The SQUIRREL! Effect

The SQUIRREL! Effect

Imagine this… It’s 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning, and you are about ? mile into your 5k. You have two leashes in your hand. Both dogs are excited to be on their morning run. You are running down a gradual hill towards the inner circle of your neighborhood. One foot in front of the other. One dog about 2-3 strides ahead of you, and the other dog directly on your right side.

You begin to think about your day… What do you need to get accomplished today? This weekend? What errands to you have to run? Do you have any yard work that needs complete? Laundry ready for the upcoming work week? Your mind begins to wonder, and you are getting your schedule programmed in your mind.

The dogs are picking up the pace as you make it to the inner loop. You just think to yourself, this is going to be a great run! Just what you needed to clear your mind and get your priorities set before the busyness of the day sets in…

All of a sudden… you feel a JERK on the leash! One dog takes off to your right! SQUIRREL!

The inner loop is surrounded by woods. Your dog spots one, and is determined to catch it! Your body jerks with the leash. Very quickly, you try to regroup, you make a quick command to your dog to get them to refocus on the run. The dog gets focused and begins to take pace again.

In another 500 feet, another tug at the leash… SQUIRREL! You repeat the steps with commands to get your dog refocused on the run. This continues for the entire 5k. The relaxing thoughts you had at the very beginning of the run has now turned into frustration, stress and you are ready to get finished with the run.

Your body is tense. You are gripping the leashes as tightly as you can. Your thoughts have now switched to alertness… You are on high alert for squirrels. You are anticipating the reaction of the dogs to their SQUIRREL! Your run has now turned into a series of reactions instead of focus and relaxation.

If you are a runner, and take your dog(s) on the run with you, I guarantee this has happened to you! It did me on Saturday morning, and it gave me a lot to reflect on how the SQUIRREL! hi-jacked my run, just like the SQUIRREL! can hi-jack your productivity at work.

 Let’s explore the SQUIRREL! Effect!

First, let me introduce you to my GoldenDoodles, BayMax & HoneyLemon so you can understand how this came to fruition. If you are not familiar, a Goldendoodle is a hybrid breed between a golden retriever and standard poodle. This breed is very intelligent, active, and requires a lot of exercise! Perfect! I have goals to run marathons and Ironman triathlons. When I am not traveling during the week, and for sure on every weekend, I take the dogs out on a 5k (3.1 mile run – the exact distance from our door down to the inner loop of the Town Park neighborhood we live in that has 4 pools, 12 tennis courts, sand volleyball court, basketball courts, Frisbee golf course, soccer fields, and several trails in the woods that surround our 1,700 home town park). HoneyLemon and BayMax love their run. Normally, I take them between 5-5:30am in the mornings before the busyness sets in for the morning. During this run, it’s normally just the dogs, myself, and maybe a few neighbors that are out running, walking or exercising their dogs as well. During the early part of the morning, nature is very quiet. The squirrels are not out, the deer are still resting, and it is very quiet – makes a great environment for the dogs to stay focused on the run, especially HoneyLemon!

HoneyLemon has a dominate personality of the standard poodle. Very affectionate, starves for attention, and gets very distracted!

BayMax has the personality of the golden retriever. Very laid back, loves people, and very ball driven.

In case you were wondering about their names, they are named after characters in the Disney movie: Big Hero 6.

SQUIRREL! Back to the run…

What I had quickly realized was sleeping an extra hour this past Saturday morning created a brand new environment and surroundings for the dogs during this run. The squirrels were out. They were going on with their morning routine – finding food, gathering nuts, exploring new territory, and so on. They did not wake up and have the intention to distract every dog, especially HoneyLemon, during their run. The squirrels were on their own missions – they were going about their day.

It was a challenge for the dogs to stay focused. Every time they heard a squirrel in the leaves or saw a squirrel run across the side walk, their focus shifted. They wanted those squirrels! Each time, it took me about 1-2 minutes of coaching them with commands to get their minds focused back on running, and not on the squirrels.

And then it hit me! How many SQUIRRELS! do I encounter every week at work that hi-jacks my attention, creates distractions, and causes me to become unproductive?

Result: The SQUIRREL! Effect!

We all encounter the “squirrels” at work! They can be co-workers, bosses, even emails and technology. Anything that can hi-jack your focus from the current task, project or meeting is what I describe as a SQUIRREL! These SQUIRRELS! have stolen our focus causing us to become unproductive. Some of us have a great ability to get ourselves focused back on our day, but others, chase the squirrels every time, lose productivity, and the result is always feeling behind on work!

 Any of these scenarios resonate with you?

You are working on an email, presentation, excel sheet, etc. and all of a sudden, and email alert pops-up on your computer, you quickly notice the subject line and click on it to read & respond… SQUIRREL!

A co-worker, boss or peer stop by your office for the “5 minute drop-by.” You really need to focus on the task at hand, but you engage in the conversation – hi-jacking your focus from your important project to engage in the conversation… SQUIRREL!

You are leading a meeting, everyone seems to be highly engaged. Thoughts / concepts are flowing, and one co-worker, peer or boss interrupts with a comment/thought/question that is completely unrelated to the current discussion or meeting topic, and the conversation immediately switches… SQUIRREL!

These SQUIRRELS! are everywhere. They take on many different forms, and they completely hi-jack any focus or productivity from your day… How do you “command” yourself to stay focused in order to complete your “5k” without a tense feeling?

Here are a few new “commands” that I am going to practice and implement immediately:

1. Email SQUIRREL! – Before you begin working on an important project / presentation / excel sheet, etc., CLOSE YOUR EMAIL! Eliminate the distractions immediately!
2. “5 Minute Drop By” SQUIRREL! – If someone stops by your office or work station, acknowledge their conversation and respectfully request to meet in the future. “Johnny, I know this is really important to you, and I want to give you 100% of my attention/focus to your question/concern/idea/etc. Right now, I am finishing up something important, and my focus is 100% on this right now. I really want to hear what you have to say, can we schedule something this afternoon/next couple of days? You deserve my 100% focus and attention, and I cannot give it to you right now.”
   1. This may not work 100% of the time, especially if it is your boss, but ask if you can complete your thought quickly on your current task before you shift your focus.
3. Meeting SQUIRREL! – There may have been an idea or comment by someone in the meeting that sparked the SQUIRREL! so acknowledge it and request to take it “offline.” “Susie, Your idea/concern/thought is very intriguing/important and deserves further follow-up. Can we take it “offline” this afternoon after the meeting in order to give it 100% attention/focus? This will give us the opportunity to stay focused on the current topics/agenda.

Acknowledging the workplace SQUIRRELS! and having “commands” that will keep you focused on your “5k” will greatly assist you with staying focused and ensuring that you stay on-task. The last thing you want to do is finish your day, and feel like all you did was “chase SQUIRRELS!” and the feeling of unproductivity only leads to more tension and stress in your mind.