WEBVTT - Read at lunch

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to try reading at lunch. We all

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<v Speaker 1>need breaks from time to time. Lunch is as good

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<v Speaker 1>a time as any to take a break. You have

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<v Speaker 1>to eat, and you have to manage your energy. When

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<v Speaker 1>you don't break midday, the afternoon can easily disappear into

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<v Speaker 1>unfocused email reading or social media checks. You might wind

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<v Speaker 1>up staying late just to get your work done. If

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<v Speaker 1>you've already worked through lunch, well, this can definitely lead

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<v Speaker 1>to burnout. Breaks are smart, but this raises the question

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<v Speaker 1>what should you do with this time during the work

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<v Speaker 1>day that you aren't working. One of the best ideas

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<v Speaker 1>I've heard lately is to use it to read. My

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<v Speaker 1>co host on the Best of Both Worlds podcast Best

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<v Speaker 1>Sarah hart Hunger works as a physician. She spends her

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<v Speaker 1>days seeing patients and managing her hospital's residency program, so

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<v Speaker 1>she has recently been using her lunch break to make

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<v Speaker 1>it through her summer reading list. I can't do this

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<v Speaker 1>every day meetings, work, et cetera, she recently posted on

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<v Speaker 1>her blog. But when I'm able to sneaking away to

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<v Speaker 1>read for thirty minutes while eating is the best. I

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<v Speaker 1>recognize it's a little antisocial, and I probably could be networking,

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<v Speaker 1>but the rest of my job is so social and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm talking to everyone all of the time, so this

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<v Speaker 1>break is really nice and sometimes needed. I agree, and

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<v Speaker 1>so did a lot of people posting comments on Sarah's blog.

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<v Speaker 1>One reader noted that closing my office door and reading

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<v Speaker 1>for thirty minutes over lunch is one of my sanity savers. Another,

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<v Speaker 1>a teacher, noted that she was around people all the time,

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<v Speaker 1>reading while the kids were at lunch was her treat.

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<v Speaker 1>Another commenter called lunchtime reading a nice mental pause. It's

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<v Speaker 1>also a great way to add more reading to your life.

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<v Speaker 1>If you read for thirty minutes at lunch twice a week,

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<v Speaker 1>that's an extra hour of reading time each week. A

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<v Speaker 1>lot of commercial books take four to six hours to read,

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<v Speaker 1>so this means you can read an extra book every

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<v Speaker 1>four to six weeks, or an extra eight to thirteen

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<v Speaker 1>books a year. Reading a dozen books a year right

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<v Speaker 1>there puts you in the top half of readers. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>this is easier said than done. Many people find it

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<v Speaker 1>challenging to take a lunch break. In general, certain structural

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<v Speaker 1>decisions can help. You can push for an office culture

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<v Speaker 1>where morning meetings get scheduled on the hour and afternoon

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<v Speaker 1>ones on the half hour. This builds a thirty minute

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<v Speaker 1>break in there somewhere. It's also good to socialize, and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm a big fan of grabbing lunch with colleagues to

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<v Speaker 1>nurture relationships. But you don't have to do this five

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<v Speaker 1>days a week. Depending on the office culture, you just

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<v Speaker 1>might need to be careful about how you handle reading time.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have an office, great, shut the door. If

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<v Speaker 1>you don't go elsewhere, Sitting in a park or a

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<v Speaker 1>coffee shop or the restaurant where you grabbed your food

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<v Speaker 1>can work. Even your car would be fine. The company

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<v Speaker 1>cafeteria can be challenging because people won't be sure if

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<v Speaker 1>you want companionship or not. You might be better off

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<v Speaker 1>in a not frequently used conference room, or you can

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<v Speaker 1>just sit at your cubicle. One tip. I found that

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<v Speaker 1>people feel slightly less awkward reading e books on their

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<v Speaker 1>phones when they're visible to other people. I can sit

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<v Speaker 1>here and try to argue that pulling a paperback out

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<v Speaker 1>of your bag and reading it in the middle of

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<v Speaker 1>the work day should not be perceived as strange, but

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<v Speaker 1>in some offices it is. Sometimes people feel judged for

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<v Speaker 1>not doing stuff that looks like work of the time.

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<v Speaker 1>But people look at their phones all day long. No

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<v Speaker 1>one has any idea what you're doing on it, so

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<v Speaker 1>feel free to put the books on there and read

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<v Speaker 1>on the kindle app. By putting your brain in a

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<v Speaker 1>different space for half an hour, you'll return to work

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<v Speaker 1>with new ideas and you'll feel like you've got a

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<v Speaker 1>mini vacation. You're not on the beach, but you can

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<v Speaker 1>indulge in a beach read. Do you read on your

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<v Speaker 1>lunch break sometimes let me know. You can email me

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<v Speaker 1>at Before Breakfast podcast at i heart media dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's b E the number four, then breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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