Sometimes I like to eat lunch at my desk, other times I eat in the dining area with co-workers, and other times I eat out. Why does it need to be an all or nothing proposition? There are days when I'm very busy on a problem and I don't want the distraction of taking lunch so I'll either eat it at my desk or eat something low impact like a protein bar/shake. Alternatively when I get stuck on a problem I'll take a longer lunch and get away from my computer for a while.
This is an excellent point. To answer your question: I don't think it needs to be an all or nothing proposition.
For me, I had acquiesced to always eating at my desk; convincing myself I was making the best decision for me.
I know myself well enough to know there are aspects of my life I'm not good at regulating or balancing. I also know that I'm good at convincing myself of things that aren't in my best interest. Experiments like this are useful to me for that reason.
I discovered that I was wrong about what I thought I wanted from this particular aspect of life. This discovery was important enough, for me, to make a clear cut decision to alleviate the chances of convincing myself my old routine was a good one.
An analogy that comes to mind is how some people stop smoking cigarettes: cold turkey isn't for everyone, but for those who know it is, they go for it and they stop and they feel better for it. There's science to show eating lunch at the desk is unhealthy. I've found I tremendously enjoy the alternative and the benefits that come with it. So, I've gone cold turkey. But that doesn't mean it's for everyone.
>Why does it need to be an all or nothing proposition?
This can depend on personality, circumstances, etc. IMO if someone is stuck in a rut and decides the only way out is a complete polar switch, good for them. At least they are making a change for what they feel is the better. They might already know that they don't do well with half-switches and tend to fall back into the same orbit. Or they might just be really overwhelmed in general and find the feel of small yet firm changes appealing.
It can be annoying to have to put up with others' all-or-nothing viewpoints, but it can still be useful to appreciate that their perspective might be informed by experiences that differ from our own.
I think the all-or-nothing attitude is an attempt by many people to play against their own psychology.
For many people, "I'll just do whatever I feel like each day" is problematic, because the moment right before lunch isn't their brain's best time to make that decision. In that moment, the task at hand looms large in their attention, so they are disproportionately tempted to submit to it and keep working. The benefits of taking the break are somewhere out in the future, they're abstract, and even if you intellectually believe in the benefits, it can be easy to discount them, right there, in that moment. The task at hand is right there, right then, very concrete, no discount.
For such people, all-or-nothing is a way for them to make a decision ahead of time, in a moment of less stress and greater foresight, and perhaps commit themselves to it in a way that takes the decision out of their hands in their weaker moments. They may not come out ahead every day, but if the strategy works, they should come out ahead in the long run.
I never eat lunch at my desk because I think it's inconsiderate to my coworkers. They should not have to smell or see what I am eating, let alone hear me crunch into chips or an apple.
I find this quite ridiculous, people are not these fragile creatures that can't see, hear or smell anything other than the usual office sights, sounds and aromas. I think you're over thinking this. Unless you're eating weird stuff like boiled lungfish or whatever then I suspect nobody is paying the slightest attention to you eating chips or an apple.
Agreed. Even in a place with full-size cubes, you can still hear/smell food from others. My old office, we group of us would eat lunch in a conference room. During that time we did various activities: Watching various TV shows on the projector. Playing card games (lots of Magic The Gathering), and other fun stuff.
Working at home it's a bit different. I generally eat at my desk. I sometimes use that time to go for a walk or go to the gym. But mostly it's internet reading. :\
I'm just the opposite. I have eaten my lunch at my desk almost every day for years and can't imagine anything else.
- I crave LONG periods of time for coding...
- By noon, I'm really getting rolling. I hate to stop.
- I always plan & pack my lunch exactly like I want.
- I love how everyone else is gone & I'm alone.
- No one I know eats like me...
- I'm tired of explaining/debating food choices.
- I hate standing in line or waiting for my waiter.
- I hate "small talk" over lunch.
- I leave early, before traffic.
- I still exercise more than anyone I know.
- If I want a break, then I surf or email.
- My favorite hour of the day.
I use my lunch periods to get away from the forced socialization of our open-office plan. In fact, that one hour when everyone is down at the cafeteria is usually my most productive hour in the day: I can get stuff done without disruptions or interruptions.
Exactly. Blog posts like this aren't useful. Either it's about prescribing a certain behavior for others, which is obviously a waste of time because we all have different values that lead to equally valid/subjective choices, or it's just intended to describe one person's decision tree, which isn't of general interest. Blogging like this feels like it's driven by narcissism either way.
"I found my mind wandering to other things and realized that I was actually enjoying my food a lot more; remarking internally on how the bread actually taste in the sandwich."
I'm surprised he doesn't mention what I think is the #1 reason for going out for lunch: spending time with your coworkers that is not necessarily work focused.
All the reasons he gives seem pretty weak: if you need a break, you can step outside the office for a walk or a coffee or even go read on a bench for 20mn without the activity being necessarily lunch.
Eating lunch at your desk has benefits, such as allowing you to go home sooner or doing things at your computer that are not work related but which you enjoy doing (e.g. reading HN).
The moral here is not "Always eat at your desk" or "Always eat outside" but "Don't always do the same thing".
I decided to have zero "out of work focused" conversations with my co-workers at my new job. It's the best decision I made.
Office politics was always against me because I was speaking with my co-workers about things I do outside of work.
I learned that co-workers are no my friends. They are sometimes enemies
I'm from Brazil, where we have lunch on restaurants every day. Very very few people have lunch at the office and even fewer at their desks.
When I first went to the US I was appalled by people eating at their desks, today I live in the UK and it's common for people to have lunch at their desks, may it be sandwiches or salads they brought from home. I still can't do it.
Reason being I have to breath fresh air, disconnect from the office and have my own personal meal time to sit down and enjoy a meal leisurely. I usually invite people to have lunch with me and I can see that they look almost uncomfortable sometimes.
I've done a month of exact opposite. Sometimes I didn't eat either.
Catch up on WWDC, wrote some cool hacks, update some libraries, write some tests for someone elses library, do some pull requests.
Lunch itself is a waste of time, adding co-workers that might eat slower than you where social conventions requires you to stick around (because they are kind enough to do so).
I rather just avoid that whole mess.
Besides, lunch was invented so I could watch WWDC in peace.
I am also lucky to work in a place where no one gets upset or questions it.
I actually like the company of my co-workers, but lunch is me being productive.
I pack a lunch nearly every day. I tend to get hungry 30-45 minutes before most of my coworkers, and I eat lunch at my desk because I don't want to sit by myself in the empty break room. Off topic: the amount of money I save by packing a lunch versus going out is awesome. I also tend to eat a bit healthier as a result.
This is one of the bits of advice I used to give new hires in NOC and Security: "Sometime things are crazy and we may not get to eat on time or may need to eat at our desks. Don't eat at your desk when you don't have to. Get away for a few minutes for your health and sanity."
Unrelated (ish) but much more important: "Don't cook fish in the shared microwaves!" At the current place, all of the microwaves have signs exhorting everyone to "Please cover your food!".
Another point to consider is that eating at your desk could be a major source of illness: your phone, tablet, mouse, keyboard, etc., are all great sources for all sorts of germs.
And why would those only be a concern if you are eating at your desk, not whe you are working on it and (gasp!) touching you phone, tablet, mouse, keyboard, etc?
Whenever I read an unqualified claim "there are more bacteria on your keyboard than on a toilet seat", I think "hm, most people must be spending way more time than necessary cleaning their toilets". But of course, the scientist in me also thinks the kinds of bacteria present will make an impact. The bacteria on a toilet seat might be similar to the zillions of bacteria in my stomach, or they might be E. Coli, salmonella, tetanus, syphilis, etc.
A somewhat different perspective exists in India. Most large corporations (and a large number of startups too) dissuade people from eating at their desks. Because most Indians love and eat cooked food, which, well, tends to give off the odours of cooked food. An entire floor eating cooked food at their desks will inevitably lead to a lingering odour that settles over everything & everyone.
So many of us have two options - eat out at a nearby eatery, or eat your prepared lunch at the internal cafeteria.
Personally, and in my circle of friends, we've gone from preferring eating out to preferring eating cooked meals that are either bought at the cafeteria or brought from home.
Maybe it's our preference for cooked food, which after a few years of eating out, will always be healthier if you get if from home. And because many of us have the "luxury" of being able to hire cooks who come in the mornings/evenings.
There are of course many Indians who prefer eating out, but as they get older (read: 4-5 years of working), they start realizing that home-cooked food is a better proposition. Which is why you'll often find a broad cross-section of employees - from an entry level person to CXOs, bringing cooked food in insulated containers as lunch.
It is one of these American cultural differences that we never imagine about other cultures: People eat lunch at the desk, instead of socializing; drinking alcohol outdoors is against the law; police can pick you for loitering...
I almost always take lunch, even when I'm very busy. Indeed, especially when I'm very busy. I always found it tremendously invigorating to get out of the office and walk around outside, particularly when I worked in Manhattan where you could totally drown yourself in the crowd and push out work thoughts.
It's funny, I almost never used to eat lunch when I worked in an office. I'd go have lunch outside of the office with coworkers. Now that I work remotely from home I eat at my desk close to 100% of the time. I rarely try to do actual work while eating, opting instead to stay hands free and watch a pycon talk or part of a documentary or something, but the article definitely resonates with me.. Most of my lunches are interrupted by questions in team chat and I end up feeling rushed back to work and not like I've had an effective break. I think I'm gonna try eating out today :)
I actually never bring my lunch to work, entirely for this reason. We don't have a cafeteria, and if I don't force myself to step away from my desk for an hour I'm never going to.
Eating lunch out every day can definitely get expensive, and people don't realize that. Of course, you don't have to buy your lunch in order to not eat at your desk. Assuming you have a place you can go (in this guy's example, a park), you can always bring something from home. Or, if you need something more exciting than what you can make at home, do like this guy:
[+] [-] marknutter|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] psychometry|12 years ago|reply
Because that would make for a completely reasonable, non-inflammatory headline and you'll never get to the top of HN with headlines like that, son.
[+] [-] randomdrake|12 years ago|reply
For me, I had acquiesced to always eating at my desk; convincing myself I was making the best decision for me.
I know myself well enough to know there are aspects of my life I'm not good at regulating or balancing. I also know that I'm good at convincing myself of things that aren't in my best interest. Experiments like this are useful to me for that reason.
I discovered that I was wrong about what I thought I wanted from this particular aspect of life. This discovery was important enough, for me, to make a clear cut decision to alleviate the chances of convincing myself my old routine was a good one.
An analogy that comes to mind is how some people stop smoking cigarettes: cold turkey isn't for everyone, but for those who know it is, they go for it and they stop and they feel better for it. There's science to show eating lunch at the desk is unhealthy. I've found I tremendously enjoy the alternative and the benefits that come with it. So, I've gone cold turkey. But that doesn't mean it's for everyone.
[+] [-] themodelplumber|12 years ago|reply
This can depend on personality, circumstances, etc. IMO if someone is stuck in a rut and decides the only way out is a complete polar switch, good for them. At least they are making a change for what they feel is the better. They might already know that they don't do well with half-switches and tend to fall back into the same orbit. Or they might just be really overwhelmed in general and find the feel of small yet firm changes appealing.
It can be annoying to have to put up with others' all-or-nothing viewpoints, but it can still be useful to appreciate that their perspective might be informed by experiences that differ from our own.
[+] [-] cliffbean|12 years ago|reply
For many people, "I'll just do whatever I feel like each day" is problematic, because the moment right before lunch isn't their brain's best time to make that decision. In that moment, the task at hand looms large in their attention, so they are disproportionately tempted to submit to it and keep working. The benefits of taking the break are somewhere out in the future, they're abstract, and even if you intellectually believe in the benefits, it can be easy to discount them, right there, in that moment. The task at hand is right there, right then, very concrete, no discount.
For such people, all-or-nothing is a way for them to make a decision ahead of time, in a moment of less stress and greater foresight, and perhaps commit themselves to it in a way that takes the decision out of their hands in their weaker moments. They may not come out ahead every day, but if the strategy works, they should come out ahead in the long run.
[+] [-] wil421|12 years ago|reply
>Alternatively when I get stuck on a problem I'll take a longer lunch and get away from my computer for a while.
Exactly sometimes problems are solved by taking time away from them to reflect.
My lunch varies by my mood and workday but I dont choose to stick with one scenario or another. I adapt to what my needs are.
[+] [-] catilac|12 years ago|reply
But I definitely know some people do it out of guilt. Indulging themselves, and their co-workers in Productivity Theater.
[+] [-] buckbova|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] raverbashing|12 years ago|reply
Coming from a culture where no, people don't eat at their desks, this is really weird for me.
I go and have lunch somewhere (and this has not been a problem in any country I worked). If I really can't go I starve, or go later.
This would be only an exception in "We're saving Apollo 13" kind of stuff.
[+] [-] kennu|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hnriot|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kyrra|12 years ago|reply
Working at home it's a bit different. I generally eat at my desk. I sometimes use that time to go for a walk or go to the gym. But mostly it's internet reading. :\
[+] [-] bluedino|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] edw519|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] enraged_camel|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gdulli|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gaving|12 years ago|reply
jesus christ what
[+] [-] melloclello|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] laureny|12 years ago|reply
All the reasons he gives seem pretty weak: if you need a break, you can step outside the office for a walk or a coffee or even go read on a bench for 20mn without the activity being necessarily lunch.
Eating lunch at your desk has benefits, such as allowing you to go home sooner or doing things at your computer that are not work related but which you enjoy doing (e.g. reading HN).
The moral here is not "Always eat at your desk" or "Always eat outside" but "Don't always do the same thing".
[+] [-] msoad|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hv23|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LaSombra|12 years ago|reply
When I first went to the US I was appalled by people eating at their desks, today I live in the UK and it's common for people to have lunch at their desks, may it be sandwiches or salads they brought from home. I still can't do it.
Reason being I have to breath fresh air, disconnect from the office and have my own personal meal time to sit down and enjoy a meal leisurely. I usually invite people to have lunch with me and I can see that they look almost uncomfortable sometimes.
[+] [-] seivan|12 years ago|reply
Catch up on WWDC, wrote some cool hacks, update some libraries, write some tests for someone elses library, do some pull requests.
Lunch itself is a waste of time, adding co-workers that might eat slower than you where social conventions requires you to stick around (because they are kind enough to do so).
I rather just avoid that whole mess.
Besides, lunch was invented so I could watch WWDC in peace.
I am also lucky to work in a place where no one gets upset or questions it.
I actually like the company of my co-workers, but lunch is me being productive.
[+] [-] Kiro|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] daigoba66|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] adricnet|12 years ago|reply
Unrelated (ish) but much more important: "Don't cook fish in the shared microwaves!" At the current place, all of the microwaves have signs exhorting everyone to "Please cover your food!".
[+] [-] mpl|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Someone|12 years ago|reply
Whenever I read an unqualified claim "there are more bacteria on your keyboard than on a toilet seat", I think "hm, most people must be spending way more time than necessary cleaning their toilets". But of course, the scientist in me also thinks the kinds of bacteria present will make an impact. The bacteria on a toilet seat might be similar to the zillions of bacteria in my stomach, or they might be E. Coli, salmonella, tetanus, syphilis, etc.
[+] [-] randomdrake|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tcgv|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|12 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] r0h1n|12 years ago|reply
So many of us have two options - eat out at a nearby eatery, or eat your prepared lunch at the internal cafeteria.
Personally, and in my circle of friends, we've gone from preferring eating out to preferring eating cooked meals that are either bought at the cafeteria or brought from home.
Maybe it's our preference for cooked food, which after a few years of eating out, will always be healthier if you get if from home. And because many of us have the "luxury" of being able to hire cooks who come in the mornings/evenings.
There are of course many Indians who prefer eating out, but as they get older (read: 4-5 years of working), they start realizing that home-cooked food is a better proposition. Which is why you'll often find a broad cross-section of employees - from an entry level person to CXOs, bringing cooked food in insulated containers as lunch.
[+] [-] neves|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rayiner|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] famousactress|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fournm|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] codelittle|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zwieback|12 years ago|reply
At my current job my desk is pretty attractive compared to the surroundings so I prefer that. Also, I can pack a pretty good lunch for myself.
[+] [-] j-b|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 0x001E84EE|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alwold|12 years ago|reply
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2012/02/liberate_you...
...and then bring it somewhere other than your desk to eat.