4) Lifestyle Design (Building Sustainable Routines)
Manage digital health (reclaim your attention)
Your phone is designed by brilliant engineers to steal your attention. Fight back. Try the grayscale trick: set your phone to black and white display. The colorful icons are designed to trigger dopamine; gray is boring and less addictive. Set app limits—30 minutes max for social media daily. Your phone has this feature built in (Screen Time on iPhone, Digital Wellbeing on Android). Practice news hygiene: check news once daily, for 10 minutes, in the afternoon only. Morning news puts you in reactive mode. Most 'breaking news' doesn't actually affect your life. During focus time, put your phone in another room. Studies show that just having your phone visible—even face-down—reduces cognitive performance. Out of sight, out of mind.
Where you get your insurance affects how much of the bill you actually pay.
- Employer-Sponsored (Job-Based) is usually the best deal. Employers often pay 70% to 80% of your premium for you. In 2026, a job-based plan is considered affordable if your share of the cost is less than 9.96% of your income.
- If you are a freelancer or your employer doesn't offer a good plan, the Marketplace is your one-stop shop. Based on your income, you might qualify for Premium Tax Credits or Cost-Sharing Reductions that make these plans even cheaper than employer plans.
Free Resource: Official: Marketplace vs. Job-Based Insurance Options
Resources
Record your progress
Mark this subsection complete to track your progress.