Are you used to hastily eating at your desk in front of the PC while you work? This could raise your stress levels a lot, here’s why.
If you want reduce stress in your days there is one thing that you absolutely must not do and above all you must not make it a habit: eat at your desk. The temptation to save time by eating something quick like a sandwich while replying to business emails is strong, but it’s not good for you at all: it makes concentration disappear and makes us feel even more alone, raising our stress levels. So let’s see together why you shouldn’t do it and how to avoid falling into this situation.
Have you ever used the time dedicated to your lunch break to attend to work errands, eating hastily and in a distracted way without taking your eyes off your PC monitor? If so, pay attention: this behavior, which has become more frequent especially after the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic with smart working, could be harmful both in nutritional and psychocological terms.
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The term ‘lunch break’ is not a random definition: it is based on the concept that to give the right attention to what you are eating and to do it with due tranquility, you need to take a break from work.
Unfortunately, however, many people, working from home, are losing this habit and end up having a frugal meal in front of the PC while they are dealing with work practices. This is the negative side of smart working, which makes the boundaries between working and non-working hours increasingly blurred. It is no coincidence that during the pandemic there was a worrying increase in eating disorders of over 40% – an alarming percentage.
Lunch break and stress: what is wrong
Eating while sitting at the desk where you work, even if it is that of your apartment, is one of the worst things you can do. As psychologist Sam Von Reiche pointed out in an article on HuffPost, the problem is that when you are at your desk you eat food unknowingly, not realizing what you bring to your mouth and, therefore, ending up exaggerating and ingesting an exaggerated amount of calories.
There are several studies, for example one from the University of Illinois and another published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, which show how a well done lunch break allows you to disconnect from work and rest your mind adequately to be even more productive later.
The best estimated time is between 30 minutes and an hour: this is the optimal interval to be able to recharge and be more creative, but not only. The break also allows you to lower cortisol levels, the hormone responsible for stress, which tend to be high both for the conditions due to the pandemic and for the continuous exposure to the patterns.
How to solve this problem then? It is important during the lunch break to stretch your legs and, above all, to change the room from the one in which you work. The change of scenery is very important to have fun, managing to take a break in all respects.
But not only that, the ideal would be to have a meal with friends: a study by the Humboldt University of Berlin has shown that eating together with other people is good for the mind because it gives serenity and also makes you appreciate the food you are consuming more.
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