The document discusses how lunchtime habits have changed in offices over the past few decades. Where workers once left their desks at 1pm to eat lunch together in the canteen, now many simply eat sandwiches at their desks while continuing to work through lunch. This erosion of the lunch break is problematic for worker well-being and productivity, as psychologists believe downtime is important. In fact, a campaign by BUPA called "Reclaim the lunch break" found companies could be losing £50 million per day in lost productivity from workers not taking breaks. Their research showed only 30% of staff now take a proper lunch hour, yet constant work without breaks may not be beneficial to health or productivity in the long run.

1. Reclaim the lunch hour

2. Work rituals have changed drastically over the last
couple of decades to the point where someone from
the 1980s appearing in an office today would
probably be shocked at what goes on.
For example - lunchtime. How many people actually
leave their desks at 1pm and go to the canteen to
have something to eat before returning, exactly an
hour later to crack on with work again?
Back in the 80s, this was normal. Many large offices
were deserted at five past one, everyone just went to
the canteen, got in the queue and then sat down to
eat with their colleagues.

3. Changing lunch hour habits
This all began to change in the 90s though as the 'lunchtime meeting'
began to creep in. Of course, we all happily went to them because
there was free food and who doesn't like free food? But this was
the thin end of the wedge and before you know it, you got out of
the habit of going to the canteen and instead brought in your own
sandwiches and ate them at your desk.
We now have a situation where a vast majority of people simply
crack open a packet of sandwiches at some point during the day
(the lunch 'hour' has also been eroded) and they just carry on with
work. Lunchtime working is seen by many as an efficient time to
work with fewer distractions - other than their colleagues who are
also working through lunch.

4. And so this market has expanded with sandwiches
being bought on impulse from thousands of people
every day who simply take them to work.
It's also seen the decline of the work canteen which is
a shame as many psychologist feel that a lunch
'downtime' is almost essential for wellbeing and
could actually improve your mental capacity for the
rest of the day.
It seems that constantly working with no break may
not be good for you, a fact which is probably not lost
on many burnt-out workers.

5. ‘Reclaim the lunch break’ campaign
In fact, the problem is so bad that
BUPA started a campaign to
'reclaim the lunch break’.
Their research found that
companies are potentially losing
£50million a day through lost
productivity because workers are
not taking a lunch break.

6. Their research highlights that only 30% of staff
actually takes a lunch hour these days. Workers
claim that their productivity falls around 3pm and
they potentially lose 40 minutes of work due to
this.
Productivity is the big problem here. I doubt you'd
find anyone that would admit they thought
constantly working without a break is a good
thing and is beneficial to health, yet we seem to
view those who don't work through lunch or who
do take regular breaks as maybe not being
committed to their job.

7. In fact, the person that takes breaks, has a full
lunch hour and gets out of their chair often
during the day will probably turn out to be
more productive, happier and healthier
than many of us so called "workaholics".

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