Actually Trying

A field report (and Guru & Granny) featuring Japanese walking, Hot Girl Walks, movement after meals, and using the Steppin app to earn screen time through steps. Click here to try the Steppin App - https://www.steppin.net/ Timestamps 0:00 Intro — reporting back on the walking experiment 1:00 Step In app review & my tragic step count 2:30 Why earning screen time through steps actually worke...

This week I’m testing whether walking really is the closest thing we have to a magic pill - and whether I can get my steps up without becoming the sort of person pacing the kitchen at 10pm to hit 10,000. I’m trying: • Japanese interval walking • hot girl walks • walking/moving after meals • using SteppIn app to earn screen time through steps • taking antihistamines so pollen can stop ruining my li...

DM me your Guru & Granny dilemmas: @rosehoneymorgan @field.notes.pod This week I tested three viral morning routines from an American wellness girl, a British productivity girl, and an aggressively glowing Australian woman. The result: • I gagged on expired coconut oil • got laughed at by my children while doing Chinese lymphatic movements • briefly became the kind of woman who makes her bed •...

Morning routines, productivity, wellness habits, dopamine, sunlight, gratitude, affirmations — do viral morning routines actually work? This week I tested  3 viral morning routines  from  an English woman, an American woman, and an Australian woman  to see whether any of them could make me feel more energised, productive, and less like I’m running on fumes. The problem? I’m doi...

Luteal phase, PMS, hormone hacks, mood swings — do internet remedies actually work? This week’s field report: I tested some of the internet’s favourite luteal phase advice. That meant eating a suspicious number of carrots and sweet potatoes, attempting to “rebalance” my hormones, and keeping a list of everything that annoyed me during PMS week. Some of the advice helped. Some of it involved heavil...

This week dives into the  luteal phase (PMS)  - what’s actually happening hormonally, why your mood drops, and how to cope without doing a crime. We cover: what the luteal phase actually is why you feel more sensitive, irritable, and withdrawn whether it’s hormones… or your life being out of alignment practical ways to support your mood (from Instagram, obviously) and a slightly chaotic&...

This week I tested  4 anxiety techniques … two from a Harvard-trained life coach and two from Old Ma. The methods: • orgasm (did not happen) • contemplating death (surprisingly helpful) • building a “sanity quilt” (tiny habits that actually regulate you) • visualising your perfect day (emotionally risky) Some worked. Some absolutely did not. Main takeaway: 👉  You don’t fix anxiety with...

If you live with that  constant background hum of anxiety , you’ll understand the feeling of trying  everything  — therapy, routines, productivity hacks — and still feeling slightly on edge. So today we’re trying something different. This is a  Mother’s Day anxiety special , featuring: • two anxiety techniques from my mother (Old Ma) • two techniques from a Harvard-trained life...

Earlier this week I began testing the  Flow Neuroscience headset  — a device that uses  transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)  to stimulate areas of the brain linked to depression. In simpler terms: I’ve started  plugging my forehead into a charger . This Friday Field Report is the  week one update . I talk through: • What the headset actually feels like to w...

Today’s episode is about mental health, low mood, chronic anxiety, executive dysfunction, and a slightly alarming-looking headset that may or may not be about to change my life. I’m trying the  Flow Neuroscience headset  — a non-invasive medical device that uses  tDCS (transcranial Direct Current Stimulation)  to stimulate the part of the brain linked to depression. In simpler...

Last week I tested the internet’s favourite anti-doomscrolling trick: turning your phone to  gray scale (black and white) . The theory is simple: remove the bright colours that hijack your brain’s dopamine system and suddenly your phone becomes far less addictive. Did it cut my screen time in half? Well… not exactly. But it did reveal some interesting things about how our brains react to colo...

If your screen time is creeping up… If your phone feels impossible to put down… If the real world is starting to look a bit dull by comparison… This week I’m testing a free, surprisingly simple method that claims to reduce doomscrolling fast. No apps. No discipline hacks. No expensive “digital detox” retreats. Just one setting change. In this episode we discuss: How color and contrast hijack your...

📚 Book Club Free Trial : https://rosehoneymorgan.substack.com/freetrial Next month’s book:  Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway Link in show notes. Join us so I can reject brands with confidence. ANYWAY I’m back from the front lines. Four whole days. Zero processed food. Planned, chopped, cooked, washed up. Repeated. Never again. In this episode we discuss: The emotional toll of planning three me...

Last week I tried going ultra-processed-food-free. I lasted one day. Then I got violently ill. Was it the chicken? Was it soft play? Was it karma for mocking chopping-board influencers? Unclear. This week is Take 2. Because the real question isn’t “Is processed food bad?” It’s: How on earth are we supposed to avoid it if we can’t cook and don’t have a private chef? In this episode we discuss: My c...

This week’s update is… brief. After confidently declaring I would attempt a week of ultra-processed-food-free living, I made it: 👉 One day. And now I am recording this hunched over a sick bowl in what can only be described as the pink fluffy gown of shame. Is it norovirus? Is it food poisoning? Is it my body rebelling against actual vegetables? We do not yet know. What we do know: • Cooking is da...

This week on Field Notes, we enter the land of: Ultra-Processed Food. According to certain very serious doctors on the internet, UPFs are now: “The leading cause of early death on planet earth. Ahead of tobacco.” Cool. Not dramatic at all. So naturally, I’ve decided to test whether cutting them out for a week will: Improve my migraines Reduce my exhaustion Fix my yo-yo weight history Or simply mak...

This week’s Field Report is the follow-up on vagus nerve regulation, still-face parenting, and trying to soothe our fried nervous systems. I tested the homework: Ice water dunk. Breath work. Humming (unfortunately, in public). Links Mentioned Vagus nerve stimulation device - https://shorturl.at/Q0YQQ Breath work app - https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/breathwrk-breathing-exercises/id1481804500 Gospel...

Vagus Nerve Tips, Stress & Still Face Parenting This week I force you to join in with whatever the mad reels tell us to do - so concentrate. My algorithm is obsessed with  vagus nerve regulation : calm your nervous system, soothe your vagal tone, stop being on edge, stop snapping, stop doom-scrolling and just… relax. So naturally, I decided to look into it. In this episode I unpack why mo...

📚 JOIN “ACTUALLY TRYING” at https://rosehoneymorgan.substack.com/subscribe This month’s book: 👉 Atomic Habits by James Clear You’ll get: • Weekly breakdowns you can actually implement • Private podcast episodes • Cheat sheets & summaries • Anti-brain-rot knowledge topics Or sign up free for the notes part in your email. Field Report: Psychic Signs, Spirit Messages & When “Woo-Woo” Gets a...

Want to actually try this year? Join me at - https://rosehoneymorgan.substack.com/subscribe  I’ve started Actually Trying - a private Substack podcast + newsletter for people who are sick of collecting advice and never applying it. Each month includes: A realistic book club (starting with  Atomic Habits  by James Clear — no perfection required) An  Anti-Brain-Rot Club...

This week’s  Field Report  follows on from Monday’s episode on  Main Character Dressing  — specifically the idea of  “dressing for the life you want.” So naturally, I committed to the ultimate test: I dressed as a Clean Girl. And so did Old Ma. What followed was… humbling. Scraped-back buns. Stark white activewear. An identity crisis involving my hairline, forehead, and ge...

We’re told to dress for the life we want — not the life we have. That if we change how we dress, we’ll change how we feel. That confidence, motivation, discipline, and even happiness might be hiding in a blazer, a slicked-back bun, or a pair of cowboy boots. But… is that actually true? Or is this just another internet reinvention fantasy dressed up as self-improvement? In this episode of  Fie...

Housekeeping: Ask Guru & Granny starts Monday You send in your problems. You get: a chronically online take (me) a chronically offline take (Old Ma) Questions can be about: work relationships identity confidence decision paralysis ....anything Send questions to: 📩 rosefieldnotespod@gmail.com Or DM me on Instagram: @rosehoneymorgan or @field.notes.pod Tell us if you’d like to be anon...

Tiny cultural translation (for non-UK / under-25 listeners) • Bargain Hunt : British daytime TV where people buy antiques and act like it’s a pension strategy. • Wordle : a daily five-letter word game we all got hooked on in lockdown. New listener segment starting next week: Ask Guru & Granny From next week, we’ll be answering listener questions — anything you’re stuck on, spiralling about, or...

Absolute lol Brick have given me a code : https://www.getbrick.app/ROSE90330 It 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”...