Field notes & small experiments

A plan is not a result.

No completed personal field notes are published here yet. The three plans below are usable now, but they do not claim that Nolan has carried them out or that they will work for you.

Choose a small, reversible change. Write down what would count against the idea as well as what you hope to see. An awkward, inconclusive, or abandoned attempt can be informative.

Proposed experiment · 3 min read

Proposed experiment: a notebook or AI for a weekly reflection?

Compare two ways of doing the same small reflection while counting setup, checking, privacy, and what happens after the page is closed.

Proposed experiment · 3 min read

Proposed experiment: simplify one part of your phone

Try one reversible change to optional interruptions, with essential access protected and no screen-time target to perform against.

Proposed experiment · 3 min read

Proposed experiment: does a household system remove more work than it adds?

Compare a small shared fix with the previous approach, including maintenance, fairness, and the option to keep the simpler method.

The field-note format

A completed note should name the original problem, the actual dates and circumstances, the change tried, setup and maintenance effort, observations, competing explanations, and the decision to keep, modify, or stop. It should say what the experience cannot establish.

Observations from one person are not a controlled demonstration of a general benefit. Record departures from the plan rather than rewriting the plan to make the result look cleaner. Do not infer another person's feelings without asking them.

A future conversation or photograph will be published only with suitable permission. No testimonial, interview, or personal result has been invented to fill this collection.

Download the blank field-note worksheet or preview it before downloading.