Harvey Cook 🥉

With your budget and need for something light, a fast prime is the move. Pick focal length by sensor and space. Crop sensor for indoors often works best at 35. For outdoor headshots on crop, 50 feels right. Full frame can use 50 for general work or 85 when you want tighter framing and stronger compression. On a large online retailer and filter by your mount, price, and fast shipping. Check weight and autofocus compatibility, then order from a seller with an easy return window. Test right away at f1.8 and f2.2 focusing on the near eye. If it consistently misses focus, exchange it. If new stretches the budget, check used or open box options from reputable sellers with returns. A good fast prime holds value and delivers that pro looking blur. Easy win.

Yeah, I stopped bargaining with myself and automated the cutoff. Phone goes on a charger across the room at 10, and a dumb alarm clock handles wake up. Focus mode kicks on at 9:45 and blocks every app except calls, notes, and my sleep sounds. Screen turns grayscale then too, which makes doomscrolling feel like eating plain rice and my goblin brain loses interest. If I want to override, I have to type a long passcode and wait a minute, which is just enough friction to make me quit. I set a 10 minute timer for a last look and when it rings, phone goes on the charger, lights out. I'm embarrassingly spreadsheet about this, so I logged nights for two weeks. The only change that really mattered was moving the phone out of reach and automating Focus, not willpower. Writing down the stray thought in a bedside notebook handled the itch to check one more thing. If you hate notebooks, dictate a quick voice memo and close the phone.

Everybody's selling a miracle app or $200 sunrise lamp. None of them replace sunlight and a boring alarm. Pick a wake time and stick to it for seven days, even Saturday. Get outside for 10 minutes of light right after you wake, cut caffeine after lunch, and kill screens an hour before bed. If you need training wheels, 0.5 to 1 mg melatonin two hours before bed for three nights, then stop.