Yeah, I always leave the phone outside the bathroom, never even thought to bring it with me. I guess this the new age addiction to bring phones everywhere you go even inside of your own home.

You could try to talk with Niri developers on Matrix - https://matrix.to/#/#niri:matrix.org

I read the article, this is not the first time that people think of Nix/NixOS like so. Its a standard case of wanting to use Nix ecosystem to the fullest, but you do not need to. You need to find the balance for yourself and that is different from person to person. I am using NixOs for about 9 years, and in whole that time I have never felt overwhelmed. People are just different.