10 Tips for a Super Productive Lunch Break

I know we all hate the long hours we have to spend at work and how it can sometimes feel like our work is robbing our life from us. There are many things to do to make your day better (like making sure you start your day productively), but this time we are focusing on how to make your lunch break productive. It’s the one time in the middle of your workday that you can spend any way you like. What freedom!

While it can be hard to fit anything in a short lunch break, you should still try to do the best you can. If you spend your lunch breaks well, you might very well get better chances in your career or other areas of life later on.

Without further ado, here are my best tips for a super productive lunch break!

1. Work on your side hustle

The most important thing to do is to work on your side hustle (and if you don’t have one, I highly recommend you start one). Why? Because it can be your ticket to a better future. Whether your goal is to grow your side hustle into a business and be self-employed one day or you just want a better job than your current one, your side hustle can make all the difference.

Your lunch break is good for answering emails, engaging with people on social media, coming up with new ideas, or writing notes. Whatever it is that you need to get done for your side hustle, try to do it on your lunch break. Over time it’s a huge time saver and becomes a habit.

2. Network with your colleagues

Is it just me, or does everyone feel like all the career advice you ever hear is always: “You have to make connections! It’s all about your network!” While it may get tiring to hear, it is very true that your network can have a huge impact on your career. It might lead you to jobs you didn’t even know existed. And that is exactly why you should take any chance you get to connect with people.

If there is anyone else in the kitchen or at the same table as you, make sure to chat with them for at least a few minutes (and keep striking up conversations with them later on too). Sometimes you might really hit it off and make friends, or at least what we are looking for here: connections. If they get to know you today, you might just be the person they think of for a job a year later.

3. Listen to educational podcasts

It’s easy to listen to something while you eat, so why not look for an educational podcast to listen to? Spotify is full of podcasts for every interest and most podcasts are the perfect length for a lunch break. You can learn about investing, politics, motivation, or anything else that you find useful.

The good thing about podcasts is that they are also very easy to consume and even difficult topics are handled in a relatively simple and understandable manner. If you want some suggestions on what to listen to, you might want to check out what College Info Geek and Listen Money Matters recommend.

4. Exercise

You don’t need to hit the gym during your lunch hour, but moving your body around a little is beneficial both for your physical wellbeing and your energy levels. If you work at an office, chances are that you spend most of your time sitting in front of a computer. This leads to stiff shoulders, headaches, and typically a low mood.

Keep yourself in a better condition and a better mood by going for a short walk, doing some jumping jacks, or at the very least rolling your shoulders. It’s also good to sometimes work standing up, if possible, and make sure you work your shoulders every once in a while.

5. Read non-fiction books

You may not be in college anymore, but you should never stop learning. An excellent way to keep learning new things and to understand the world better is of course to read books. Are you interested in politics, history, self-development, or psychology? Or something completely different?

Whatever your interests may be, reading a chapter or two while you enjoy your lunch is an excellent way to educate yourself. It may sound boring, but there are a lot of fascinating and easy-to-read non-fiction books out there. If bringing hardcovers to work is too much, you can always opt for ebooks.

6. Take a nap

This might sound like the opposite of productive, but it is very beneficial. Many people feel that the last hours at the office are pure agony and it’s hard to get anything done. If you can take an hour-long lunch, you can easily fit in a short nap to make you feel much more energized and ready to tackle your afternoon responsibilities as you get back to work.

I know some people can’t fall asleep in weird places or in the middle of the day. But even just closing your eyes and going somewhere deep in your thoughts and imagination for 20 minutes can be very refreshing. It’s good to learn to let go of all your worries and whatever you have in your mind and just concentrate on the moment. If you like, you can listen to music at the same time.

7. Get some small tasks done

I know we all have a thousand things to do and only so much time to get everything done. Thankfully many of these little things only take a few minutes to do, because that enables you to get a few things on your list done during your lunch. Should you make a dentist appointment? Book tickets? Plan a birthday party? Contact customer service?

Whatever it is, if it takes less than half an hour, you can get it done on your lunch break and be happy about yourself when you get back home. It’s easy to postpone something like making an appointment for a routine checkup, but if you make a routine of getting the small things done when you have a little bit of time, your life will definitely get easier and less overwhelming.

Read next: 21 Productive Things to Do When You’re Bored

8. Read articles in your field

Do you work in a field where you are always pressured to learn more and know more? Or do you simply find your field fascinating and want to understand more? Either way, it’s always good to know what is going on. I myself would love to read more articles about migration and poverty and so on, but there never seems to be a good time for it. Yet I know, that reading articles on these topics would benefit me.

That’s why you should at least sometimes pick a few scientific articles you’re interested in and read them (or skim them through) as you eat. Understanding the world will boost your day and you will be happy your break was well spent.

9. Study what you’ve always wanted to learn

I’ve always wanted to learn all the countries of the world (and by now I do know almost all of them). Maybe it’s not something that will benefit me in the future, but somewhere back in my mind that has always been a small goal of mine. So why not make it happen?

If there is anything you have always wanted to learn, you need to make time for it. Do you want to be able to list all the U.S. presidents? Types of birds? Or know French grammar? Lyrics to the national anthem? How does the government work? Whatever it is, it won’t take as much time to learn as you think it does and I assure you, it will make you proud of yourself.

10. Ask yourself what would make your lunch break more productive

There are plenty of ways to spend your breaks. But to be as productive as possible, you have to ask yourself, what is it that would make your lunch break more productive? Is there anything you’ve been wanting to do, but you always think you don’t have time for it? Or have you been putting something off?

Sometimes there are things we know we should get done, but for some reason, everything from scrolling through Instagram to staring out the window feels more important. Don’t let yourself waste your precious time when you could be taking care of your future. It’s what we do every day that matters most to our future.

Conclusion

Are you ready to make your lunch breaks productive? I know it can sometimes be impossible to change them completely, but you can at least try to make small changes. Let me know if these tips helped you!

Also, be sure to pin this post! If you also want to make sure that your daily commute isn’t a complete waste of time (I know how annoying it can be!), read my tips to make your commute productive.