I liked rule 6 "treat your phone like a book". One thing I did recently was remove the news stories from my google home page. I'd go to search something and then get caught up in some horrific news story. Any advice for people using dating apps? How do you make sure you're using the dating app and not the other way around?

I've had a really hard time finding a balance with dating apps, they're easily my most addictive phone habit. I recently hard-deleted all of my dating app accounts to take an extended break.

Before that, I tried several different things to modify my dating app behavior:

I would set Screen Time in iOS and give myself a one hour limit per day with a separate Screen Time password. This worked OK but it was still too easy to keep requesting 15 more minutes at a time. To deal with this, I would delete the app from my phone when I reached my time limit since they're way too easy to access from the iOS app tray and the app icon is a major trigger for me.

The major thing that helped was setting a month-on month-off schedule. I would pay for a premium account for one month only and cancel the subscription right after purchase and get to inbox zero on my app when it was time to turn the app off.

At the end of the month on, I would put my profile into hidden mode so I know that I won't get new matches in my month off, and I would also delete all stale matches. I would keep all active matches and just talk to them until we either met or went silent and then I would delete them. Keeping my inbox as clean as possible really reduced temptation.

I don't have any piece of advice specific to dating apps. A good general thing is to put a Screen Time/Digital Wellbeing widget on your homescreen, so that you see how much time you spend in a particular app. If you get over 1h / day and it's not for stuff like business or personal communication, then it might be time for a reset (removing the app for a few days, logging out of it, setting limits).

Suggestions for such an app?

I meant the Screen Time feature of iOS, and Digital Wellbeing app, which is made by Google. Both enable you to put a widget with the app/time breakdown right on your home screen. Some older versions of iOS or Android might not support it, though.

As someone that has worked in and currently sells B2B SaaS to digital health companies, this title and the resulting post really confused me for a few seconds. For those wondering → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_health

I can attest from own experience and that of others around me that rule 8, 'spend time outside' is a key factor for improving well being. Leave the screen and go outside. Now!

Rule 8.1: ... And don't listen to podcasts while outside.

Very true, but touching grass is certainly easier for some than for others.

How many people actually have a garden these days? Access to the great outdoors was further confounded by the recent lockdown, too.

Yes, true. Living in a big cities can amount to nature deficit. Hopefully there will be some park, riverside alle or something nearby.

the amount of stress (induced by mindlessly scrolling) that can be relieved by a simple walk is too huge not to recommend it !!!

(founder of awalkaday.art - digital gallery of photos taken during daily walks).

> 6. When outside, treat your phone like it’s a book

I do this. But I think of my phone as a toolbox. I grab it when I need it to do something for me.

I think that's the way to treat all devices.

I'm writing a similar article about how I redefined my relationship with technology.

I used SelfControl to block distracting websites for 24 hours at a time. I'm currently taking a break before enabling it for another 24 hours.

Then I aggressively reduced the number of emails, notifications, ads, "related content" and feeds I see. I scrubbed my profiles clean, unfollowed everyone, then removed the feeds with ad blockers. Basically, every time something grabbed my attention and shouldn't, I set up a countermeasure. My internet is a lot calmer than the unfiltered version.

It works - I spend less time mindlessly browsing, and I think a lot less about what's going on on social media. The computer gets really boring after I'm done working, and it compels me to do other things.

This things are reworded goals, not a strategy. It's like telling a smoker the way to quit is "don't light cigarettes".

One must understand the chain of events that lead to overusing the internet and intervene waaaay befor the urge arises. Once it does it is roo late. You can't simply "search, don't browse" if you are bored with nothing to do, hate what you should be working on, don't have friends to hang out with or whatever.

A bit ironic to find this article by way of casually browsing HN.

Perhaps digital wellbeing or even digital wellness might be a better title. Digital health feels more like the actual health metrics calculated from your low energy bluetooth device like an Apple watch or iPhone.

I do applaud the author for making this blog straight to the point.

I think you could TL;DR the article even further and say "Use technology purposefully and not aimlessly". In doing so, you'd come up with your own "rules" that works for you.