The idea isn't to pretend to be something you're not. Don't do that.
The idea is that you do an activity you find interesting, that way you're not wasting your time, and prospective partners get to know what you're like from watching you or talking to you. From what I gather, a lot of the texting in modern dating, is because they don't know what you're actually like as a person. You might be a serial killer, 40 years older than your picture, or raving lunatic.
So for example, instead of using tinder, you go on a language course because that's something you've always wanted to learn. You learn a language, someone in the course finds you attractive, they observe you interacting with others, you're a bit different, but otherwise friendly and/or harmless. They talk to you during the course about something they're not actually interested in, say homework. You get to interact a bit, without it being a date, and see if there's chemistry. Perhaps one night you walk them to the bus or stay to clean up. Once again, not an actual date. Just getting to know if you're relatively safe.
Worst case scenario, you learnt a language, did something you enjoyed. You didn't waste too much time. With a bit of luck, you make a few friends/acquaintances and practice your social skills a bit. And if you're lucky, there is chemistry, and you don't need to do the weird post tinder match text convo. You already know each other a bit, they know you don't like texting (or that you're too busy) and you're not trying to hide the fact you have a wife, so the first real date is far less awkward.