41–50 of 108 posts
I never eat lunch at my desk because I think it's inconsiderate to my coworkers. They should not have to smell or see what I am eating, let alone hear me crunch into chips or an apple.
I use my lunch periods to get away from the forced socialization of our open-office plan. In fact, that one hour when everyone is down at the cafeteria is usually my most productive hour in the day: I can get stuff done without disruptions or interruptions.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find this quite ridiculous, people are not these fragile creatures that can't see, hear or smell anything other than the usual office sights, sounds and aromas. I think you're over thinking this. Unless you're eating weird stuff like boiled lungfish or whatever then I suspect nobody is paying the slightest attention to you eating chips or an apple.
If you allow people to eat at their desk inevitably someone will bring in stinky tuna salad every day.
Really
I never eat lunch at my desk because I think it's inconsiderate to my coworkers. They should not have to smell or see what I am eating, let alone hear me crunch into chips or an apple.
Coming from a culture where no, people don't eat at their desks, this is really weird for me.
I go and have lunch somewhere (and this has not been a problem in any country I worked). If I really can't go I starve, or go later.
This would be only an exception in "We're saving Apollo 13" kind of stuff.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find this quite ridiculous, people are not these fragile creatures that can't see, hear or smell anything other than the usual office sights, sounds and aromas. I think you're over thinking this. Unless you're eating weird stuff like boiled lungfish or whatever then I suspect nobody is paying the slightest attention to you eating chips or an apple.
I don't want to hear you crunching into carrots or biting and slurping an apple. I don't want to smell your leftovers from yesterday. I don't want to hear the rustle of your take-out bags. Please find another place to eat. Why is that so difficult?
At some point you simply have to develop the power of concentration. Try focusing intently on your work rather than focusing intently on your surroundings.
Sometimes I like to eat lunch at my desk, other times I eat in the dining area with co-workers, and other times I eat out. Why does it need to be an all or nothing proposition? There are days when I'm very busy on a problem and I don't want the distraction of taking lunch so I'll either eat it at my desk or eat something low impact like a protein bar/shake. Alternatively when I get stuck on a problem I'll take a long…
>Why does it need to be an all or nothing proposition? This can depend on personality, circumstances, etc. IMO if someone is stuck in a rut and decides the only way out is a complete polar switch, good for them. At least they are making a change for what they feel is the better. They might already know that they don't do well with half-switches and tend to fall back into the same orbit. Or they might just be really o…