How to be more productive? Get a dog

The dog makes you follow the schedule

Like humans, dogs follow their natural schedule. Tuna needed to go outside 4-5 times a day, and play a few more times. If I didn't take him outside at the right time, he would whine, indicating that it was time for me to take my mind off my business and pay attention to him. I knew exactly how much time I had until the next time I went outside. The dog can be likened to a living breathing Pomodoro manager who makes sure that I work for the allotted time and take breaks. The next point follows from this.

The importance of work interruptions

Breaks are good. Every few hours I had to break away from work and go out with Tuna on the street. When I didn't have a dog, I forgot at least sometimes to be distracted by something else in order to reboot my brain.

I used the forced breaks for a walk with Tuna just to think. To reflect on the further development of our project, on this, how we can increase income, finally, on how to increase the productivity of teamwork.

I had a whole 20 minutes to distract myself from the monitor and from people and devote myself only to thoughts.

Walking the dog is a great exercise

After graduating from school, I stopped playing sports regularly. Now I have periods of insane sports activity (4 months a year I do triathlon) with periods of complete relaxation, when a walk once a week is almost a sport.

With Tuna, I walked 5-6 km daily (about 1.5 km in one walk). As a result, I lost several kilograms, but most importantly, these walks are very beneficial to my health!

The dog brings a sense of joy

Leading a startup isn't always rainbows and fun. Some days are great and emotional, while others are surprisingly dull and choreographed. But for a dog, every new day is exciting and amazing, and it is a great joy for him to just be by your side. It's great when someone can constantly remind you that life is damn good!

I used to think that a dog was just a big waste of time and money, but Tuna turned my mind around in a few weeks. Soon his owner Brian is returning from a business trip, and I have already begun to convince my wife that we just need to get our own dog.