In our Lifestyle Audit posts, we aim to raise awareness of places that may be unknowingly draining your time, your money, your energy or any combination of the three. In today’s post, let’s focus on lunch. Lunch excuses are rampant – – do any of these sound familiar to you?
- “I don’t have time for lunch.”
- “I’m much too busy to take a break.”
- “I’d rather eat at my desk while I work.”
- “My clients need me to be here at all times.”
- “There are no healthy choices near my office.”
- “Why would I bring lunch when I can just buy something…it’s faster.”
The prevailing thought says that going out to “grab” lunch and bring it back is quick. Maybe. Maybe not. It might be quicker to bring lunch from home and eat outside or to eat in the office and take a nice walk in the afternoon. Fresh air and sunshine will restore your energy for the rest of the day. Whether you pack a lunch or you go out to eat, taking a formal lunch break will clear your mind and set you up for a productive afternoon.
Do you know how much money you spend on lunch daily? It adds up pretty quickly. That’s where this Lunch audit comes in. Awareness leads to positive change. We can all use a bit of that.
Here’s how to do this Lifestyle Audit:
1. For one week, pay attention to the time that it takes from door to door to get your lunch. Note the amount of time that it takes to walk or drive to your chosen venue, browse the menu, wander the salad bar, chit-chat with someone you bump into all the way through until you are finished eating.
2. Calculate the cost of your lunches.
3. On a scale of 1-10, note how much you enjoy your food.
The results may surprise you. Maybe you’ll see that there are tastier and healthier options that take the same amount of time to get and that you’ll enjoy more. Maybe you’ll find that if you were to bring a healthy lunch from home a few days each week, you can use the money that you saved to go out to a nice lunch with a friend every so often instead of buying the usual quick lunch that you tend to reach for each day. You can use the time that you saved by not standing in the daily deli line and treat yourself to a longer lunch with a friend once in a while. With your saved time, you could take a walk, work out in the Firm’s gym or spend some time enjoying your lunch instead of rushing or multitasking at your desk. You may find that you feel more energized after taking a formal lunch break rather than plugging away at your desk while you eat.
Try the Lunch Audit for a week. You’ll likely enjoy your food more, have more energy and save money for that special night out or tickets to the game. Maybe you’ll discover something else entirely.
Please share the results of your lunch audit in the comments below, we’d love to know.
