Skip to main content

Should We Encourage Longer Lunch breaks?

Written by: Mike Wood
Published on: 1 Dec 2020

Longer Lunchbreaks?

With a long dark winter ahead of us and working from home, it's very easy for all of us to sit at our desk from dawn till dusk. Especially as we're no longer commuting or even able to nip to the shops as much as we used to. We all know that sunlight and exercise are good for your physical and mental health (now more than ever), so let's start a new trend of longer lunch breaks. 

If at all possible, why not encourage (or even mandate!) our staff to take longer lunch breaks and get outside, walk the dog, or just go out for a walk in the park. With only a few hours of sunlight each day in the UK, we should be encouraged to make use of it. After all, who said we have to work 9 till 5 with an hour for lunch? - as long as the work is being done, and we're available for important meetings or meeting deadlines, our mental health is more important than clocking in and out. Why not encourage everyone to take an hour and a half or even 2 hours.

Better still, let's just make flexible working the norm. So if someone needs to get to the shops, pick up the kids, or walk while the sun is shining we shouldn't hesitate to just let them do it.

Trust invested in our staff is usually returned by way of greater loyalty, better productivity - and a happier/healthier team.