How My Co-founder's Dog Boosted My Productivity | Wade FosterWade Foster

Over the last month my co-founder, Bryan, has been traveling for a variety of reasons and needed someone to watch his dog, Tuna. His dog is well behaved 99% of the time and I love dogs so my wife and I were happy to do it.

At first I thought it would be a little bit of extra work, but I quickly realized that having Tuna around was actually boosting my productivity rather than putting a dent in it.

How so? Here are a few reasons.

Enforcing a Schedule

Like humans, dogs have a natural schedule. Tuna usually needed to go out 4-5 times a day and wants to play a few times.

If you don’t stop and take him outside he gets a bit whiny and that means you’re taking him outside.

His natural schedule put me on a schedule. It’s like having a living breathing pomodoro clock telling me that I need to take a break. Which leads to the next point.

Built in Breaks

Breaks are good. Since Tuna has to go outside every few hours that was a good reminder for me to get up and go outside too.

Before having Tuna around, I might work for hours and forget to get up, move around, and put my mind on something else. Tuna forceed me to pull away from whatever I was working on every now and then and take a break.

I’d use these breaks usually just to think. Really think. It could be about the Zapier content strategy. Or maybe about how we can really boost revenue growth. Or it could be about how we can be more productive as a team.

The bottom line is it gave me 20 minute periods where I can get away from all devices, screens, people and distractions and just ponder some important issue.

Good Exercise

Since high school I haven’t been the greatest at always exercising. My exercising routine usually consists of insane bursts of productivity (I trained for a triathlon in 4 months) followed by bursts of inactivity where a walk once a week is good exercise.

With Tuna around I ended up walking at least 3 or 4 miles each day (almost a mile each time we walked). As a result I lost a few pounds, but more importantly it’s good for my health.

A Bundle of Joy

Running a startup isn’t always unicorns and rainbows. Some days are great. Others can be a real drag. But for Tuna, every day is awesome and he’s just excited to be around you.

It’s good to have someone or something that can remind you life is pretty darn good.

Finding a Dog of My Own

For a while I’ve thought owning a dog would be nothing but a time and money sink, but I’ve definitely come around.

So with Bryan back in town, it’s time to convince my wife to find a dog of my own.

I’m curious, does anyone else have any unexpected benefits of owning a pet? Or maybe unexpected ways you’ve gotten a productivity boost?

Posted on April 7th, 2013