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Original poster

How do you spend your lunch hour?

140 replies

WhaleyAwesome · 29/08/2021 13:14

Just that.

OP posts:
FredaFox · 30/08/2021 07:44

I'm shocked how many people do stuff, I get an hour but when wfh I just grab food and work through, if in the office I either warm up or eat what I've taken in or nip out to the nearest shop to grab a sandwich
No one I know actively uses their hour to do anything and all work
We have a new boy straight out of uni who does use his hour, in the morning turns up on the dot, it's really noticeable and has raised eyebrows amongst colleagues
In a sales environment I don't think anyone uses their lunch

chatw0o0 · 30/08/2021 07:48

Work from office - wander around trying to decide what to get from lunch. Odd jobs like going to post office, getting eyes tested, picking up some things from the supermarket.
WFH - pretty much the same but without having to go outside to get lunch! Always tried to get a walk in, even if just 10 mins around the block. Sometimes would do some dinner prep to get a head start.

KingdomScrolls · 30/08/2021 07:51

Don't get one, some days I'm fortunate enough to eat a warm sandwich with one hand while working, most days I don't get time, I have to put a thirty minute unpaid break on my timesheet regardless

newnortherner111 · 30/08/2021 07:57

With working from home, much of the lunch break is preparing and cooking lunch. One of the pleasures of working from home is being able to have the main hot meal of the day as lunch.

Original poster
WhaleyAwesome · 30/08/2021 07:58

@Dizzy1234 sounds very similar to my old line manager...

Good luck with the job hunt!

OP posts:
Original poster
WhaleyAwesome · 30/08/2021 08:03

@CallMeRisley this is one of the options that has come up in this thread (and given I have previously had to work through every lunch hour I have also asked what the opinions on it would be).

@MrsCatE Yep, this was my old line manager - the day I was late by 15 minutes due to giving someone CPR; the only second time I had been late in two years - I was disciplined, yet he sauntered in 45 minutes late each day, logged on and then disappeared for up to an hour into the kitchen each morning. Let's not talk about the time where he left me line managing a team and disappeared for six weeks of annual leave during a crisis and then came back and claimed he had worked from home for three days of each week, and was given the over time, despite I single person in the office not being aware he was working (his role could not be done for that amount of time without others knowing).

OP posts:
LizzieMacQueen · 30/08/2021 08:10

If you're given a lunch hour (paid) then the least you can do is eat in your lunch hour. I know you're arguing you can eat and work at the same time but that's beside the point - you have your hour's break to do that.

Original poster
WhaleyAwesome · 30/08/2021 08:12

@LizzieMacQueen I am not arguing anything - it is what I have done before - and it's what others on this thread do (eating whilst working)

Regardless, it wasn't the point of the thread, and as someone pointed out it would be best to see how things are done in the new place before going a paying for a snazzy lunch time gym class.

OP posts:
Shehasadiamondinthesky · 30/08/2021 08:18

I work in the NHS. I don't have time for lunch.
I've got a gastric band and it takes me an hour to eat a meal - of course I don't have time for that so I have to live on slimfast shakes or Huel shakes during the day.

maddiemookins16mum · 30/08/2021 08:28

When WFH I watch Doctors (1.45pm) in the kitchen as I prep dinner, set the table and potter around, get washing in etc. In the office, I just work through it and eat at my desk.

lastqueenofscotland · 30/08/2021 08:33

When WFH - go on a walk and then eat after my lunch break Grin
When not- eat and then potter about a bit

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 30/08/2021 08:39

If you spend your lunch hours doing something active / outdoors - do you ever than have issues with people complaining when you are eating at your desk during your working hours?

I'm another one who worked in an environment where you didn't have time to take the lunch break you were entitled to (sorry but it's not unusual) - so that meant that most of us ate at our desks while working. If you're in an environment where people do take lunch breaks then I think people might object. It seems wrong for some people to use their lunch break to eat their lunch, and others to use their lunch break to do something else and then spend working time eating their lunch.

Back in the day when I did take a lunch break more often, I'd run errands as i worked in a small town eg bank or post office, drop off/collect dry cleaning or shoes heeling. I had my hair cut a couple of times, met friends for a quick lunch.
I did try having a swim once as a male colleague did this regularly and said it invigorated him for the afternoon. I'd overlooked the fact that his hair was dry by the time he was dressed and I needed time to dry mine and reapply a little makeup so that didn't work for me.

CorianderBee · 30/08/2021 09:23

I WFH so I either shower or nap

MinnieMountain · 30/08/2021 09:27

When the weather was nice I’d sit in the cathedral grounds eating my lunch and listening to Radio 4. Now it’s cooling down I need to get walking instead.

I sometimes meet a friend who works nearby.

When I WFH I swam once a week.

DH plays computer games or goes to private hockey training.

Original poster
WhaleyAwesome · 30/08/2021 09:29

Thank you everyone for sharing the suggestions and thoughts about eating at desks after the lunch break.

OP posts:
Hardbackwriter · 30/08/2021 09:34

I love going for a lunchtime run. I found if I did a 30 min run I could go, shower (we do have showers in our office) and eat something quick like a sandwich before coming back to my desk.

When I compressed my hours I wanted to cut my (technically unpaid, though we're salaried) lunch break from 1 hour to 30 minutes and was told I couldn't 'as you need the full break for your welfare', so that was the end of me continuing to work at my desk during my lunch hour!

Terriah · 30/08/2021 09:43

DH & I still WFH, we both get 30 mins so we go for a walk together.

Trinacham · 30/08/2021 09:45

I get half an hour. I have a job where I'm constantly on my feet so I spend it sat down eating lunch.

RagzReturnsRebooted · 30/08/2021 09:49

I'm nurse, but in General Practice and do actually get an hour as it's time between clinics. I've started swimming in my lunch break as there's a gym a few mins drive away. I usually swim for 20 mins, shower, dry my hair and get back in time to eat. Before, swimming I'd either read in my car, walk to a park and eat or chill at my desk on my phone while eating.

Blueeyedgirl21 · 30/08/2021 09:58

I used to just take ten mins and inhale whatever food I can get my hands on. Not good. We have put our foot down with our boss as a department and now we get 50 mins and are determined to not be available during it.
A couple of times a week I use it to nip out and gets bits of shopping to save time on weekends / evenings. Stuff like a birthday gift needed or something specific we have run out of or whatever. A couple of times we will have it in the work cafeteria and catch up/network with others. And one day a week I like to treat myself to a sandwich and coffee out from somewhere nice, usually walking there and bacm

TheChosenTwo · 30/08/2021 10:19

Two days a week I eat at my desk and work through, the other 3 days I either go home and do a couple of things (dishwasher, washing machine related type chores) or I go for a walk either on my own or with a colleague.
I used to work through my lunch every day and decided a couple of years ago that I was being a martyr. Most people I work with work through their lunch and they’d sit and moan about it to anyone who would listen, I realised I was doing the same! Made the snap decision that I would do it for 2 days and that was it. It’s not quite enough to keep on top of everything but I work in a school, there will always be things that need doing regardless of whether I work through my lunch every day or not.
I feel much better getting out of the building and having some fresh air.

CloudPop · 30/08/2021 10:42

@WhaleyAwesome

Yes, an hour - as per the title of the thread.

Thanks for all those responding with suitable ideas (and what a variety!).

If you spend your lunch hours doing something active / outdoors - do you ever than have issues with people complaining when you are eating at your desk during your working hours?

Given that the "lunch hour" concept seems to be very rigid (not something I've ever encountered), then I would suggest that you need to both eat and do your exercise within that hour. That's the point of a lunch hour. Not to entertain yourself for an hour and then still expect to take another 10 minutes to eat your lunch, subjecting your colleagues to the sight/sounds/smell of this. Followed presumably by you going to wash up and have a post prandial coffee. You've stated, quite reasonably, that you intend to keep "boundaries" around your lunch hour, it is however reasonable for your employers to expect that this hour actually involves eating lunch. Someone buggering off out for an hour and then sitting and eating lunch would not be acceptable I don't think.
CloudPop · 30/08/2021 10:43

@WhaleyAwesome

Thank you everyone for sharing the suggestions and thoughts about eating at desks after the lunch break.
So you expect to have more than an hour for lunch?
NHS4Life · 30/08/2021 10:49

I'm not sure what my contract is but I think it's 30 mins. I usually work through so I leave at 4:30 rather than 5

Franticbutterfly · 30/08/2021 10:51

Hour? 😂 I get 30 minutes in a 10 hour shift. 😂 (NHS).