Lunch breaks may be a thing of the past. According to a recent survey by Right Management, only 19% of workers regularly leave their desks for a midday meal.
Yes, You Should Definitely Take that Lunch Break
While it may be popular to skip out on an actual lunch break, you may want to reconsider.
Sure, taking “working lunches,” might seem to be a more productive use of your time, but this habit of working without a break could actually be decreasing your potential.
Take this parable, made famous by author Stephen Covey in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, for example:
Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job with a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work.
The first day, the woodcutter brought back 18 trees.
“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Keep it up!”
Very motivated by the boss’ words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only brought back 15 trees. On the third day he tried even harder, but he only managed to bring back 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.
“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.
“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees.”
If only the woodcutter would have taken the time to sharpen his axe, he could have maintained his high-level productivity!
Though you are are most likely not wielding an axe at your desk, the moral of the story remains the same for you, too. Taking short breaks from your workday can improve your brain functioning and, in turn, your productivity.
“Never taking a break from very careful thought work actually reduces your ability to be creative,” says Kimberly Elsbach, a management professor at UC-Davis who studies psychology of the workplace, “It sort of exhausts your cognitive capacity and you’re not able to make the creative connections you can if your brain is more rested. If you’re skipping lunch to continue to push forward in a very intense cognitive capacity, then you’re probably not doing yourself any favors.”
Breaks throughout your work day are essential. Your body and brain are simply not designed to work full speed ahead 24/7. In fact, our minds can only maintain high levels of concentration for 90 minutes before needing a break. The scientific term for this natural cycle, is Ultradian Rhythm. So, after 1.5 to 2 hours, your body is naturally ready for a break!
So, the next time you are thinking about skipping out on your lunch break, take your eyes off the computer screen, and slowly back away from your desk with your hands in the air (I am only kidding about that last part, unless you want to just for kicks and giggles).
Join me, and let’s bring back the lunch break!
