Quintessential Careers Blog

Why You Should Absolutely—Without Question—Take a Lunch Break

Posted: 14 Mar 2016 07:00 AM PDT

A growing number of modern office employees are eating lunch alone at their desks, but this habit can have a negative impact on our social connections as well as our overall health. The modern US workplace differs from the working environments and traditions of the past 50 to 100 years, and where a “workday” once involved at least some element of motion or physical labor, it’s now perfectly common for an epically hard-working employee to remain glued to a chair and nearly motionless for five, seven, or ten hours at a time. So what does this mean for our eating habits? As we sit alone in our cubicles, bathed in the glowing light of our screens, are we eating more or less? And are our choices better or worse? According to ethnographer and workplace food expert June Jo Lee, the implications are varied, but the overall verdict is clear. “The way people eat at work,” she told the New York Times, “is pretty sad.” Long days and solitary, sedentary tasks keep us tied to our workstations, and “desktop dining,” once a depressing rarity, has now become commonplace. If you’re like most employees in the modern workplace, you probably spend at least a few meals per week alone at your desk, for a list of reasons that seem perfectly defensible. Some employees prefer to multitask while they eat, and some simply don’t have the time to take their fully allotted lunch breaks and enjoy a bite with friends at a local restaurant or a breakroom table. But before you chew through your next bag of baby carrots alone at your desk, make sure you know what you’re doing and why.

Why some desktop dine

We get it: You have a lot of work to do. It might feel like staying at your desk during lunch will help you stay on task. If the habit at your place of work is to go out to eat, this can be hard on both the waistline and the budget.

Why you shouldn’t desktop dine

As common sense suggests and studies confirm, social bonds are strengthened when people eat meals together. Teams chat and get to know each other, trust grows, productivity rises, and workplace satisfaction improves. This regular break during the day can help workers shift perspective and reconnect with the big picture. It can also turn workplace relationships into genuine friendships, and this can build overall career success—not just success with your current employer. True job security lies in a strong network of friends and connections. Desktop dining can also be unhealthy on a nutritional level, not just a social level. When we grab a quick bite at our desk during the lunch hour, we tend to snack more and graze more during the rest of the day. Instead of one set mealtime, we end up taking in a continuous stream of Cheetos, single serve pop-top micro-meals, candy, nuts, meeting spreads, and breakroom leave-behinds. This isn’t great for our fluctuating blood sugar levels or unconscious daily calorie consumption. Dining out can also mean a break in concentration and a sense of having lost or wasted an hour of valuable work time. But here’s something to remember: Even if you like your job, you come here for the paycheck. And thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of generations of union members and workers advocates, you’re entitled to your lunchbreak. So when the time comes, if there’s any way you can tear yourself away from your station for a few minutes of fresh air and healthy human interaction, you probably should. Think about this before you grab an egg salad out of the shared fridge in the common room. Use your lunch break the way it was intended; enjoy your meal, make positive memories, and connect with those around you. When you get back to work, you’ll feel better about the day. For more on how to navigate through the week and build a successful career from the ground up, explore the job search and workplace management resources at Quintcareers. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons