Philippine Star - Saturday, July 19
Two new female employees were conversing one day.
First girl: I lost my job because of illness and fatigue.
Second girl: That's too bad.
First girl: Yeah, my boss got sick and tired of me.
The second girl pressed on: Why, what happened?
First girl: I was just a little late coming back from lunch.
Second girl: "And what did your boss say?"
First girl: "He said, you are so amazing; you've been with us two weeks and already you're a month behind in your work."
Talk about lunch breaks.
There was once a time in our work life when we had the luxury of sitting down, relaxing and eating a hearty meal during lunch hour. This part of our life is now history. Long before the advent of email, SMS, Blackberry and being "On Line" 24/7, our lunch breaks today are laced with tasks, things-to-do, things-I-should-do-while-doing-lunch and this is why we are so stressed.
Technology has made us want to inject more tasks into the same hours available. And we tend to think that all of these tasks are important. Just consider this word "Priorities." How can "priority" be in the plural form? But that's just the way life is today.
I have a not-too-good way of doing lunch.
The Ilocana at one time called my attention and said, "Sweetheart, you may want to chew your food before you swallow..... you have just set an Olympic record for speed eating!"
This is not a good thing.
Although I can finish a meal in 3 minutes flat some times I tend to forget that others cannot. And this is why as a leader I need to be sensitive about this and not cause indigestion especially to the people who work for me and who work with me.
Here are 5 ways for you not to break your lunch break:
Make sure you make the best of your lunch hour. By considering the following ideas:
Get a good breakfast.
* You start the day by starting healthy and you go through the day by staying healthy. Time and time again I hear fitness and nutrition experts saying that breakfast is the key to controlling hunger by lunch time. There are people who tell me they skip breakfast. I don't really know if that is a good idea. But I make sure I have a good breakfast, stay away from sweets, drink lots of liquids not just coffee and take a lot of fiber that helps keep me from overeating. Now this is just me. I do not pretend to be an expert but I can go for the whole morning without having to take a morning snacks as long as I have a good breakfast. This gives me the energy to do what I do and makes me a lot more productive.
Get away from your desk.
* If you bring your lunch to work, do not take your lunch to a place where you will be spending the rest of your hours of the day. Use your lunch break as an opportunity to remove yourself from your workspace. Get some fresh air. Stay away from the dragons. These are the people who huff and puff their cigarette during lunch time. Eat outside, talk to a friend, read a good book, listen to your favorite music through your MP3 player or something but here's the key: Just step away! This way you will feel re-energized once it's time to slide back into your chair.
Get your workouts from your errands.
* Some bosses need to get work done ASAP. And they need you to do errands. So make the most out of this by walking! This helps digestion and this would greatly revitalize you mentally and reduce stress throughout the day.
Get the right company.
* Find colleagues who are healthy and health conscious. You know the old cliché: Birds of the same feather, they all eat little together..." :)
* As you build friendships and encourage health consciousness, you are actually adding value to building good relationships which benefits not only yourself but your organization as well.
But this is the one important thing I need to remember. As a leader I should refrain from making my people break their lunch break. Not only is this a "not-very-nice-thing-to-do," it's just reflective of poor leadership.
(Francis Kong will be the lead trainer for the Dr. John Maxwell's "Developing the Leader Within You" leadership program this July 31 and August 1 at EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. 632-8129125) - Francis J. Kong/Philstar
Source: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/star/20080719/tbs-break-lunch-hour-0ec9746.html
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