After all the emails you sent, the meetings you attended and the calls you took, you probably need a break. And not a break spent scrolling on Instagram or winning a new round in Candy Crush, since recent studies have shown that breaks spent on the phone are less relaxing and refreshing as the ones spent away from it.
Do you know what is even worse? Studies have shown that using your phone during lunch breaks! Eating without distraction is boring, even quite unthinkable for some of us. Texting or updating your feed with one hand while holding the fork with the other is quite normal these days. Just think about yourself for a moment. Do you remember the last time you ate at a restaurant, at home, or work without being glued to a screen?
Scientists and psychologists from the University of Ajou and the Korea Institute for Research in Behavioral Science studied 400 participants and their routines during lunch break. The conclusion was simple: people who used their phones during that period ended up feeling worse than the ones who didn’t. Besides that, another surprising finding was that the group who used their gadgets while eating gained more weight.
The reasons behind our gadget use during lunch break are numerous and vary from feelings of anxiety or loneliness to the wish to continue working or the need to know the latest updates. We feel uneasy without holding our phones constantly, but this habit is more damaging to our physical and mental health and to our social life than we realize.
So, what can we do?
Actually, it’s quite simple!
We can learn to enjoy and savor the food we eat. We can start cutting our meals into tiny pieces so that our entire focus is on the food. We can enjoy our coworkers’ presence and conversation. We can socialize more. We can think about the lunch break as an opportunity to meet new people.
It doesen't matter if you are having dinner with family or friends, spending time with your coworkers or having a lunch meeting. The hour you spend eating is important. Focus the attention on the people around you and the present moment, not on your mobile device. We know–it’s 2022. Life passes us by rapidly, and the simple task of eating uninterrupted can be difficult sometimes.
We don’t suggest you go back to the 50s or pretend that mobile devices aren’t important. Instead, we suggest that you spend you meals properly. You deserve some quite time to yourself, even during the day.
So, leave your phone aside, raise your head and look around the table. You may be surprised by what you can find around you.
