Effective Work Breaks
I have made an interesting discovery since I started taking our new puppies to work with me: I actually seem to be more productive now than I was before I started taking the puppies to work! The pups generally need to be taken outside to relieve themselves and run off some energy every hour or so for about ten minutes. These puppy induced breaks are fairly practicable and not skippable unless the pups are asleep at which point I think it is better to let sleeping dogs lie.
Previously I had been using programs like Work Rave and Anti-RSI to make sure I’m taking sufficient work breaks, mostly to keep me sane and free of RSI like injuries (I still recommend these programs). I confess I am guilty of skipping breaks suggested by these applications fairly frequently, which perhaps is not a smart thing to do as it increases the likelihood of fatigue, injury and lowered productivity. I had thought this system to be effective but I’m finding puppy breaks even more effective: possibly due to the lack of a skip option. As puppies with full bladders cannot miss a break without risking an accident!
I think perhaps this lack of a skip option to puppy induced breaks is giving me more of a sense of having to make the most of the time between the breaks, this is helping me focus which results in increased productivity (which is not what I would have expected). This is a most welcome and unexpected side effect to having the puppies at work with me: aside from the obvious benefits of canine companionship and having a very good excuse to go for a walk at lunch time!
I have found over the years that any sort of regular break gives me a chance to pause and reflect about my current task and that is very useful for considering options and possible solutions to problems. The end result is that stopping to reflect about what I am currently doing regularly results in a superior end product than just hammering away at a task.
Do you have regular breaks and do they help or hinder your productivity?
Alternative Linkage
Apologies for the lack of my interesting links post on Friday. Be advised this post is not going to be about software engineering in any way, Fear not I am going to have a post written for tomorrow and it will be about software engineering! The image below is the explanation as to why I did not get time to get the links post ready in time on Friday or have today’s post written either.
Our new wire haired Dachshund puppies Isla (left) and Morag (right) on our sofa.
We received two wire haired Dachshund puppies from our breeder on Thursday evening and I have taken Friday and today (Monday) off work to help settle them into their new home. I knew that two puppies were going to be a lot of work but I had still foolishly thought I’d be able to grab some time to write a post on Friday!
The good news is they are settling in now, with the last big adjustment to come tomorrow when they come to EA with me tomorrow. Having the puppies at work with me should be great for their socialisation and also means they don’t have to be left at home alone all day. I have a large dalmatian sized crate/cage under my desk at work for the pups: as there is two of them I thought I’d try the largest cage that would fit underneath my side desk. The crate has three purposes: to help the pups feel more secure in their ‘den’, to prevent them wondering off (its a big building) and to keep them away from all the tasty wires under my desk.
As this post is kind of a replacement for the missing links post on Friday here are some dog related links:
After much searching for breeders of standard (size) wire haired Dachshund breeders in British Columbia, we finally settle on Estelle E. Laponder as our breeder. And eight weeks and two puppies later I would heartily recommend Estelle to anyone in BC that is looking for Standard Wire Haired Dachshund or Beagle puppies. She has been helpful, patient and cares for all the dogs in her cares deeply for all the dogs in her care.
I stumbled across this blog when I was looking for advice about getting one puppy or two and they were helpful enough to give both email advice and write a post about it to involve the blog community! This is an excellent blog if you are at all interested in Dachshunds.
I stumbled across Jen’s book about her dog training technique know as “Amichien Bonding” over five years ago. I did not own a dog at the time I bought the book: only two cats and a horse. It was the forward by Monty Roberts that convinced me to buy the book. For those of you who have not heard of Monty Roberts he is also know as the ‘Horse Whisperer’ and is a pioneer in humane horse training and handling. As someone who has worked with and owned a horse I was already a big fan of Monty’s work, so when I read his forward in her book that he thought Jen was his K9 equivalent I had to buy her book.
