Our Research & Editorial Standards

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A Note From Author 👋

Hey, I'm Max Iver – a 27-year-old digital wellness enthusiast from Kyiv, Ukraine. And yes, I'm the slightly obsessive person behind Life Beyond Screen.

Look, here's the thing: I spent 10 years building websites and diving deep into the digital world (oh, the irony...). I watched firsthand as technology went from making our lives easier to, well, completely taking them over. Working in web design, I was basically helping create the very thing that was consuming us all. Talk about a plot twist, right?

Why I'm Obsessed With Getting This Right

The truth about digital wellness content? Most of it falls into two categories:

Super clinical stuff that puts you to sleep (trust me, I've tried reading it at 3 AM)

Generic "just put your phone down" advice that... yeah, thanks, never thought of that! 🙄

What I found missing was something in between – evidence-based advice that actually feels like it's written by a human who's been there. Someone who understands that breaking up with your phone is harder than breaking up with your ex. Someone who's made all the mistakes so you don't have to.

That's why every piece of content on Life Beyond Screen has to pass what I call the "real human" test:

Is it backed by solid research? (Because we're not making this stuff up)

Have I actually tried it myself? (Yep, I'm the guinea pig)

Would I share this advice with my best friend? (No BS allowed)

Can someone actually use this in real life? (Theory is nice, but we live in the real world)

Our "Truth-First" Promise

When I started this site, I made a promise to myself (and now to you): We'll never publish anything just because it sounds good. Every single piece of advice, every strategy, every tip – it all has to be real, tested, and proven. Even if that means sometimes saying "hey, we don't know everything yet" or "this might not work for everyone."

And you know what? That's actually kind of liberating. Because instead of pretending to have all the answers, we get to figure this out together.

Quick Jump Links 🔍

(Because I know you might be skimming this... I would too!)

Why I'm Obsessed With Getting This Right Our "Truth-First" Promise Quick Jump Links 🔍How We Research (Research Methodology) 🤓Our "Trust Nothing Blindly" Approach (Our Research Standards)About Those Academic Sources (Academic Sources & Verification)Behind-the-Scenes Reality Check (Research Transparency)Our Writing Process ✍️Our "Never Ever" List (Content Guidelines)Quality Checks and Quality Assurance Standards 🔍Our Obsessive Update Schedule (Update & Review Schedule)When Things Change (Content Update Policy) 🔄Our Update Triggers (Update Criteria)The Humans Behind the Words (Team & Expertise) 👥The Support Squad (Expert Network)Let's Keep It Real (Community Contribution) 🤝

How We Research (Research Methodology) 🤓

Here's the thing about digital wellness advice - there's a lot of fluff out there. Trust me, I've seen it all (and, confession time: I've probably written some of it in my early days). But here's how we do things differently now:

Our "Trust Nothing Blindly" Approach (Our Research Standards)

What We Look For	Why We Care	Real Talk
Recent Research	Tech changes fast	If it's older than my last phone, we double-check it
Proper Studies	Not just "some guy said..."	Yeah, we're those nerds who read academic papers for fun
Real Testing	Because theory isn't enough	We try everything ourselves (sometimes embarrassingly so)
Multiple Sources	One study isn't enough	We cross-reference like conspiracy theorists (but in a good way)

About Those Academic Sources (Academic Sources & Verification)

(Warning: slight brag incoming)

We dig into:

Peer-reviewed journals (the boring but reliable stuff)

Clinical studies (the really boring but REALLY reliable stuff)

Research from actual institutions (not just random blogs... like this one used to be!)

Official health organizations (WHO, NIH, and their equally impressive friends)

And yeah, we actually read the whole thing. Not just the abstracts. I know, I know... we need to get out more. 🤓

Behind-the-Scenes Reality Check (Research Transparency)

Oh, and before I forget – here's something most sites won't tell you about their research process:

Sometimes we spend days reading studies only to find out they contradict each other

We've definitely fallen down research rabbit holes that led nowhere

There are times when the science isn't clear yet (and we'll tell you when that's the case)

Occasionally, we have to update things we thought were true because new research says otherwise

Our Writing Process ✍️

Okay, here's where it gets interesting (and by interesting, I mean slightly obsessive).

Before anything goes live, it goes through what we like to call the "But Actually..." process:

First Draft: Write everything we know

Reality Check: Fact-check every. Single. Claim.

The "Actually..." Phase: Where we realize half of what we "knew" was wrong

The Rewrite: Now with actual facts!

The "Will This Actually Help?" Check: Because what's the point otherwise?

Our "Never Ever" List (Content Guidelines)

Look, we've all got lines we won't cross. Here are ours:

No "miracle cures" for digital addiction (if only!)

No scare tactics (the research is scary enough without exaggerating)

No hiding when we're not sure about something

No pretending we have all the answers (spoiler: nobody does)

No writing about stuff we haven't tried ourselves

Quality Checks and Quality Assurance Standards 🔍

Remember that friend who always fact-checks everything at dinner? Yeah, that's us. (Sorry not sorry!)

Our Obsessive Update Schedule (Update & Review Schedule)

What	When	Why
Quick Fixes	Daily	Because typos keep me up at night
Content Checks	Weekly	Tech moves fast, we try to keep up
Deep Dives	Monthly	Some rabbit holes are worth exploring
Major Updates	Quarterly	Because a lot can change in 3 months

When Things Change (Content Update Policy) 🔄

Here's something most sites won't tell you: We mess up sometimes. When we do, here's what happens:

We fix it (obviously)

We tell you about it (transparency, folks!)

We update anything related

We have a minor existential crisis

We do better next time

Our Update Triggers (Update Criteria)

(AKA what makes us drop everything and revise content)

New research drops that changes everything (happens more often than you'd think)

A bunch of readers tell us something isn't working (we listen!)

We find a better way to do something (through endless testing)

Tech changes make our advice outdated (looking at you, every app update ever)

We realize we could explain something better (clarity obsession is real)

The Humans Behind the Words (Team & Expertise) 👥

Oh yeah, we're actual people! (Shocking, I know)

Me (Max): Ex-web designer from Kyiv, current digital wellness obsessive, professional overthinker

Our Experts: Real professionals who keep us in check and tell me when I'm going too deep into the tech rabbit hole

Our Readers: The real MVPs who call us out when we miss something and share their own experiences

The Support Squad (Expert Network)

(Because nobody figures this stuff out alone)

Mental health professionals (who help us understand the psychology bits)

Digital wellness researchers (the real MVPs in the fight against digital addiction)

UX specialists (who help us understand why apps are so darn addictive)

Regular humans (who test our advice in the real world)

Let's Keep It Real (Community Contribution) 🤝

Know something we don't? (Highly likely!) Here's how to help:

Spot an error? Tell us!

Have research we missed? Send it!

Think we're wrong about something? We're all ears!

Just want to chat about this stuff? (Finally, someone else who cares!)

Want to geek out about research with us?

Drop us a line at hello@lifebeyondscreen.com

Last Updated: When we last obsessively checked everything (November 5, 2024)

Next Review: When we'll check everything again (February 5, 2025)

P.S. If you read this whole thing... wow. You might be as obsessive as we are. We should totally be friends.