It turns out that just one hour in the middle of the working day determines its entire continuation. Here are eight ways to get this very important hour right.
1. Eat the right food
Even if you are looking to lose weight or have an urgent assignment, do not skip meals or at least have a snack. The amount of glucose you consume directly affects your productivity. But it is better, of course, to have a full lunch and order (or take with you) food that will support brain activity.
2. Relax to regain your concentration
Lunch breaks in offices are getting shorter and shorter now, and many even dine at their desks. However, even a 15–20 minute rest is a great way to maintain concentration and energy levels throughout the day.
All the little tasks we do every day at work and the decisions we make drain our psychological resources. A lunch break or even just a short time out supports our brains' ability to replenish their resources.
If you never take breaks from work, do not get distracted from your important thoughts and activities, this reduces your ability to be creative in a task.
Kimberly Elsbach, Professor of Management, University of California, Davis
So if you skip lunch to keep thinking about an interesting project and learning new things, you're only diminishing your creativity.
3. Be mindful: nothing but food
Nowadays, only the lazy are not talking about meditation, but in order to meditate a little, it is not necessary to spread a yoga mat and sit in the lotus position. You may well be meditating during your lunch break.
Here's what Leo Widrich, co-founder of the Buffer blog, has to say about it:
We often watch TV, work, read or do something else while eating, completely oblivious to this process. It's funny, but right now, for many of us, just eating seems like a waste of time. But recent research on multitasking has shown the opposite picture. Being extremely focused on the process of eating not only helps you digest food better, but also ensures greater productivity in all other tasks.
Leo Widrich
A study published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology found that 20-minute breaks for meditation techniques for call center workers significantly reduced afternoon stress. Compared to the second group of workers, who spent 20 minutes of rest talking with colleagues, the meditating operators were much more stress-resistant.
Relaxation techniques have a positive effect on blood pressure, sleep quality, and other factors, including concentration. So a little meditation while eating will be very helpful.
4. Take a nap to improve memory
Have a nap, so if you have the opportunity to take a nap, you should do it. A person is so arranged that a second short nap during the day is simply necessary for him.
Our body's natural clock regulates processes such as sleep. This clock, a group of cells called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, helps the body determine when to engage in activities, including sleep.
Importantly, sleepiness develops at 2:00 p.m., and if your lunch break is at this time, it is best to take a nap.
After that (it is best to sleep for a maximum of 20 minutes, if more, then after waking up you will be haunted by drowsiness) enough space will be freed up in your memory for new information, since sleep helps to clear space of any information that you receive during the day, so to speak, to decompose her on the shelves.
Important events will be transferred into long-term memory, and minor ones will be erased, so you will wake up with a fresh head.
5. Practice
Another activity set by our biological clock is exercise. If you have a late lunch break, you can spend some of it on training, because from 3 pm to 4 pm a person has better physical performance and a lower risk of injury. In addition, from 2 pm to 6 pm the elasticity of the muscles is increased and the lungs work better than at the beginning of the day.
Even a few hours in the afternoon, your physical activity will be better than in the morning. For runners, cyclists and fans of other endurance sports, morning is the worst time to exercise. So if you want to exercise every day, it's best to do it at lunchtime, not before work.
Of course, exercise has many benefits, including stress relief, mood elevation, self-confidence, and self-esteem. And all this will be very useful for you in your work.
If you don't have time for a full workout, you can give it a try. If you go home for lunch, it’s quite possible.
6. Spend time in nature
Very soon, the weather will be right for spending your lunch break in nature. Studies have shown that a walk in a quiet park then helps to better concentrate and after such a rest, a person returns to work with the opportunity to look at problems and tasks in a new way.
On the other hand, walking down the street takes more attention, so that the person cannot completely relax and the brain does not rest so intensely.
So, if you are fortunate enough to work near a forest, park or other island of nature, do not miss your luck and go for a walk after eating. Or even take some food with you and grab a bite in the park.
Another study found that people living in areas with good landscaping are less likely to become depressed and feel anxiety, are less stressed and get out of this state faster.
7. Go to a cafe, get inspiration
If you can't get away from work, grab a laptop and go to lunch at a cafe. There are many reasons why this is a great option for your lunch break.
The general noise that is always present in these establishments has been proven to have a positive effect on your creativity. Moderate noise levels, as opposed to quiet or very noisy environments, make all tasks a little more difficult, just enough to push us out of our comfort zone and nudge us towards creative thinking.
The next advantage of working in a cafe after lunch is a change of scenery, which means a shift in the point of attention and new solutions. There is even such an idea: to divide your working day into blocks and carry out each of them in a different place. It helps you get to work faster than if you were sitting in your usual workplace, saturated with boredom and unwillingness to work.
8. Post something on social networks
What else can you use your lunch break for? In order to post something on social networks.
Research on this topic has confirmed that the best time for posting is lunchtime. Office workers are just distracted from their business and entertain themselves while they eat with idle reading of interesting resources.
For example, a KISSMetric study found that the best time to tweet is at lunchtime or 6 p.m.