What you do during your midday break might vary depending on your job, company culture or personal priorities—but the experts agree all workers should try to do these 14 things during lunch hour:
Make a plan. “Don’t
squander your lunch break because it’s ‘free time,’” Taylor says. Time is a
non-renewable resource, wherever you are, whatever the time of day. Try your
best to plan it out and make the most of it.
You should also plan your activities immediately after lunch, Kerr
suggests. “Giving thought to how you prioritize and schedule events in the
afternoon can maximize your productivity. For example, scheduling a meeting or
conference call right after lunch may end up causing you stress over the
lunch hour or you may end up squeezing the lunch break in order to get back in
time and be ready for the meeting.”
Take a real break. Breaking from work for 60 seconds to chow down
your lunch at your desk doesn’t count. “In order to get a period of true
respite, the time has to involve an actual break from work,” Levit says. Try
not to check your e-mail, bring work with you or talk about work during lunch.
Get up from your desk or work space. “Staying at your desk is a big no-no in my
book,” Kerr says. “There are more and more reports on the dangers of sitting
too long, so even just getting up to walk to another room to eat is important,
or better still, getting outside for some fresh air and a quick walk can do
wonders for the body and spirit.”
Even if you don’t sit at a desk, you should get away from your
work space during lunch, as it will help you clear your mind.
Eat. Don’t try to be a hero and starve yourself for
the sake of being a hard worker or checking off another “to-do” item, Taylor
says. “You’ll pay for it later when you can’t concentrate and throw your body
off balance. If you’ve earned a headache or are lightheaded at 4 p.m., you
haven’t ultimately gained anything.”
Enjoy your food. Lunch should be about
having lunch, Woodward says. “Treat yourself to something you enjoy that fits
with your diet,” he adds. “If you have a favorite place or a particular food
you enjoy make sure to go and enjoy it at least once a week. You only live once.”
It’s OK
to splurge from time to time—but try to stick to healthy meals as often as
possible.
Do what you can’t do in the morning or evening. Some
errands—like going to the Post Office or the bank—must be handled during work
hours. “Be strategic and use your lunch break to accomplish some of those
personal errands that can’t be handled before or after work, or on the
weekends,” Taylor says.
But be careful that you don’t cram too many personal
errands into your lunch break, Kerr warns. “You’d just end up swapping one
stress for another kind of stress without getting the re-energizing benefits a
good break can offer.”
Use the time to connect with someone new.
“I used to work in an office of 3,000 people, so it was pretty much the
norm to not recognize most everyone in the elevator,” Woodward says. “Our
workplace interactions can be so fleeting that we really never actually get to
know the people we spend most of our days with. When you don’t really know
those you interact with it’s easy to dehumanize them and take them for granted.
Take some time to get out of the office, grab a sit down lunch, and get to know
your co-workers.”
Catch up with old friends. If you have a friend who
works nearby, try to meet him or her during lunch occasionally. “Remember, your
personal life needs tending to just as much as your work-life, so be sure to
take the spare time you have and use it to fulfill your personal needs,” Woodward
says. Your midday break is a good opportunity to catch up and socialize, in
person or by phone—but don’t lose track of time, and don’t treat it like happy
hour.
Have a system for dealing with your absence. This
will allow people inside and outside the company to know when you will be back,
how to contact you in an emergency or have an alternative point of contact,
says David Shindler, author of Learning to Leap and
founder of social learning site,The Employability Hub.
It may also help you relax and avoid obsessively checking your e-mail during
lunch.
Engage in activities that will help you re-energize. Take
a walk outside, visit the gym or meditate. Get out and do something that will
make you feel better about yourself. “A quick dose of sunlight and fresh air is
the perfect elixir for the midday blues,” Woodward says.
Network. Even if you’re perfectly happy in your job, and you’re not
looking for a new one, it can’t hurt to continuously build and maintain your
professional network. “This is critical to success in any line of work,”
Woodward says. “However, finding the time to connect with those in your network
can be tough.”
Attridge
adds, “Strategically, lunch is an excellent time to continue to build
relationships and network with others whether that is by having lunch with them
or calling them to catch up.”
Don’t get stuck in a routine. Many of us are
creatures of habit. Maybe you go to the same pizzeria everyday or eat with the
same colleague. You might always use your
lunch break to run errands or make personal calls. Try to mix things up in
order to clear your head and boost your energy.
Avoid all screens. Try to stay away from your
iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and computer. “Give your
eyes a break,” Taylor says. Most office jobs require you to stare at a screen
all day—so try to avoid that during lunch.
If you
can’t help it for whatever reason (maybe you want to shop online or e-mail a
friend), get up from your desk so your body perceives this as a true break,
Levit adds.
Don’t take too long or too short of a break. If you’re
allotted an hour for lunch, take it. Maybe not every day, but when you can, use
the full sixty minutes to get out, eat, exercise your mind or body, catch up
with an old friend or a colleague and/or tackle items on your personal agenda.
However,
if everyone else in the office takes shorter breaks, follow suit so you don’t
stand out.
“Don’t
take breaks that are too long or too frequent, as people will start to notice,”
Levit says. “And don’t pressure colleagues to adhere to your break schedule.
You are primarily there to work–not socialize–so let them do what works best
for them.”
“You have
the ability to make your lunch hour an invigorating boost to your afternoon by
doing what you enjoy; be it a brisk walk listening to music, talking with a
close friend, being in nature, even if briefly, or spending time on your
favorite project or pastime,” Taylor concludes. “It’s your time to refresh.”
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