I had a beautiful afternoon in Boston last Sunday. The sun was shining through a crisp breeze and the Red Sox won the American League Pennant the night before. Spirits were high, smiles were big, and I was looking forward to a leisurely lunch in the North End.
I found a place with a table next to the street. The front of the restaurant was one big open window. I was dining alone, but didn’t bring a magazine or a book. Instead, I had my camera, journal and an appetite for a long lunch.
Enjoying an Italian red and fresh bread with crushed garlic and olive oil as I perused the menu got me thinking about how rushed our lunch time usually is. I remember when I wasn’t my own boss eating lunch in the car or at my desk and never taking a full hour unless I was entertaining clients.
Why didn’t I take longer lunches?
- I wanted to get more done.
- I wanted people to know I was committed to working hard.
- I was too busy.
- I had hopes of leaving early.
- Employers expected me to work through lunch.
Study after study demonstrates that longer hours do not result in more productivity. This article shows that some of the most productive countries work fewer hours. Swedish sociologist, Roland Paulsen shows that longer hours result in more empty work and idle time at work. Think Facebook, YouTube and other wasted time.
It’s not always the boss that has us working more. We feel important when we are busy, or when we claim to be busy. Laura Vanderkam, author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think
Never again will I trade what I experienced at my longer lunch to feel important.
- warm sun
- cool breeze
- spicy red wine
- garlic infused oil
- people watching
- fresh green basil
- the smell of wood fired pizza
- homemade gnocchi with San Marzano tomatoes and burrata mozzarella
- lively conversation from my dining neighbors
- quiet reflection at my table for one
I ate slowly and was done eating long before the food was gone. I didn’t need to finish everything or rush through my meal. When I was finished, I wasn’t hurried out, but instead sat quietly, finished my wine and wrote about everything around me. After lunch, I walked for almost an hour.
How to enjoy a longer lunch
Try a longer lunch challenge. Talk to your employer about trying a two-week challenge. Everyone takes a 60-90 minute lunch for two weeks. Compare productivity, employee moral and other indicators that contribute to a good business. If you work for yourself, leave your phone, computer and other things that tether you to your work and commit to a long lunch and walk every day for two weeks.
Share the research. Anonymously drop this article or others on your employer’s desk or even better, tape it to the door of your workplace lunch room.
Prioritize. Vanderkam suggests changing our language. “Instead of saying “I don’t have time” try saying “it’s not a priority,” and see how that feels. Changing our language reminds us that time is a choice. If we don’t like how we’re spending an hour, we can choose differently.”
Enjoy several courses. Order a salad, entrée and dessert and ask your server to bring them out one at a time. If you are making your own lunch, make it fun with several small options.
Eat a lunch worth writing about. Savor your food by writing about your lunch. Bring a journal and write a story or pretend you are a food critic. Have fun.
Walk after lunch. Leave the dishes in the sink and take a walk after lunch. You can linger longer by taking a little stroll before rushing back to work.
I can’t help thinking about what we sacrifice to feel important, to feel like we matter. I don’t even think that’s what we really want. Most of us just want to be loved, but if we don’t feel that, we search for other ways to stand out.
To bring this full circle, if we were all a little less busy, perhaps we could be more loving and show people how much they mean to us.
This plea for longer lunches is really a plea for what we really want. More love. Less busy.
Eating quickly is such a strong habit. When I introduce the idea of eating mindfully people always tell me how enjoyable it is yet at the same time how difficult it can be. Thanks for this tantalizing encouragement. It may take some practice, but we can get there. And our digestive systems will be so much happier for it!
Agreed Sandra!
I was just thinking about this very subject today when I emailed my boss and told her I would not be attending the one hour training session they organized during our lunch, because I needed downtime. It is ridiculous that people don’t get a proper break anymore, and I totally agree that productivity is so much lower when you don’t get a rest.
It’s so wrong for companies to schedule training or other meetings during lunch breaks or after hours. Has to stop!
Sounds great in theory, but you make a lot of assumptions about how much freedom people have to structure their days. Some of us get paid by the hour. I bring my lunch from home and eat it at my desk because I can’t afford to do otherwise, not because I’m trying to “feel important,” I assure you.
Hi Stacy – Definitely no assumptions here. It’s hard to include every situation so I’m really glad you contributed.
*sigh* Yes, I can relate. I also bring my lunch from home (to save money AND ensure that I’m eating healthy), but I have to log my work time down to the 1/6th of an hour (no joke). I have an hour commute each way and work 4/10s (Pro: 1 less day a week to commute and I always have a 3-day weekend. Con: My work days are SUPER long.). This means 12 hour days, plus however long I take for lunch…so I take 15 minutes to eat at my desk, even though I would LOVE to take my brown bag to the park down the street and eat there instead!
I am sitting at my desk reading this while quickly eating a fast food lunch that got cold because I was “too busy dealing with a crisis” to eat it while it was still hot and it occurred to me – THIS IS ME! You are talking about me. I didn’t even realize it but I do this. I skip lunches, work late, complain about how hard I work and how no one notices – but it’s my own fault. I’m trying to show that I matter and make myself feel important. You are so right. The best thing about my job is that I live 10 minutes away and can go home to a nice lunch with my dogs – but I haven’t been home for lunch once this week. Oh what I would give to trade this cold chicken nugget for a PB&J, cup of soup and the ability to rub my dog’s belly right now! Thank you for reminding me!
Yay for belly rubs! I really appreciate your honest assessment Dawn and look forward to hearing about your next great lunch with the pups.
Courtney this is a great post! My lunch hour is the shortest hour of my day. I am fortunate enough to be able to go home and see my baby boy, but I wish I had a little more time to relax. I am a firm believer that breaks (sometimes naps) and downtime allow for creativity and productivity in the workplace.
I whole heartedly agree Courtney! On a beautiful warm day in October (very rare!) I took the day off and made myself a lovely Sunday brunch of crepes with bananas and roasted almonds and whipped cream then finished it all off with a lovely lemon ginger tea. Delish! Then I went for a long, leisurely walk.
Stepping away from the grindstone for even a day is the best medicine in the world!
totally
Hey Courtney,
Lovely blog post!
I have a cold and will not go to work today, your words inspired me to prepare something easy yet delicious at home, with lots of C-vitamins for recovery.
A very timely post, thank you!
I have brought a salad to work for the past two weeks. I need more time to eat it and I can’t wolf it down like a sandwich for example. Also I can’t eat it at my desk (too messy), so I have to at least go into the dining area to eat it which kind of forces me to step away and relax. Before it was just too easy to eat at my desk for 15 mins while reading emails which is a very bad habit.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed our fair city! I’m also glad to hear someone else quoting 168 Hours. I really love that book, and I wish everyone would read it. I’m pretty sure I’ll read it a second time one of these days. I used to do the same thing: be “too busy” as a way of feeling important. I’ve felt so much better ever since I stopped doing that. Being busy isn’t what makes us happy, it’s taking the time to be happy! A former boss used to get very annoyed that I took my full lunch hour every day, but after months of working through lunch I realized that the more I worked, the more she piled on extra work. So I took my breaks and you know what? The company didn’t fall apart! It’s definitely worth taking the time whenever possible.