It feels like the steps taken to improve anonymity are really arbitrary, without any particular threat model.

'Randomly' taking a bus you never take to a city you've never been to and never go to again just to buy a phone, sit in a coffee shop for 5 minutes, and go home, sounds like a good way to make someone pay attention to what you're doing.

And if you think that's too much paranoia, I'm pointing it out because number 8 on this list says 'never use the phone from a place you routinely go', which feels like it's on a similar level.