Field Notes

Absolute lol Brick have given me a code : https://www.getbrick.app/ROSE90330It may not get you any more of a discount that you can get yourselves (I haven't clicked it yet), and they may request that I take it down after listening to this episode. But hey ho. The show notes are looking professional this week. Field Report of the dopamine detox experiment. I tested three “highly scientific” methods in my most dangerous scrolling window: 7–10pm after the girls are asleep.What I tried:Night 1: full raw-dog detox (no phone, no TV, no music, no book… just vibes and existential dread)Night 2: reading instead (Kindle + a dangerously moorish fantasy romance)Night 3: TV without the phone (feat. the Bonnie Blue documentary and a sudden moral debate I wasn’t prepared for)We also cover:why “doing nothing” is a rich man’s hobbythe weird way scrolling has ruined readingwhy watching a whole film now feels like personal growthsex being transactional across human history (lightly… then not lightly)Flatmate’s Field Notes: my husband’s unhinged business analysis of Bonnie BlueFind of the Week: Brick (a physical gadget that blocks apps unless you walk to it)Fail of the Week: realising I’m not enjoying reading like I used to (rude)If you tried a dopamine detox too, I want your results. And if you’ve used Brick, please report to the group chat (my DMs).Follow: @rosehoneymorganPodcast IG: @field.notes.podNew Monday episodes + Friday Field Reports. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I’ve saved a worrying number of reels about dopamine detoxes.So naturally, I decided to make it everyone else’s problem too.From raw-dogging flights (no phone, no music, no water, no joy) to promises that cutting out dopamine will magically fix motivation, laziness, and modern life in general — dopamine has officially entered its villain era.In this episode, I’m not trying anything yet. I’m circling the idea, poking it, and asking some basic questions first, like:What actually is dopamine and why has it suddenly become the enemy?Are dopamine detoxes sensible… or just dry January for your phone?Is scrolling ruining our brains, or are we just terrible at stopping?Why can I listen to podcasts endlessly but can’t watch a full TV episode without grabbing my phone?And at what point does “self-control” turn into sitting on a plane staring at the flight map like a Victorian orphan?I also dig into:Healthy vs unhelpful dopamine (effort vs passive flooding)Why modern life makes everything feel simultaneously overstimulating and boringHow screen culture is quietly reshaping films, TV, and attention spansAnd whether completely removing stimulation actually helps… or just makes life grimBy the end, I set up this week’s experiment:One day of doing nothing (true detox, unfortunately)One day replacing scrolling with readingOne day watching a full film without touching my phone (pray for me)This is Field Notes — where I test modern self-improvement ideas in real life, outside of perfect conditions, and report back honestly on what actually happens.🎧 Friday: I’ll be back with a Field Report on whether any of this helped, or whether I just became deeply annoying to live with.If you enjoy the show, please leave a review or subscribe.Find me on instagram: @rosehoneymorgan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things did not go exactly to plan.After launching the podcast and immediately developing a brief but intense sense of delusion, I realised I’d slightly abandoned the entire premise of the show. Instead of calmly testing a saved bit of advice and reporting back, I panicked, went semi-guru, and tried to convince everyone (including my family) that vision boards absolutely, definitely work.This episode is me correcting course.I talk about:my delusions of grandeur why outcome-based vision boards can feel motivating and then quietly ruin your lifehow “process pictures” are supposed to work in theory, and why they’re surprisingly hard when your goals involve screens, editing, or adminand the growing realisation that naming a podcast without Googling it first may have been… optimisticWe also establish two recurring Field Notes features:Fail of the Week (there were many)Find of the Week: if your perfume doesn't smell great, leave it for 4 years then come back to itIf you like self-improvement in theory but struggle with it in real life, you’re in the right place.Links & ExtrasFollow me on Instagram: @rosehoneymorganPodcast clips, experiments & visual chaos: @field.notes.podIf You’re Enjoying the ShowYou can:follow / subscribe so you don’t lose it in your appsleave a review (even a short one, I will screenshot it for my lame folder)or send this to someone on the same wavelength Next EpisodeOn Monday, I’m testing another widely saved piece of internet advice to see whether it actually survives contact with real life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

📸 You can see the vision boards mentioned in this episode on Instagram:Personal: @rosehoneymorganPodcast: @field.notes.podIf you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review — even a short one. It genuinely helps this show find the people it’s meant for.New episodes every Monday, with short Friday Field Reports.Why Vision Boards Fail (And How to Fix Them)Most of us don’t have a motivation problem.We have a too-much-advice problem.If you’ve ever saved hundreds of self-improvement posts, understood all of them, and still felt overwhelmed, guilty, and no closer to actually changing anything — this episode is for you.In the first ever episode of Field Notes, I explain the premise of the podcast and put our first experiment to the test: vision boards. Not the fantasy, yacht-and-linen version — but the kind that might actually work in real life.I talk through:why modern vision boards often backfirethe neuroscience behind why visual cues can workwhere self-help goes wrong when it focuses on outcomes instead of processhow humans have used imagery for survival and behaviour change across historyand why cave art might be a better model for self-improvement than PinterestI also bring along my 2024 and 2025 vision boards as the first (and most humiliating) guests on the show, including the one goal that accidentally did work thanks to a Sarah Connor lock-screen.This podcast isn’t about becoming a new person overnight.It’s about filtering advice, testing one small idea at a time, and figuring out what’s actually worth doing, outside of perfect conditions.On Friday, I’ll be back with a short Field Report on what happened when I made a process-based vision board and whether it helped or just gave me another thing to judge myself by. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Field Notes is a weekly experiment in self-improvement, psychology and modern life, tested badly in public.Each week, one idea is filtered and tested in real life, outside of perfect conditions, then reported on honestly.This short trailer explains the premise of the podcast, the format, and what to expect from the weekly Monday episodes and Friday Field Reports.Follow along on Instagram: @[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.