What Happens When You Remove the Noise?
How we’re reclaiming clarity, creativity, and control.
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Cool, now onto this weeks letter…
I’ve been feeling like a spectator in my own life.
Not just in the dramatic sense, but in the subtle, quiet ways. The kind you only notice when you pause long enough to feel them. When the excitement you used to feel at 10 p.m. with an idea and an open laptop now gets replaced by 600 TikToks right before bed.
Lately, I’ve been watching more than I’ve been making. Consuming more than I’ve been creating. And to be honest, I’ve started to lose track of why I even started doing any of this in the first place.
So I’ve decided to make a change. A hard one.
Today is Day 1 of what I’m calling The Create.Repeat Reset. There’s no app, no affiliate link, no branded water bottle to go with it. This isn’t for content, it’s for me. I’m trying to find my way back to something that feels alive, focused, and creatively lit from within. I want to feel like an artist again. Like I’m in it.
The last few newsletters I’ve written have been circling this feeling. You Are the Chaos You Created. The Lost Art of Slowing Down. Drowning in Content. I didn’t write those from a place of expertise. I wrote them from a place of realization. A slow awakening to the fact that I had become the very thing I was warning against.
So I’m taking my own advice. And it’s going to be uncomfortable.
Here’s what I’m committing to for the next 30 days:
MAKE SOMETHING FOR MYSELF, EVERY DAY
This is the core of Create.Repeat. I already make something every day, but it’s usually for work. This is just for me. No audience. No pressure. Just the joy of creating something that doesn’t need to perform.
NO ENERGY DRINKS (JUST ONE COFFEE IN THE MORNING)
I have a caffeine problem. My drug of choice is a Tropical Vibe Celsius. Most days, I have two. I’ve become so reliant on them that I don’t feel functional without one, and that’s not okay. My doctor told me to stop. My mom, who has heart disease and more heart attacks than I can count, has begged me to quit. Even my 7/11 clerk roasts me for how often I buy them. So I’m done. I’ll keep one morning cup of coffee, but otherwise, I’m off it.
BE SOBER: NO ALCOHOL, NO WEED, NOTHING
I’m cutting it all out this month. I don’t want to escape right now. I want to be fully present for the restlessness, the clarity, and the awkward silence I usually avoid. This part of the cleanse is about staying with myself, even when it’s uncomfortable.
DRINK ONLY WATER (PLUS THAT ONE COFFEE) AND EAT CLEAN
I’ve done this before—no junk, just whole, nourishing food—and I felt amazing. Clearer skin, sharper mind, real energy. I want that version of myself back.
90 MINUTES OF MOVEMENT PER DAY (45 MINUTES OUTSIDE), ONE REST DAY PER WEEK
I borrowed this from 75 Hard. My version will be a gym session in the morning and a walk with the dog in the evening. This isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about resetting the nervous system and showing up for my body.
WAKING UP AT 5:30 AM ON WEEKDAYS
Today was the first day and it sucked. But I’ve done it before and it works. From 5:30 to 9 a.m. is mine—no texts, no emails, no noise. It’s space to move, think, read, and write. When I get to my desk at 9, I want to feel like I’ve already lived a full morning. After a few days of adjustment, this becomes the part I look forward to the most.
PHONE TIME ONLY DURING WORK HOURS
This will be the hardest. I have a phone addiction. Even with app limits or screen time locks, I find a way to get my fix—scrolling LinkedIn, checking the weather, zooming in on Apple Maps like that somehow counts as productivity. I need to cut the cord at night. I might lock it in a drawer. I don’t know yet. But I’m serious about this one.
ONE NO-SCREENS DAY PER WEEK
I want to have at least one day a week where I’m not glued to a screen. No phone, no computer, no TV (within reason). I want these to be creative days. Days I get lost in a project or an experience. This week, Morgan and I are going to a museum. I’m already looking forward to seeing something weird and debating about whether it’s genius or nonsense.
READ A NON-FICTION BOOK
I want to learn something this month. Something that challenges how I think or gives me a new way to approach creativity, discipline, or mindset. I’m picking one non-fiction book and reading a little bit every morning. No phone, no screens, just me and a book. Something real.
That’s it. And yes, I know it sounds like some Frankenstein mix of 75 Hard, The Artist’s Way, and whatever they’re teaching at that monastery from this season of White Lotus. But this isn’t about proving I can be disciplined.
It’s about stepping out of the audience and getting back on stage.
Because I don’t want to watch life happen to me. I want to shape it. I want to make something again—not for validation, not for metrics, but because it makes me feel alive.
And in that spirit, this isn’t really a challenge. It’s a fast. A reset. A quiet reckoning with how loud the world has gotten and how silent my own inner voice has become.
Fasting isn’t new. It’s ancient. Every major religion has a version of it—Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism. Each with its own customs and meaning, but all asking the same question: What happens when you remove the noise?
In Ramadan, the fast is about devotion and discipline. In Lent, it’s about sacrifice and spiritual reflection. In Yom Kippur, it’s about repentance and reconnection. Fasting isn’t meant to be a punishment. It’s preparation. A clearing of space so something more meaningful can move in.
Maybe that’s what I’ve been craving all along.
Because distraction doesn’t always look like TikTok. Sometimes it looks like 17 tabs of “research” you’ll never use. Sometimes it looks like needing your second Celsius, then needing a gummy to sleep. Sometimes it’s the group chat pinging just as you sit down to write. Sometimes it’s nothing more than floating, letting life carry you while you quietly drift away from yourself.
And I’m tired of floating.
Not because it’s bad. But because I know I’m capable of swimming.
So I’m making myself uncomfortable on purpose. Not to punish myself. To return to myself.
I want to stop reacting to what everyone else is making and start making something of my own.
I don’t know exactly where this leads. That’s kind of the point. But I do know this…
I’d rather be on the stage, fumbling through the first line of a new story, than sitting in the audience, courtesy-clapping for someone else’s.
If you’ve been feeling the same way, maybe this is your sign. Your version might look completely different. Maybe you don’t struggle with stimulants or sore thumbs from scrolling. But maybe, deep down, you’re also craving more.
Quit the distractions. Tap back in. Create something. And see what happens.
Try The Create.Repeat Reset. Just one month. That’s it.
I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going for me. Send a DM or email if you decide to do it, too. I’d love to hear about it and cheer you on.
In the meantime…
Keep creating and repeating,
- Zack
(I’m already having caffeine withdrawals)
P.S. Here’s the first thing I made for myself: a phone wallpaper reminding me to get off my phone.
Every week, we use Sublime—the (not boring) knowledge tool that lets you save one thing, discover one hundred more—to find these inspiring links. So we partnered with them to share it with the Create.Repeat community.
It’s like Notion meets Tumblr. By far our favorite tool for mood-boarding and discovery.
Give it a try.
🏕️ Outdoor Recreation Archive: A historical collection of books, catalogs, periodicals, photographs, and manuscripts that trace the evolution of outdoor gear and adventure culture.
🎬 Fictional Brands Archive: A deep dive into fictional brands from across pop culture, exploring their stationery, typography, apparel, and visual identities.
☕ Quiet Mornings, Fresh Coffee: Just a really cozy playlist I’ve been listening to on mornings where I want to get work done. Really a great way to get the day started.
📝 Six Memos for the Future of Digital Creation: A thoughtful framework for navigating creativity in the digital age, featuring six powerful ideas for makers and thinkers.
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This week’s advice…
This week, we’re excited to spotlight Pete Cybriwsky, an NYC-based artist who blends technology and data to build beautiful, thoughtful things.
We especially love Pete’s Substack, Re: Pete, where he’s carving out his own creative lane, defining his style, experimenting boldly, and sharing both the process and the outcomes with the world. Here’s one of his favorite pieces.
Pete shared a piece of advice that has shaped his creative path:
"Document and celebrate the wins, no matter how small."
He told us, "There are a lot of ups and downs in a creative journey, but savoring the successes is the best way to sustain energy in the long run. Early on, I forgot to do this. Now, I make it a habit to write them down and find a way to celebrate each one."
Create.Repeat is a community for creatives.
The Create.Repeat Substack is a project designed to be a weekly diary on creativity. Sharing inspiration for artists to keep creating and repeating.
Written and curated by Zack Evans & James Warren Taylor
Each week we will be sharing recent thoughts on creativity, some links helping us stay creative, and a talent show featuring an artist from the community. Thank you for engaging with us.
History repeats. Create the future.
Wow! Thanks for the shoutout, much appreciated :D
And congrats on the reset, loving the advice and approach. Going to think about how I can adopt some of those practices to reset and try a refresh myself