Three Things My Dogs Taught Me About Productivity
Photo credit: Lindsay Bissett
By Lindsay Bissett
“If I could be half the person my dog is, I’d be twice the human I am.” -Charles Yu
Dogs. The best friend of people around the world. Forever known as a loyal companions and sources of joy. There are many reasons dogs are so fondly known, most of those reasons are far deeper than their cuteness. A dog is never judging you (ok unless you’re me scream-singing Taylor Swift again in the kitchen), and generally they love without limits. Without judgement. People crave this kind of judgement free love and dogs make it look easy. Messed up at work? That’s ok your dog will still wag their tail when you log off for the day. What if we leaned into the things we love about dogs and embraced those things in ourselves? I think workplaces and the world might be better for it.
How leaning into dog characteristics can improve your work-life and increase productivity:
1. Know yourself
My dogs are sleepier, crave exercise less, and have fewer demands when the weather turns cool and wet. You know what? Me too. Knowing this about myself also means I know when I do have more energy, in the spring and summer months. All that natural vitamin D, more exercise and outdoor time, more socializing, all this fuels me in and out of work. I can change the world when I have a good stretch of sunshine, and my dogs could go on endless walks, and sniff endless lamp posts.
How well have you evaluated yourself, your mood, your levels of engagement and productivity as it relates to different times throughout the year? Everyone is different, but we all have peak seasons for productivity. For leaders how have you done this within your teams? Investing time into this will be beneficial, don’t fight against the current, plan for changing tides instead. If your team is generally more productive in spring, plan your biggest projects for that time, your team hunkers down in winter (me too), then perhaps that’s the season you lean into operations and keeping the lights on, knowing other seasons are better for deadlines and innovating.
2. Lean into your strengths
Although I firmly believe you can teach an old dog new tricks, dogs also never pretend to be something they aren’t.
My dogs don’t pretend to be fish. (Although they’d love to roll on one) They are dogs who are good at walking, sniffing, cuddling, and cleaning crumbs off the floor. So that’s what they do. Sometimes they learn new things, like tricks, and this really is for the purpose of making themselves happy. Dogs are happy when they get little treats, and they are happy when they make the ones they love happy.
Are you leaning into what you are good at? Doing what you are good at, what feels natural, will lead to being happy. Learning, personal development and improvement is important, but we shouldn’t be trying to pretend we are a fish when we aren’t. Know what I mean?
For example, I am a communicator. That’s me. I would never thrive in a job where I am unable to communicate with people. I know this and I do not fight it. As a matter of fact, when I simply leaned hard into that being my magic things started falling into place more than ever before.
Not good at admin? Make sure you have the capability to do what is needed, but don’t start applying to roles that are highly administrative. Set yourself up for success by leaning into and building upon your strengths.
3. Allow yourself rest
When dogs need to rest, they don’t feel shame. They don’t ask themselves if they’ve earned it. They don’t have a quota of sniffling 20 lamp posts before curling up into nap position. They just nap.
Listen to what your body needs.
Now, I am not suggesting that during a Zoom meeting you should cozy up and fall asleep (although that would be hilarious), I am saying over and over again know yourself. Lean into what you need. Say no to things that don’t serve you and yes do things that do.
Lastly, I would like to highlight that just as there are different kinds of dogs in the world, there are also different kinds of people. No one is better than the other, just different. Our differences are as important as our similarities.
Once more: Our differences are as important as our similarities.
Know yourself and lean into the type of person you are. For example, Hayley Wickenheiser is someone I find incredibly inspiring for a variety of reasons. When I heard her speak recently, she talked about the road to becoming a gold metal winning Olympian, turned medical Doctor, and I was awe struck to say the least. I will never be Hayley, in part to my complete lack of athleticism and because I am squeamish with blood. But I am great at other things, I will discover and lean into those things. Some people are Greyhounds and St Bernards, running races and saving people, some of us are Mutts and Pugs who provide everyone around them comfort and humor, or maybe even supportive assistance like the rescue dogs from Leash of Hope, a Vancouver Non-Profit.
We need all these things to have well rounded workplaces, families, friend circles and a world that keeps innovating and frankly isn’t boring.
Know yourself. Lean into your inner Chihuahua and thrive.
P.S. Not sure how to step out of hustle culture and allow yourself to rest? Leda HR has you covered:
Five Self-Care Tips from a South Asian Woman to Welcome Spring — Leda HR
Seasonal Affective Disorder: 8 Tips to Cope (Besides Sitting in the Dark) — Leda HR
5 Ways Rihanna’s Superbowl Performance Modelled Self Care in the Workplace — Leda HR
About Lindsay Bissett:
By day Lindsay is a Human Resources Consultant, with a flair for social media and mental health advocacy. By night she is a mother of two, green smoothie aficionado, podcast listener, and active glamper.
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