Taking back lunch
I’ve been skipping lunch for years. Well, that’s strictly not true. I’ve been eating lunch (most days) but I eat at my desk whilst working. I don’t actually leave my office.
But that’s going to change! Yes, I am taking back my lunch hour!
From here on out, I will get up from my desk and leave the office for a lunch break several times a week. I’d like to declare that I’ll do this every day, but sometimes I really just can’t. So instead I am going to vow to take lunch away from my desk three or more days a week and that I will take at least a half-hour for my break – though ideally, I will take my full hour.
I don’t know what I’ll do for my breaks. Maybe I’ll eat lunch out.
Maybe I’ll sit and read a book in a little coffee shop.
Maybe I’ll sketch something-or-other in my handy-dandy little sketchbook.
Maybe I’ll go to the gym for some light weight-lifting.
Maybe I’ll go for a brisk walk around campus.
Or maybe I’ll just sit somewhere quiet and do nothing.
I suppose it won’t matter what I do, as long as I’m not doing work.
I’ve decided that this will revitalise me for the afternoons, making me more productive for the last half of my workday. And I’ve decided that it will make me realise that my time is valuable and that I shouldn’t just give away my lunch hours. And I’ve decided that I deserve it. Because I do.
I’ve decided that it is imperative for my health because, let’s face it, being overworked and over-stressed is bad for your blood pressure and bad for your mental and physical being. And I’ve decided that this will help me reach my goal of being blissfully happy; which is a very, very important life goal so it shouldn’t be neglected.
Feeling inspired? Maybe you should take back your lunch hour, too*!
I’d love to hear suggestions for how to spend my time or comments on how you’ll get your time back.
Happy lunching!
[NOTE: Today’s lunch break includes posting this from my way-awesome gadget phone whilst sitting in a comfy chair at a little coffee shop drinking mint tea and eating a (probably high sodium) sourdough pretzel. Yay for me!]
* Run the term “take back lunch hour” in your preferred search engine and you’ll see that it’s not just me doing this. It seems that there’s an international movement afoot! Yay for lunch hours!
I think that’s a really good idea. I’m lucky that I have a lunchtime ‘crew’ who are very tolerant about that fact that I usually only manage to catch up with them about once a week. We have been lunching together for a good few years now, with the group growing and changing as new people join or others move on to new jobs. We have a code word email that goes round when one of us thinks it’s time to start the break, and we all gather in the canteen at our ‘usual table’ to eat lunch and share the gossip.
Sometimes when I join them I’m feeling not at my best, but invariably by the end of the hour (and they usually do force me to take an hour’s break) I will be feeling 100% better.
We also have our own nights out now – although we are so disorganised that if we start planning now we might just manage to get together before christmas sometime. We like to think we’re the envy of the canteen – and you know what, I think we probably are!
Go for it. Lunchtime breaks are definitely good for you. Even if you can’t manage everyday, aim for twice a week minimum and you’ll see the difference.
Good luck and keep us up to date on your progress
xx
ugh! i need to join in on this one. since the wee guy went back to school i’ve been reveling in suddenly having all this time to Get Stuff Done and grinding myself into a pit over work and not having a lunch break. i think it’s doubly important to ruthlessly factor in a break if working from home, and i don’t just mean swapping the desk/computer for stacking the dishwasher.
good luck, i’ll try join you on this next week