Optimal Lunch Break Activities

Don’t Eat Lunch at Your Desk (And No Scrolling) In many of our workplaces, eating lunch at our desk has become a badge of honor. A sign of hustle. Dedication. Productivity. The truth - it’s not helping. Lunch isn't just a refuel, it’s an opportunity to reset. When we treat it like another task to squeeze in while catching up on emails, we lose more than just a proper break. It's a habit worth breaking and I often push myself to go sit somewhere and enjoy the break to clear my mind and savor my lunch. Cultures around the world approach lunch very differently, and have an appreciation we don't always recognize. 🇫🇷 In France, a long lunch is seen as sacred, a time to savor food and connection. 🇮🇹 In Italy, it’s a ritual, not a rush. 🇯🇵 In Japan, even a bento box is an intentional, present experience. They understand something we often forget: 🍴 Meals are meant to be experienced, not rushed. 👥 Eating in community boosts our sense of belonging. 🚶🏽♀️ A walk after lunch aids digestion and frees the mind. When we step away from our screens and reclaim that hour, magic happens: 🧠 Mental clarity improves 🫀 Our bodies feel better 🤝 Conversations spark ideas and relationships 💡 We return to our work sharper, not drained Yes, the work still gets done, and often better when we set the right priorities. Reflection to Action: *What does your lunch hour really look like? *Are you giving yourself permission to pause, nourish, and reset? This week, challenge yourself: Step away from your desk. Sit with others. Take a walk. Because reclaiming your lunch time isn’t lazy, it’s leadership in action. #WorkplaceWellbeing #CultureShift #Leadership #PeopleFirst

One thing I wish my 25-year-old self knew: Rest is productive. In my early days as a doctor, I didn’t use to give much thought to rest. When I became a mother, I would actively avoid using up the 20 minutes/day lunch break offered by my 9-5. I would see patients during that time so I could go home early and spend time with my children. As a result, I got irritable often and eagerly awaited weekends and vacations. Since then, I actively schedule rest time during my day. There are three types of breaks every working professional should take: 1) Micro breaks (less than 10 minutes) 🌿 Such breaks allow the brain to recharge. By taking a few moments to do nothing, enjoy nature, or watch something amusing, we provide our minds with the opportunity to rejuvenate. 2) Long breaks (over 20 minutes) 🕛 In today's hybrid work models, it's common to have lunch at our desks, attempting to multitask. Unfortunately, this does not provide the necessary mental rest. To fully benefit from a break, it is important to step away. You can sit with friends or alone, savor your meal, do a short meditation, or go on a walk. 3) Extended vacations🏖️🌴 Many people accumulate unused vacation days, which often go to waste. It is vital that we embrace and utilize every opportunity for a vacation. During this time, whether we explore nature, visit new places, or tend to personal matters, our brains have the chance to recharge. Vacations result in improved productivity, increased well-being, and the resolution of accumulated fatigue. I would like to add a 4th as well… 4) Thinking time 💭 Mental workers — people who do cognitively demanding work — should dedicate uninterrupted blocks of time to just… think. 🧘🏻 During this time, you create a distraction-free space where you can ideate, find answers to questions, or just reflect. Thinking time can be scheduled weekly or monthly, and even incorporated into vacations. ⏰ Remember, there are various ways to incorporate breaks into your routine, so choose what suits you best. In my own practice, I allocate a two-hour gap in my schedule between seeing patients in the morning and the afternoon. ☀️ During this break, I go for a walk or indulge in cooking and allow myself to feel completely rested before the next session. This routine has made a remarkable difference in my energy levels, eliminating irritability and preventing fatigue at the end of the day. Whether you are employed or self-employed, I encourage you to make the most of every break. Rest is invaluable for resetting the brain and achieving productivity in both personal and professional life. #rest #worklifebalance #brainhealth #productivity

Your brain isn’t meant to focus nonstop. 🧠 Just listened to a Huberman Lab podcast that really stuck with me—on attention, fatigue, and why most of us are getting it wrong. The science is clear: your brain has a limited capacity for focused attention. When you overload it—by bouncing from meeting to inbox to phone scroll—you drain your ability to think clearly and perform at your best. Even something as simple as scrolling your phone on your lunch break keeps your brain in a state of cognitive load. You might feel like you’re relaxing, but neurologically, you’re not. You’re just trading one stream of stimuli for another. So today, I took a stroll through the city streets near our office. No phone. Within minutes, I felt the mental fog lift. This isn’t fluff—this is neuroscience-backed attention recovery. Even better if you have nature to stroll through during your lunch break. 🌳 Attention is like a muscle. And if you never let it rest, don’t be surprised when it burns out by 2 p.m. Leaders: Want more clarity, better decisions, and deeper creativity? Protect your team’s (and your own) attention. Build in recovery moments—real ones. Nature. Movement. Stillness. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do in the moment is… take a walk. #NeuroscienceBasedLeadership #AttentionFatigue #WorkWellLeadWell

Something I will NEVER understand: Not taking a lunch break. At every full-time job I've had, employees were entitled to an hour-long lunch break. And yet, at every job, there were always people who didn't take the whole hour, worked through lunch, or ate at their desks. WHY do we do this to ourselves? The most common reasons I hear for not taking full advantage of a lunch break are: 1) I'm too busy. 2) I don't need a full hour to eat my lunch. If you are consistently “too busy", either your employer hasn't adequately designed your role to be completed in in the time allotted, or you are simply choosing to forfeit your break. At many companies, part or all of your lunch break is technically unpaid, so by working through your lunch break, your employer is getting an extra hour of free labor! And for the it doesn't take me an hour to eat lunch folks, I won't argue with you. (Me neither) But lunch breaks were never really about the lunch. They're about the BREAK. So please, when lunchtime comes around, close your email, close your laptop, and GET UP from your desk. Go for a walk Eat outside Read a book Call up a friend Relax at a park Do anything other than work And to leaders, please set the example and culture for your people. Take your lunch break. Encourage others to take theirs. Don't schedule meetings over lunch Everyone benefits when we take our full lunch breaks. How do you like to spend your lunch breaks? #work #life #flexibility #jobsearch