867. Walk The Dog | A quick way to be more productive.

Whether it's fitness, creatives, or personal development, many people don't get started because they feel it's a huge time commitment. 

Try a technique that I call "walk the dog."

I walk my dogs because it is beneficial and doesn't take long. What if I did the same thing in other areas of my life?

In this episode, I'll give you a few examples. At the end, send me a text message or tag me on your socials with other ways that you can "walk the dog." 

Transcript

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All right. 3, 2, 1. Let's get it. Welcome back to what's your problem? The podcast. I'm your host Marsh Buice. And today I want to help you become more productive. In a shorter amount of time. Some people don't like the word hacks. So I won't use the word hack, but I think we would all agree that it just seems to not be enough time in the day to get more done. This is November when I'm recording this. And so we're going to end another year and you're as you're skidding into the end of the year. How do you feel about it? Do you feel like that you're more productive? Do you feel like you've kind of slipped a little bit? Is it just another year and you just feel like you're a hamster on a wheel. Well, I'm going to help you with that. And it's not a huge time commitment. That's the biggest thing you have to remember as we get started here consistency over intensity. And a lot of times when we start something, we start with intensity first. Yet we cannot maintain the consistency. So if you put consistency over intensity, It may start a little slow for you. It may not seem like it's adding up much, but see, everything in life compounds good or bad. So as you feed into it, Then that thing feeds upon itself. And in the moment doesn't seem like much, but over time, it's monumental. So, let me give you a technique that I call walk the dog. I love the symbolic nature of just the term walk the dog. Because in the mornings, when I wake up the very first thing after I take a leak. The dogs know I'm up. And they're ready to go walk they are just conditioned to go walking. So that's the first thing we do in the mornings. I put the harness on him. And then I go walk the dogs and it's normally about 15 minutes. And the same in the evening. When I get home in the evening, they're standing by the door. They're ready. And so we do the same thing. Walking the dog. Is a non-negotiable for me. It's a non-negotiable for them. They just have been conditioned. With that expectation. So it got me to thinking. That I never skip walking the dogs. I mean, it could be pouring down rain. We'll figure out a way to get out there. It may mean that we have to wait another 10 minutes or so, just to see when it's going to. Push through. There are times we've gone out there in the rain. We get it in. And so my question to you. Is what if you took this same approach? Toward your creative. Professional. Or personal endeavors, there are things that you want to do. Yet a lot of times you don't start those things because what, it seems like a huge time commitment. I just don't have time. It says everyone. And we have this image in our mind that one day. The skies are gonna open up for us and we're just going to be allotted more time. We all get 24 hours. Just today. We may not get tomorrow. So, this is all we get. So how can I become more productive in a shorter amount of time? Using one already have. Well, walk the dog. And so those days when you have the don't wont's Walk the dog those days when you wish you had more time walk the dog. So here's how it works. It's the same thing as walking the dog. Number one. It's a non-negotiable number two. It's not a big time commitment. And, you know, it's beneficial. The same is true for your creative. Personal and professional life. So let me give you a couple of examples of walking the dog. Number one, reading. I'm a huge reader, but I did not read my first book until I was 25. After that, I was like bit by the bug. But I get it. You got a lot going on and you really don't feel like powering through a book. There's nothing in the constitution that says you have to read a book cover to cover. So take this same approach of walking the dog. Meaning that you can read a book a day. It doesn't mean that you have to read the whole book every single day. You just find a random book. What I call random reading. Every morning. I pick out a different book, a random book. The title jumps at me. I pull it off my shelf. I go to the table of contents. I read the chapter that most resonates with me. I just go to the table of contents, whatever chapter sounds interesting for the season. I'm in, that's the chapter I read. I set my timer for 15 minutes walking the dog. I set my timer for 15 minutes and I read that sometimes I get through the whole chapter. Sometimes I get only halfway through, but what I'm trying to do is, is I'm trying to trigger some ideas, something new, something enlightening that I can use that day. Now you can do the same thing. If you're not into reading books, you can do the same thing with an audio book. Same technique. Go to your audio book. Pick a chapter that most resonates with you. Listen to that one chapter while you're walking the dogs, then. When you get back. Walk the dog. write One page. Of what you took away from that. How do you interpret that? That's going to make you more receptive to your day. I say you should write one page every day. This empties your mind to clarify your thoughts. I'm telling you it is a total game changer. You do not have to be an author to write. This is for you. This is the only time that you're alone with yourself. And so you segment just a few minutes. To walk the dog. And write that one page. Do this every single day. Remember everything compounds. All right. Walk the dog. Fitness. We all wish that we were a little more fit, but Marsh I don't have two hours to work out at the gym. I walked the dog. 10 minutes on the jump rope. Start off with three. Then go to five, then go to 10. You'd be amazed. JumpRope. You can take everywhere. I keep one in my book, sack. I keep one in my truck. I keep one in the garage. I take them everywhere because I can. Get cardio in anywhere I'm at. So walk the dog 10 minutes jumping the rope. In the mornings do that then in the evening, I'm just giving you something to kind of go by then in the evening, walk the dog, again. Set your timer for 10 or 15 minutes. Walk the dog, meaning pushups. Planks and pull-ups. Just that right there. Remember consistency over intensity. The intensity is going to naturally come about anyway. Just be consistent. The more consistent you are. The better results. You're going to see over time. And remember, the timeline we're own eventually. And ultimately, you do this consistently. Eventually things are going to tip. And ultimately you're going to succeed at whatever it is that you're doing. If you're in sales, same sort of thing. Walk the dog. When you get to work in the morning, 15 minutes, bang out those sales calls. This is going to set that day up. And then in the evening, The last 15 minutes of the day, prepare for the next day. So that way you're not rolling Tuesday into Wednesday. You just get it done. Everybody else is sitting there scrolling social media, waiting to get off. While you're walking the dog just 15 minutes. Everything counts. It all adds up good or bad., you want it to add, you don't want it to subtract. So that last 15 minutes. Bang out another set of phone calls. Send the emails out just 15 minutes. And when that timer goes off, boom, go home. You've earned it. There's so many different ways that you can apply the technique of walking the dog. This will keep you consistent. This'll keep you motivated because it's not a huge time commitment. There's all kinds of different areas. So I've given you a few examples. What are a few more ways in your life that you applied walking the dog? Love to hear about it, share it with me on social media. Be sure. And tag me so I can show you some love. All right, let's get outta here. Keep it simple. Keep it moving. I never settle walk the dog peace.