Two out of three people don’t take lunch breaks. They eat lunch at their desk each day instead of getting away for lunch. Eating at your desk increases your stress level because you don’t have a chance to get your mind off work. Even just a little break for lunch is enough to get the mental break you need to alleviate stress. As a leader, do you take a lunch break? If you do, do you get away from your office during your lunch break?
Take a Leadership Break
So how does this translate into leadership? As a leader, it is very important to give yourself a leadership break every once and a while. There are three benefits that come with breaks.
Clear Air
When you get out of the office, you get a chance to breathe in fresh air. As you take in the fresh air, you will feel a relief in stress. People generally eat at their desk because they feel stressed and a strong desire to get things done. They hope to be more efficient by working while they eat. This actually has the opposite effect. Taking a break for lunch and getting a breath of fresh air increases your ability to think more clearly. Those who think more clearly can accomplish more throughout the day.
Mental Break
Have you ever been working on a project and then took a break to do something else; then right in the middle of your break you figure out the solution to your project? Getting away from the office is so important because it gives you a chance to stop thinking about your projects. During that time you will be surprised at how often your mind continues to work, making solutions pop into your head.
Healthier Living
People that take lunch breaks have less stress and remain healthier. Stress tears your body down because it makes it so you don’t sleep as well. The lack of sleep will eventually cause your immune system unable to fight off disease which will lead to sickness. As a leader, you should take lunch breaks to alleviate stress.
Taking time away from the office gives your mind a rest so you can be more focused when you get back to work. Early on in my career, I always stayed at the office during my lunch break. The days seemed to drag on. Towards the end of each week I felt very little energy. In the past few years I’ve tried really hard to get away from the office at lunch. I have seen major changes in my productivity level.
Do you take a lunch break and get away from the office? What benefits do you see? Please comment in the comments section below.
Brandon I am guilty. I don’t usually take my breaks (although Joy insists I come home for lunch). I k now you are right. It is good to stretch your legs and get some fresh air. I have also found that I do better when I get some physical exercise too. I try to work out three times a week. The work out may be simply stretching or hitting the gym for an hour. I have found my day to be less stressful and I am better able to address situations at the office (and home) in a more proactive and professional way. I will try taking regular break this next week to improve even more… Thanks!
Curtis, I totally agree with you about the importance of getting up and moving around in addition to working out. It makes a huge difference on your outlook. I still need to do a better job at getting the appropriate exercise each day just as you mentioned. It is quite a challenge to stay on top of that amongst everything else, but it is totally worth it in the long run.
Brandon,
Fully agree. Unfortunately, like Curtis I’ve been guilty lately of eating at my desk. We do need to get away and have that break and refresh ourselves. Use to take walks at lunch time – get a little exercise and get out of the office – very refreshing. Two stories I’ve heard:
1) Thomas Edison took an afternoon break/nap to refresh himself.
2) One employee told me that in New Zealand that not only was lunch required, but you couldn’t take it at you desk. Side story was that one employee there got hurt at lunch and received compensation since lunch was a part of your workday.
When I was a kid the predictions had technology alleviating out work and stated by now the average work week would be 20-30 hours a week. Instead technology has a reachable 24×7 and our average work week is becoming more like 60-80 hours a week. Very little time for family / personal time. Add the economy and we have a large group of very burn-out individuals running on automatic and mostly reactive to daily fire-fighting vs. proactive and improving processes / efficiency.
Welcome David!
I really appreciate your comments! As you mentioned, it can be really hard to take your lunch break because it seems like there is always so much to do. One interesting principle that comes to mind is the rule of diminishing marginal returns. By working more, it doesn’t always mean you will be more productive and get more done. Sometimes you just hit the burn-out point which has a negative effect instead. I also really like the two points you mentioned about Thomas Edison and people in New Zealand. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the reminder. I am bad at this.
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Welcome Bernice!
I really appreciate your support! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
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Welcome Denise!
I am glad you like the post! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and support!