The Ideal Of A Creative Work Session: The Dopamine Of 1,000 Pull Ups

Olaf de Fleur
2 min readJan 13, 2023

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There is no cut-and-paste method on how I work. Every day is a custom job. But I do have an ideal that I strive for, even though this ideal only works once in a pink moon, I like framing up against it before a work session. The aim, as always, is to feel good afterwards — because often when I work, even when I do good work, I don’t feel great unless I’ve set out an intention beforehand.

This is an ideal: I plant my feet firmly on the ground and adjust my posture. My body is straight, but relaxed. One hand is on the mouse, the other on the keyboard. My elbows are at right angles and my wrists are relaxed. My monitor is eye height and I’m looking at it with a smile on my face. This smile is important, because I dont’ have to believe the smile, just the potential of it. I take deep breaths and concentrate on the project. But before I start I consider the beginning, middle, and end of the specific task of the project. And in the end, I take stock of what I’ve done. During the session, maybe there is a breeze that whispers through the window, a scent of rain and earth drifting by. Imaginary coffee drafts from a pot nearby. My office is filled with the scent of work.

It’s enough for me to aim towards this ideal because just by thinking about it, a part of me will focus on it. The basic plan here is the production of the most healthy and simple dopamine in the world. Tell yourself what you want to do, and then do it and finish it. If the working chunk is too big, then chunk it down into smaller pieces. The aim always being, feeling good after the session.

Like the poet said: Doing 1000 pull ups is no problem, you just rest inbetween, for minutes, days, weeks or months.

Outline Of The Ideal Work Session: First I attend to my physical position, then on the project and define it as much as possible. Then I allocated the time frame of how to work on the project.

  • Physical: Feet on the ground, Posture, Breathing
  • Focus: Clear Obectitve: Start, middle, end definition
  • Time frame: Split the session into small chunks of time, or long, pending your mood/desire

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Olaf de Fleur

Creative unlocker. At your disposal. I direct and write films. Two-decade experience. Fifteen films. Sold high concepts. Corporate consultant.