"I found my mind wandering to other things and realized that I was actually enjoying my food a lot more; remarking internally on how the bread actually taste in the sandwich." jesus christ what
i know right
Never Going Back - A Week of Not Eating Lunch at My Desk
101–108 of 108 posts
Re: Never Going Back - A Week of Not Eating Lunch at My Desk
#102just buy some cigarettes and take breaks often
just wait until HN finds out nicotine is (technically) a powerful nootropic
Re: Never Going Back - A Week of Not Eating Lunch at My Desk
#103Sometimes 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…
This is an excellent point. To answer your question: I don't think it needs to be an all or nothing proposition. For me, I had acquiesced to always eating at my desk; convincing myself I was making the best decision for me . I know myself well enough to know there are aspects of my life I'm not good at regulating or balancing. I also know that I'm good at convincing myself of things that aren't in my best interest. E…
>An analogy that comes to mind is how some people stop smoking cigarettes: cold turkey isn't for everyone, but for those who know it is, they go for it and they stop and they feel better for it.
While it's a bit tenuous to compare where you eat your lunch with a long term physical addiction, it's worth noting that the vast majority of people who quit "cold turkey" fail. Indeed, I'll broaden that and say more casually that when people make public pronouncements, using absolute words like never, their failure rate comes within a measurement error of 100%.
Cliffbean says in another post that such absolutism is "an attempt by many people to play against their own psychology.", and I absolutely agree with that, although my take tends to be much more cynical than theirs: It is an attempt to essentially shackle future you with the fickle and short-term observations of current you. Future you, most people eventually learn, doesn't really care much what current you thinks, and will reassess in the future based upon new information.
Which is how we see an unending stream of these disposable lifehack "one week in" observations, always presented as if it's profoundly revealing information that has changed the speaker forever. In a month you can write a "Why I was always eat at my desk", detailing the unhealthiness of take out food and the great financial savings you've enjoyed, the benefits of taking a moment to relax and unwind, and on and on.
Everyone is different. We all have different social patterns, different diets, different behaviors. Do what works best for you, and what works best for you will undoubtedly change over the years. Life is dynamic and is a constantly changing set of circumstances and situations.
But if I have one piece of advice for you, it's to never use the word never. Unless you're telling someone to never use the word never. The only result of making never declarations is that over time your word starts to lose any value.
Re: Never Going Back - A Week of Not Eating Lunch at My Desk
#104Another point to consider is that eating at your desk could be a major source of illness: your phone, tablet, mouse, keyboard, etc., are all great sources for all sorts of germs.
Putting that into greater perspective with some data: studies have shown your desk environment to have 400 times more bacteria than toilet seats.
That's because, most of the time, a keyboard/mouse will NEVER be cleaned (and desks themselves something like twice a year) while toilet seats will be cleaned quite often, even more than once per day in a big enough office.
I clean my keyboard and mouse regularly, as well as try to keep my hands clean while I'm working (if I eat a chocolate, I'll wash my hands afterwards, for example), but I know I'm the exception.
Re: Never Going Back - A Week of Not Eating Lunch at My Desk
#105Another point to consider is that eating at your desk could be a major source of illness: your phone, tablet, mouse, keyboard, etc., are all great sources for all sorts of germs.
And why would those only be a concern if you are eating at your desk, not whe you are working on it and (gasp!) touching you phone, tablet, mouse, keyboard, etc?
Whenever I read an unqualified claim "there are more bacteria on your keyboard than on a toilet seat", I think "hm, most people must be spending way more time than necessary cleaning their toilets". But of course, the scientist in me also thinks the kinds of bacteria present will make an impact. The bacteria on a toilet seat might be similar to the zillions of bacteria in my stomach, or they might be E. Coli, salmonella, tetanus, syphilis, etc.
Re: Never Going Back - A Week of Not Eating Lunch at My Desk
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I don't take personal calls at my desk. My phone is on > silent at all times when at the office. If I need to > make a call, I step out. > > Even my desk phone is on silent. It sounds a single beep > when the phone rings. That's going a bit overboard, but that's fine. Good for you. > I would like others to do the same. That's not really a reasonable request.
FWIW I agree with buckbova and don't think its overboard in the slightest to ask for personal calls to be made out of the office. Nor do I think it unreasonable for this to be part of the company culture. It happens to be part of how we work in the startup I work at (except the desk phone on silent thing) and I'm not aware of any problems this has caused. So I find your pronouncement that its not "reasonable" to be a…
Agreed. I wish my company was more like that. I don't want to hear you arguing with your wife, making a doctor's appointment to get that lump checked out, or trying to convince your kids to do their homework while you're at the office.
Re: Never Going Back - A Week of Not Eating Lunch at My Desk
#107Thank you. However I must confess that I am conscious of the decisions I make, and I am capable of evaluating the impact those decisions have on me and my particular circumstances.
The outcome of this is :
Some days I am full of energy and clarity and I eat at my desk and keep working.
Some days I am tired, stressed or for some other reason can't focus, and then I might go out and eat in a park and take my time.
Some days I have friends who want to meet for lunch.
Some days my colleagues want to go out for lunch as a group, typically Friday.
Some days I go eat in the common area because I am eating something smelly.
Some days I skip having anything substantial at lunch and go home early.
Re: Never Going Back - A Week of Not Eating Lunch at My Desk
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is an excellent point. To answer your question: I don't think it needs to be an all or nothing proposition. For me, I had acquiesced to always eating at my desk; convincing myself I was making the best decision for me . I know myself well enough to know there are aspects of my life I'm not good at regulating or balancing. I also know that I'm good at convincing myself of things that aren't in my best interest. E…
>An analogy that comes to mind is how some people stop smoking cigarettes: cold turkey isn't for everyone, but for those who know it is, they go for it and they stop and they feel better for it. While it's a bit tenuous to compare where you eat your lunch with a long term physical addiction, it's worth noting that the vast majority of people who quit "cold turkey" fail. Indeed, I'll broaden that and say more casually…
I don't understand. I quit smoking a few months ago. I can't imagine any other way than firmly attempting to never smoke another cigarette any more, ever.
Now that particular resolution might not be 100% successful. Maybe I will succumb to another cigarette some day. But there's a difference between setting a certain goal, and what counts as succeeding at it.
If I tell myself, I can quit smoking but I'm allowed to smoke a cigarette every now and then, that is setting myself up for failure. I know because that's how I failed previous attempts. Even a single cigarette for me re-triggers the physical addiction, and will make the 2-3 weeks after that extra hard to control and not relapse. That occasional single cigarette would just be making it extra hard on myself to follow through, and the extra willpower needed when I allow myself that, is not worth the supposed pleasure of that one smoke.
(btw I am aware that there also exist people who can actually manage to quit but smoke one cigarette every 2-3 months or so. makes me wonder whether they ever were really addicted in the first place, but that's another question, plus I'm not here to judge anybody. What I do know is, that I am not one of those people)
So I resolve myself to the goal of "no cigarettes anymore, ever", in order to achieve a 99.9% cigarette-free life. But I am sincerely aiming for that 100%, because I'm a bit fed up with the whole addiction thing, experienced it, seen it, learned from it, I'd like to see it fade away to memoryland.
Maybe though my overcoming nicotine addiction is the only thing that is so important to me that I'll allow myself to say "never again". I wouldn't say this about not eating at my desk, for instance, it's too small a thing to make such a big claim about.