How to: Make the most out of your lunch hour

For a while I’ve been meaning to write a post on that glorious one hour timeslot in the middle of the day that we all know and love as lunchtime. In many ways I think that what you get up to in your lunch hour is quite important; not just for your own piece of mind but for your productivity and wellbeing levels for the rest of the day. I’ve just returned from my weekly lunchtime game of 500, and thought that there would be no better way to kick off this post than sharing this weekly habit with my readers.

We’ve been playing 500 once a week for a few months now, and I love it. We’re fortunate to have a brand new and well designed workplace that has several in-house cafes and many flexible and creative collaboration spaces, which means there are plenty of good spots to settle and play a few hands of cards. I’ve found that 500 is a perfect lunchtime game for many reasons:

• It gets me away from my desk
• It keeps my brain active but working differently to normal
• It’s a good way to meet people from across the organisation
• It’s competitive
• Yet still social

What we’ve found thus far is that it’s actually hard to get a lunch hour each week when all 4 of us can play, which is actually a blessing in disguise. When we need a replacement, one of us can usually bring along a friend or colleague, who typically hasn’t met the rest of the playing group. As a result, over the last couple of months I’ve met a fair range of people from across the organisation who may well come in as handy contacts one day. Sometimes I even sneak a quick online game at my desk.

I’m a huge advocate of getting away from my desk and out of the building at lunchtimes; fresh air and natural light seem to be grossly underrated in the corporate world but I really value their importance. Some of the other things I like to use my lunchtime for:

• Catching up for lunch with friends or past workmates from other departments or companies
• Playing 6-a-side soccer in a social work comp
• Getting my shopping done
• Appointments
• Social games of pool
• Catching up on reading and internet time
• Writing this blog
• The odd sneaky reeb

So far I’m not convinced on the merits on getting really physically active at lunchtime. I used to enjoy playing soccer but felt that the physical exhaustion I felt for the rest of the afternoon really made it hard to work as effectively as I normally do. As a result, I think exercise is best left till after work and on weekends. But I imagine a lot of people would disagree with this comment. Either way, I see getting out of the office and using the time for a practical purpose as far and away the best way to make use of my lunch hour.

Unfortunately, I’m a little uncreative when it comes to my lunch hour, as you can see above, and I’m wondering what else I can do in my lunch hour to really make the most out of my time. So, over to you my trusty readers. What do you get up to in your lunch hour? What’s the best way to get busy, get active or get productive? Let us know with your comments below.

Thanks for reading!
-Howo