Read at Lunch

Too many people that I know waste their lunch break in one of two ways - they either work through it, or they sit and look at their phone the whole time. While working through your lunch break can potentially allow you to get home faster, it does not help you to decompress a bit while enjoying a book. We have discussed the downsides of social media in the past and wasting time on your phone.

Working through lunch is something that I’ve been guilty of multiple times in the past. It’s so tempting to just get a little bit more work done a little bit faster. Most people likely have more work than they can realistically get done in a day, and so putting in a few extra minutes during lunch time seems like a good way to be a bit more productive. Likely though, those extra minutes aren’t really helping.

More than likely, you’re trying to eat and you’re trying to work, and it’s really not as productive. Even if you are able to actually multitask and stay productive, your focus isn’t anywhere near as good as it would have been if you had simply taken a short break. Most often, taking your mind off a job or problem that has you stumped for a few minutes and then coming back fully focused will lead to better results.

Sitting and looking at your phone or social media is another common tactic for those at lunch time. Social media can be a useful tool to stay in touch with your family, but more often than not we use it to learn and follow people we don’t actually know, and we’re trying to live up to or compare ourselves to them. Unfortunately, all too often it has a negative effect in terms of our productivity.

The lunch strategy that we recommend is one where you use a few minutes to eat your lunch, and then use the rest of the time to read a book. Depending on your lunch break, that can often get you 15 - 45 minutes of time where you can read. That’s a lot of uninterrupted reading time for most parents. For some parents, it may be the only uninterrupted time that they actually have all day long.

Reading during lunch is an excellent choice as it allows you to get your mind off of work, but your brain is stimulated in a different way. You are keeping your mind sharp, but letting your brain take a break from the tasks that consume you during work. By doing this, you’re more likely to come back to a problem and be able to attack it more easily, and very often you’ll find that the break has helped your focus.

If you wonder how any parent is able to find time to read during the day, these are the types of tricks that you have to follow. Reading means that you’re giving up time on other things in your life - ideally things that are less important. You don’t waste time on your phone, and you don’t waste time watching TV. You spend your time reading when you can, and the rest of your time with your kids.

Don’t waste your lunch time doing nothing. Take a break, get some food in you, grab your Kindle and read a book. You may find that you’re far more productive when you do so.