What's the key to a stress-relieving, energy-boosting lunch break? A quiet meal alone? Noshing with friends? Grabbing a bite at your desk? Actually, a surprising new study shows that how you spend your midday break[1] matters less than whether or not you have the choice to lunch on your own terms.


"Need for autonomy is a fundamental psychological need, and past research shows that a feeling of autonomy is energizing on its own," study co-author Dr. Ivona Hideg, assistant professor of organizational behavior at Wilfrid Laurier University's School of Business[2] in Canada, told The Huffington Post in an email. "More specifically to lunch breaks, having autonomy over our lunch break activities gives us an opportunity to utilize our time in a way that suits us the best."


Dr. Hideg and her colleagues surveyed 103 administrative workers at a large university, asking them how they spent their lunch breaks[3] over a 10-day period, The Atlantic reported. The researchers then asked each person's co-workers how tired that person appeared by the end of each work day.


"We found that a critical element was having the freedom to choose[4] whether to [work through lunch] or not," study co-author Dr. John Trugakos, associate professor in the department of management at the University of Toronto[5] , said in a written statement. "The autonomy aspect helps to offset what we had traditionally thought was not a good way to spend break time."


Based on their findings, the researchers were able to link common lunchtime activities with levels of fatigue:



  • Relaxing activities during lunch that you personally choose to do may lead to the least amount of reported fatigue at the end of the day.


  • Getting work done during lunch may result in appearing more tired, but that effect is reduced when the choice to work was your own personal decision.


  • Socializing may lead to higher levels of fatigue if you're with people you can't necessarily kick back and be yourself with, such as certain co-workers or your boss.


"For somebody in a high-autonomy job, I actually spend a lot of my lunches working," Dr. Hideg said. "I also enjoy social lunches, connecting with colleagues and/or friends. I think autonomy really helps us use our time more wisely and allows us to arrange our activities and time in a way that makes us less fatigued and stressed."


This study is scheduled for publication in the October issue of the Academy of Management Journal[6] .



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