Why having a dog helps me get creative

Working in a creative job is brilliant, but it can also be difficult. There are some days when you just don’t feel creative - it doesn’t tend to be something you can turn on and off at will.

There are definitely days where I struggle to engage with my work - where I write but the words don’t seem to flow. And there are other days where I wake up brimming with ideas and am able to fill page after page with no difficulty at all.

But what does having a dog have to do with my ability (or not) to write creatively? As it turns out, quite a lot.

Meet Franklin

Franklin (my dog) gives me a reason to step away from my computer for at least a couple of hours each day. Not only that, he makes me go outside, away from all the distractions at home.

Generally, our routine involves getting up first thing in the morning and going for a walk by the beach or along the cliffs. We’re normally out for close to an hour and by the time I get home, I’ve woken up properly and usually feel ready to get on with work.

While I’m out walking, my mind has been running through the things I have to do during the day and when I’m working on projects, I usually find myself thinking about them and how best to approach them. I’ve had some of my best ideas while I’ve been walking Franklin early in the morning.

Aside from our morning walk, we go out again around lunchtime and often once more in the late afternoon. I find it incredibly beneficial to get outside into the fresh air and to have a change of scenery.

My mind is free to wander when I’m walking - after all, I can’t be doing work and I don’t feel guilty about having a break because Franklin needs to go out. That complete freedom really helps me take a step back because it removes all the pressure. For that hour that we’re out, there’s nothing I can do work-wise, so I stop worrying. As soon as I stop worrying, it becomes easier to think creatively because I have time and freedom.

Of course, you don’t need a dog to take yourself off on daily walks - but ask yourself honestly, if you don’t have to go out, will you make the time every single day, come rain or shine? I know I wouldn’t.

I recently read this interesting article about how a good morning routine can make your days infinitely more productive, and how having breaks is really important. As I was reading it, the penny dropped and I began to understand why my dog walks help me so much.

It’s well worth a read, particularly the section about how people get creative insights, which explains how these usually occur during “indirect reflection” - or in other words at times when your mind is free to “loosely wander”. And that’s what having a dog gives me - time for my mind to wander.

Of course, that’s not why I have a dog. I welcomed Franklin into my life long before I went freelance (which is a whole other story) and certainly without thinking about how he’d benefit my creative process - I just love dogs and fell in love with him. But I really like knowing that he helps me in so many ways.

Franklin 'helping' me with my work