Friday 16 June marks National Take Back the Lunch Break Day, and I for one am entirely on board.
In our incredibly busy lives, lunch breaks often get overlooked, forgotten about, or pushed to one side. You’re far too busy to break for an hour; you’ve got too much work to get through to pause in your day; you’ll never clear your backlog if you take 60 minutes to kick back.
But is that really true?
When we’re busy, it can be very tempting to work all-out and push ourselves to the max, but as mental health professionals, we know that’s not really the best approach, don’t we? Trouble is, we rarely take our own advice. So I’m here to remind you that YOUR wellbeing matters just as much as the wellbeing of your clients – and one of the best ways to safeguard it is by giving yourself adequate breaks throughout the working week.
Why breaks make us better all-round
Did you know that it’s actually entirely counterproductive to work through the day without a break? You might think you’re doing right by your to-do list, but the quality of your work (and your own quality of life) can really suffer as a result.
Taking a lunch break in the midst of your working day is a very critical part of establishing and maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle. The employee lunchbreak culture has declined over the years – which is why National Take Back the Lunch Break Day was set up back in 2018. But as well as encouraging employees to take the allotted time they’re legally entitled to, this day is also important for encouraging self-employed people to take care of themselves, too.
If you run your own practice, you might feel like a lunch break is overly indulgent. But giving yourself time out every day can actually have an incredibly positive impact on your overall productivity – not to mention improving your job satisfaction and work/life balance.
According to research by Tork (the brand who kick-started National Take Back the Lunch Break Day), employees who take a lunch break score higher on a wide range of engagement metrics, including job satisfaction and productivity.
A global pandemic
As industry professionals, you already know that mental health is in decline across the board. That’s never going to be helped by people putting so much pressure on themselves that they feel unable to take a well-earned rest once a day.
National Take Back the Lunch Break Day was actually established for workers in North America, but with more and more people experiencing mental health disorders across the globe, why shouldn’t this be an incentive for everyone? Less frequent and shorter lunchbreaks have a detrimental effect on wellbeing and workplace morale, so why are we doing this to ourselves?
As mental health professionals, it’s absolutely crucial that we set a good example for our clients. That means having a clear hour in the day when you don’t book anybody in; instead, take time for YOU. To eat; to relax; to recharge. Have a disclaimer on your website and in your email signature, so that clients – and industry peers – can see that your lunch hour is protected.
You’ll be setting a wonderful example, and encouraging others to do the same.
A chance to learn
National Take Back the Lunch Break Day is also a great opportunity to educate your clients about the restorative powers of nature, and relationships.
Rather than eating lunch at your desk, why not get out for a walk? Whether it’s in a local park or around your own neighbourhood, breathing in the fresh air can do wonders for your mind. You could also invite a friend or colleague along to soak up the benefits.
By rejecting workaholism, you not only make yourself far more productive for the hours that you devote to work, but you also frame yourself as someone who walks the walk and talks the talk. So when clients come to you and say they’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, run down and burned out, you can speak from experience about the small actions they can take to really make a difference.
You might also want to focus on having a healthy lunch that makes you feel both full and energised – leaving you raring to go for the day ahead. But whether you eat, walk, read or call a friend, just make sure you take back your lunch break – and bask in all of the benefits that it brings.
Comments