You could opt to have a packed lunch at your desk, dine with coworkers in the cafeteria, or go for a walk and grab a bite at a fancy lunch restaurant. Everyone has their own routine for that moment in the middle of the day when you get to take a break.
Sometimes people skip these breaks, but they aren’t aware of the advantages of taking a lunch break. It allows your brain to re-energize. When you return to work, your attention, creativity, and brainpower have all improved, so you’ll be able to do more than you would have if you hadn’t taken the time off.
By altering your afternoon routine, you may increase your productivity and success. We’ll show you how to make your breaks more productive and what foods to eat to keep your productivity levels up. So, let’s get started.
Healthy Eating for Better Concentration
This one may appear self-evident. Even if you’re attempting to lose weight or doing errands during your lunch break, you should have a midday meal — or at the very least a snack. Your productivity for the rest of the day is determined by your diet, particularly your glucose consumption.
According to research, the healthiest brain foods are those that also protect your heart, such as green leafy vegetables, whole grains, berries, tea, coffee, eggs, fatty fish, walnuts, and so on.
Just remember that even if you eat just one piece of fruit, you’ll feel better and be motivated to make a healthy salad for yourself.
Get Up and Move Around After Your Lunch
Taking breaks at work to walk around is a fantastic idea if your job requires a lot of sitting—basically any type of desk job. Sitting a lot makes you sedentary, which has a slew of long-term health implications.
The act of sitting has been compared to the act of smoking. If you have a 60-minute lunch break, you may eat for 20–30 minutes and then go for a stroll or ride your bike for the remaining time. This will help you relax your thoughts, increase your vitality, and stimulate your creativity.
Get a Nap to Recharge Yourself
Our internal body clocks help in the regularization of activities such as sleeping. The body clock is made up of unique “body clock” genes in a collection of cells called the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus. These switch on and off to signal our bodies when to do things like fall asleep.
All of this is happening inside of us all the time, but the most essential thing to know about our body clocks is that we experience a natural drop in energy about 2 p.m. This implies that if you have a late lunch break, it’s the ideal time for a brief sleep.
You’ll have more room in your working memory for new knowledge after a nap, provided you sleep for no more than 20 minutes to prevent the terrible post-sleep grogginess known as sleep inertia.
This is because napping helps to clear out that holding region of any information taken up throughout the day. While much of the information is discarded, anything significant is transferred to long-term memory, so after a nap, your memory performance improves.
Socialize With Friends, Relatives or Colleagues
Being in the company of other people helps us feel good, enhances our physical health, and improves our brain functioning. Spending your lunch break socializing might provide the boost you need to get through the rest of the day’s job.
Check with friends or relatives to see if you can arrange your schedules so that you can spend your lunch catching up. If being physically together isn’t an option, video calling technology allows you to bond over time.
You may also use that time to socialize with your coworkers. Workplace socializing is beneficial to the company because it fosters relationships, boosts innovation, and promotes cooperation.
Increase Energy Levels by Working Out
Exercising has several advantages for your overall health. Also, the hour you have for lunch is ideal for going for a stroll, going to the gym, or doing yoga.
Look for routines that you love performing to keep yourself motivated to exercise on a regular basis. You may also try out other hobbies to see which ones you enjoy the most.
Finally, during your lunch break, avoid sitting in front of your computer. Eat the appropriate meals and make better use of this time if you want to enhance your health and productivity at work. You’ll feel more motivated in the second half of your day if you make these small changes.
