Non-Slop Fun
Witty, irreverent writing about escaping digital exhaustion. For creatives who want to stop scrolling and start reading and making things again.
Remember when you used to read books? When creating things felt natural, not like a goddamn chore?
This newsletter is for burned-out creatives and knowledge workers who want to stop scrolling and start reading again. Or writing. Or painting. Or whatever that thing is that makes life a little lighter and more rewarding.
Each week, I share:
- One thing I’m trying (or failing at) is reclaiming my attention.
- An observation about how distraction gets its grubby little paws on our minds.
- A book recommendation or creative exercise that can help you get out of a rut.
It's witty, substantive, and full of me making fun of my own terrible internet habits—so you can learn from my mistakes instead of repeating them.
Non-Slop Fun is anti-productivity porn. If waking up at 5 am and leveraging the Pomodoro method could fix us, you wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be writing this.
Chances are, your attention is fragmented, and you know it.
Here’s how I’ve noticed it playing out for me.
When I wake up in the morning, as soon as I silence my alarm, I find myself reaching for my phone. Notifications came in overnight. Oh, and emails. And maybe I’ll just… a half hour has passed and I’m still scrolling reels.
Or, it’s one of those work days where there are a dozen things I know I should be doing. I’ve got people to connect with, documents to write, and meetings to attend. It all feels so important, so urgent, so demanding of my attention. Meanwhile, I’ve got a podcast playing in the background and am getting constant chirps from Slack as messages pop into my inbox. But do I actually tackle those important tasks? No! I stall. My wheels spin. I reach for my phone, and suddenly I’m on Twitter.
Maybe it’s the end of a long workday. I’ve looked forward to working on my manuscript all day. I’ve been daydreaming about some of the scenes I want to get to, and I’ve had an idea about the characters– that one side character who was just a passing mention could actually be pivotal… maybe a love interest! I hit the gym, cook dinner, shower, then open my computer with every intention of writing, only to end up down a YouTube rabbit hole.
Distraction Doesn’t Have to Be Our Norm. Join Me On My Mission to Reclaim My Attention, Escape Brainrot, and Get Back to the Things I Love.
Non-Slop Fun is an exploration– a process of discovery– as I figure out how to get back to who I want to be.
And, I sincerely hope you’ll join me for this adventure and tell me about your own experiments, wins, challenges, setbacks, and creative endeavors.
Non-Slop Fun is…
- Irreverent and prone to colorful language. I like to use some of those four-letter sentence enhancers. Like fuck. So probably not the newsletter to share with the kiddos.
- Reflection and observation-driven. I’m living my life as a busy professional with a million things constantly pulling my attention away from my creative projects. That’s the garden from which I’ll harvest my newsletter.
- Proudly nerdy as hell. But I think that goes without saying. I mean, come on. It’s pro-book, pro-writing, and anti-brain rot.
Non-Slop Fun is NOT…
- AI-generated. That’s one reason I went with the name “Non-Slop Fun.” No AI-slop here, baby. These are genuine, human-made shenanigans. If you’re saying, “Oh, but I see an em dash and a—” SHUT UP. Writers use em dashes and leverage Antithesis (it’s not X, it’s Y) as a rhetorical device.
- Feel good new age bullshit. Earlier in my career and personal creative path, I fell into the trap of seeking hacks and mindset-shifting fixes that would suddenly make me transcendent and creative. But, I’m not 20 anymore. Hacks aren’t gonna hack it. It’s hard work time!
Who's Behind This?
Oh, right. Me. Hey.
I’m Blake Reichenbach. I’m a writer, Product Manager, dog dad, and gym rat living in the Appalachian foothills of Kentucky
Over the last few years, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in my life. I daydream about living a creative, fulfilled life driven by curiosity, but end up letting time waste away as I doomscroll and chase distraction in the form of quick dopamine hits.
And now I’m doing something about it.
As a Product Manager, I’m well-versed in systems thinking, hypothesis testing, and outcome optimization.
As a writer, I’ve trained to think deeply, notice the small details without losing the bigger picture, and tinker with things until they work the way I want.
By combining these skillsets, I’m determined to break out of my distracted slump and make something I’m proud of.
