On a beautiful day, it struck me as insanely odd that co-workers were choosing to eat lunch in the basement of our building. For four hours, we slaved over work and here is our chance to break free for one hour to eat, clear our mind of chatter, and recharge. Yet, they crowded around a table in the basement talking about whatever while I basked in the warmth of the sun with the coolness of the air on my skin. How could they choose to pass this up?
As I sat outside peering through the green leaves into the sky, I arrived at a realization: How a person spends their lunch hour speaks volumes about their mental state.
Personal life and work life are connected because they affect one another. Many people define themselves by their occupation, others just work in a field they enjoy for income, while some just work to live. But most people will arrive home tired and exhausted from work and continually fade until it's time for bed. They have become so out of tune with nature and their place in nature that they only experience the resulting stress from working in a fabricated and stale environment of man-made materials for the better part of their waking hours. They cannot even get enough sense to remove themselves from this environment to eat healthy and think on their own for an hour lunch.
"A new CareerBuilder survey found the typical lunch break is 20 to 40 minutes. It also found 32 percent of workers take less than a half-hour for lunch, 18 percent typically don't leave their desks during their lunch break and eat in their workspace five days a week, while 10 percent never take a lunch break."
As I sat outside peering through the green leaves into the sky, I arrived at a realization: How a person spends their lunch hour speaks volumes about their mental state.
Personal life and work life are connected because they affect one another. Many people define themselves by their occupation, others just work in a field they enjoy for income, while some just work to live. But most people will arrive home tired and exhausted from work and continually fade until it's time for bed. They have become so out of tune with nature and their place in nature that they only experience the resulting stress from working in a fabricated and stale environment of man-made materials for the better part of their waking hours. They cannot even get enough sense to remove themselves from this environment to eat healthy and think on their own for an hour lunch.
"A new CareerBuilder survey found the typical lunch break is 20 to 40 minutes. It also found 32 percent of workers take less than a half-hour for lunch, 18 percent typically don't leave their desks during their lunch break and eat in their workspace five days a week, while 10 percent never take a lunch break."
People who eat at their desks are unaware of the effect of work on their mind and bodies. Not only do they not know the value of discretionary time during their day, but they also have poor time management skills. They believe they have so much to do that they are unable to find 30 minutes to take a mental and physical break from work. They are so neck-deep in work that they can't see or think straight. They are unable to see the big picture. So they essentially insulate themselves inside the walls of buildings in order to 'get things done' and believe they are being productive with their activity.
Some say it is a time to network. Executive coach Regina Barr of Red Ladder believes when it comes to networking and developing critical relationships, "Women (who often have childcare or other family obligations and don’t have morning or evenings to network)..... their only time to build social capital is during lunch hour."
People who network are trying to increase their value to the company. They believe they are working smarter and subsequently setting themselves apart for promotion. These individuals become so invested in their work, that the idea of change is daunting to them because of how much energy they invest into staying where they are, either to move up the corporate ladder or to maintain their position. Their focus is to get ahead financially so they tend to want to make more, save more, spend more, and work towards having more discretionary time at some point in the future, but this is risky.
People who network are trying to increase their value to the company. They believe they are working smarter and subsequently setting themselves apart for promotion. These individuals become so invested in their work, that the idea of change is daunting to them because of how much energy they invest into staying where they are, either to move up the corporate ladder or to maintain their position. Their focus is to get ahead financially so they tend to want to make more, save more, spend more, and work towards having more discretionary time at some point in the future, but this is risky.
They never reflect on their momentum and ask the tough questions. Do I still enjoy my job? Am I overworking myself? Should I reduce my hours? Am I reaping the rewards of my effort? Is this what I want out of life? So they keep those periods of possible reflection at a minimal and fill their lunch hour with activity in order to be potentially creating value for the company.
People who stay in for lunch in the lunchroom have a tendency to become complacent and view themselves powerless to change their circumstances. These workers fall into line and follow the rules. They sacrifice 2080 hours a year PLUS 780 hours that surround the workday and accept the bread crumbs of 1 week to 3 weeks vacation and some paid time off. They appear to go through the motions at work, are on auto-pilot, and always seem to have the latest gossip. And they usually work for decades at the same company with marginal performance.
Those that eat lunch outside and alone value their ties to nature and understand the benefit of silence and peace on the mind. They may realize that where they are working is a stepping stone because they are forward thinking. It may not be the most healthy place to work as they are finding out, but they know the importance of realigning their thoughts and energy with their best interests and preventing themselves from becoming complacent. That valuable hour for lunch clears their mind from the monotony. These people are protective of their creativity and mental energy and are always reflecting on their life, which makes them more self-aware.
The fundamental idea is simple enough: People produce and they receive income (which is based off a wage). The problem arises when they exchange an unfair portion of their valuable time, freedom, health, and creativity for this income or wage. People enter these modes of work because it exists all around them. They settle for this wage, where the corporation has control and it is mining their best mental energy for its advancement, for its advantage, making itself more powerful and its workers less powerful and more dependent on its system.
It is sobering to know in the back of your head that no matter how high up the ladder you are, unless you own the company, you are replaceable. Knowing this, you should always be protective of your valuable, discretionary time. You come first, your health, your creativity, your sanity comes first. The company comes second. You certainly don't come first to it. Profit comes first to it. When you find that you are out of balance, which seems to happen every week to everyone, get it back in balance. Be an ambassador of your time and your colleagues time.
The lunch hour is time to turn off the noise and check in with that inner voice. Because noise and activity can drown out that voice and what we are left with is stress and unrest. That voice makes sense out of how we interface with our environment. That's why this voice is so important to listen for. It gives us direction and keeps us anchored.
Copyright ©2011 Teresa Bruneau
No comments:
Post a Comment