Play on sports teams

Sports teams have a massive impact on emotional well-being. What could be healthier than running around with friends for an hour, possibly dipping in and out of the flow state, while your phone is stashed in a backpack? It’s even great when things aren’t going well. I watched a 50-year-old guy get thrown out of a softball game t... See more

Organize a weekly card game

Or a board game. Catan-heads stand up. A little competition, a couple hours of shooting the shit...this is the exact sort of thing we all once took for granted. Find a few reliable people in your orbit and bring it back. Bonus points if everyone agrees to leave their phones in their jacket.

Send handwritten letters

In this essay, I go deep on a Great American Bromance: the handwritten letters shared between Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. I think most of us are so out of touch touch with letter writing (beyond stiff wedding Thank Yous) that we’d assume letters demand a formal comportment — and are therefore boring, onerous, a... See more

Talk to friends and family on the phone

Okay, you can take your phone and AirPods with you if you’re calling loved ones. I was inspired years ago by “the secret power of the eight-minute phone call.” The general idea is that casual connection protects against the erroneous perception of “time surplus,” an idea too many busy people have that in the v... See more

Handwrite a to-do list each morning

What did Benjamin Franklin, Ludwig van Beethoven and Michael Jordan have in common? They all woke up each day and jotted down a to-do list. Of course, none of those guys (even heyday Jordan) had access to today’s apps or programs, which are able to automate tasks and set reminders and track your progress with an a... See more

Read the newspaper

To that last point, consider getting a newspaper subscription, even just for one day a week (I’d go with Sunday, personally). It’s a slower and more resonant way to process the week’s headlines. No clicking away. Also, if I might submit some superficial rationale here: sitting in the kitchen reading a newspaper looks and feels bad... See more

Sip your coffee in peace

We usually pair coffee with speed-of-light emailing. But it goes better with: porches, stoops, sidewalks, parks, friends, dog walks, phone calls, books, newspapers.