumps (to be fair I didn't suffer much with that).
I much prefer straight razors and/or DE because you tend to take more care, you learn technique, and use better products. OK so straight razor shaving is a bit of a rabbit hole and not what you want if your watch starts at 5am but DE would probably give you a better shave with minimal faff, once you get the hang of it. Also it can be a lot cheaper than cartridges or straight razors. You can buy a Wilkinson Sword Classic for beans, or a vintage Gillette Tech for less than £20. There are good soaps/sticks or cream like Proraso or Palmolive which cost a couple of quid. You can get a decent brush (boar or synthetic) for under £15 and you don't need a bowl. Not much to lose to give DE a try.
Wetting your beard/stubble and washing with a slick soap like Pears, and a hot flannel, then using a mild DE like the ones I mentioned before, with a nice slick lather from a cream or stick like Arko (if you don't mind smelling of lemon or toilet cubes!!) will give you an excellent shave. You'll hopefully find less irritation. Stretch the skin tight as you do your pass and you'll get closer, but not as far down as what can happen with cartridges with their multiple blades and rubber strips. Go with, across and finally against the grain of your stubble and you'll soon get the hang of finding the correct angle and get a good smooth shave that will last all day. Also worth trying an evening shave, especially if you have an early start. The skin can be more resilient later in the day than first thing in the morning. Also you'll be less tired when you do it.
Plenty more knowledgeable folk on here to advise further (some of whom also get great results from cartridge razors, having learnt the technique and the pre/post routine).
Stick around and let us know how you get on, or ask away with your questions. DE does not need to cost a fortune, but once you go down the rabbit hole it can soon spiral if you let it. But that is more about fun/hobby/curiosity or pure FOMO. You can spend as little as £25-30 on a brush, cream, razor and tuck of blades and give it a go.
Also hopefully you'll enjoy the banter here, and maybe find that focusing on a shave can give you the peace and calm to maybe help with a stressful job.