I Can’t Believe I Didn’t Think Of This

A Simple Yet Effective Productivity Hack

I have a coworker who does something odd, and I finally asked him about it one day.

On my project, we all get an hour for lunch and a total of twenty minutes for our breaks every day.

The smokers like to take many short breaks, and the rest of us usually prefer to take one long break.

We also have five additional minutes to ourselves every hour, though we sometimes take a bit longer and go to the bakery downstairs for coffee.

The strange thing my colleague does is that he takes his break during the time most people in the company would be taking lunch, and he eats his lunch during his break very late, almost at the end of the work day.

It’s none of my business, but one day my curiosity got the best of me.

I asked him why he takes such a late lunch.

And his answer was so simple.

He just eats his food during his break and saves his entire lunch hour to work on his side business. It’s technically not during company time, so there is no conflict of interest there.

I was very impressed by this simple yet clever concept. I couldn’t believe managing my time like that had never even occurred to me before.

Even so, I really do not suggest eating a rushed lunch, especially on a daily basis.

Especially in our culture, meals should be stretched out and enjoyed. It is also for health reasons, though.

We work to live and not the other way around.

While I am a relatively fast eater and typically finish my lunch within about 10 to 15 minutes, I do like to spend the whole lunch hour enjoying the rooftop terrace and letting my mind go blank.

During my break, I also do not want to have to think about anything.

If the couch is available, I will sit there and mindlessly play games on my phone. Otherwise I just find the most comfortable alternative I can and do the same thing.

However, if I had a personal deadline I needed to meet, I like knowing I could use this system of my colleague’s to my advantage.

I also know this idea can potentially help many other people, so I wanted to share it with you, as well.

I must really emphasize that I do not think this is a good strategy long-term, but please feel free to use it if you like, and I wish you the best.

Please, take care of yourself, and thanks for reading. If you liked this, you may want to follow me. I write about life from a Mediterranean perspective.

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