diff --git a/functions/misc.zsh b/functions/misc.zsh
index 784bf8a..08c6b59 100755
--- a/functions/misc.zsh
+++ b/functions/misc.zsh
@@ -315,15 +315,15 @@ function mangrep() {
 }
 
 
-# watches the given file and executes the given action whenever the file is changed. Usage: watch_file <file> <command>
-function watch_file() {
+# watches the given file/directory and executes the given action whenever anything is changed. Usage: watch_and_run <file|directory> <command>
+function watch_and_run() {
   if ! which inotifywait 2>&1 &>/dev/null ; then echo "$0 requires inotifywait"; return 1; fi
 
-  [[ -z "$1" ]] && echo "Usage: $0 <file> <action>" && return 1
-  local file=$1
+  [[ -z "$1" ]] && echo "Usage: $0 <file|directory> <action>" && return 1
+  local to_watch=$1
   shift
 
-  [[ -z "$@" ]] && echo "Usage: $0 <file> <action>" && return 1
+  [[ -z "$@" ]] && echo "Usage: $0 <file|directory> <action>" && return 1
 
   local action="$@"
   local _bg_job_pid
@@ -340,8 +340,8 @@ function watch_file() {
   {
       set +m # disable job control messages
       while true; do
-          if [[ ! -f "$file" ]]; then
-              echo "File \"$file\" does not exist";
+          if [[ ! -e "$to_watch" ]]; then
+              echo "\"$to_watch\" does not exist";
               break
           fi
           zsh -c "$action" &
@@ -349,8 +349,8 @@ function watch_file() {
           disown
           echo -e "$Cyan ==> Running \"$action\" with pid=${_bg_job_pid}$CLEAR"
 
-          # block until the file has been written to
-          inotifywait -e close_write "$file" &>/dev/null
+          # block until the file/directory has been written to
+          inotifywait -e close_write -r "$to_watch" &>/dev/null
 
           # the job might have failed, ignore errors
           kill -9 ${_bg_job_pid} &>/dev/null || true