𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲 & 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗣𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗠𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗕𝟮𝗕 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴

We talk endlessly about "deep work," "flow states," and eliminating distractions. But what happens when your newest client is 12 weeks old, weighs 15 pounds, and demands a 10-minute bathroom break every hour on the hour?

For the past few months, my calendar has been aggressively re-architected by two dogs - mostly our new puppy: Mei. Between Milo, our senior pup, and the little one, my day is riddled with distractions. If you show one attention, then you have to do the same for the other. Sound familiar?

That means you haven't known the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of...raising a puppy (any Riverdale fans?).

If you asked the standard LinkedIn playbook, I should be reframing this as an elite masterclass in agile time management. “Look at me, crushing Q2 deliverables while simultaneously mastering high-frequency interval training in the Florida humidity!"

Let’s be super real for a second: I have been so irritated. This is the loudest the 'you're-not-being-productive-enough' troll has ever gotten.

Nothing kills a complex operational flow state faster than standing in the grass at 2:00 PM waiting for a puppy to remember why we are outside, only to walk back inside, sit down, and immediately get interrupted again. Both things can be true at once: I love my dogs endlessly, they bring me immeasurable joy, AND this phase has been remarkably difficult, chaotic, and exhausting.

I remember being wowed seeing a company's Pawternity leave when I was interviewing. It seemed like a luxury but these days it feels like a necessity. This would feel impossible if I wasn't defining my own hours, but the work has to shift somewhere: So I'm working the night shift!

As is the corporate-spiritual way, there is an accidental silver lining hiding in my chaos.

When I take Milo and Mei out on these endless loops, something unexpected happens: I touch grass. Mental browser tabs finally clear.

It turns out that forced physical displacement acts as a hard reset. There’s actually solid neuroscience behind this: Manoush Zomorodi speaks about this in her 2017 TED Talk: How Boredom Can Lead to Your Most Brilliant Ideas. She shares her research on how mandatory "boredom" and low-stakes micro-breaks allow the brain's Default Mode Network to process complex problems in the background. I’m not sitting there drafting workflows while picking up waste; I’m staring at the pavement, letting my brain decompress.

And the happy ending? Watching her learn and adapt makes the friction worth it. Growth - whether it’s scaling a business, managing a team, or house-training a tiny hound - is messy, unglamorous, and rarely fits neatly into a time-blocked calendar.

Here’s to the interruptions. It's all temporary. 🍻

May your focus return quickly, and may your shoes stay clean. 💩