7 Things You Can Do During Your Work-From-Home Lunch Breaks to Maximise Productivity

With the worsening COVID-19 situation, stricter measures such as work-from-home arrangements were set up to contain the spread of the virus. Odds are, you’re rejoicing the fact that your company is one of the many that jumped onto the bandwagon of keeping their employees safe through the means of social distancing.

As great as it feels to not have to get up early to get dressed and travel to work, sitting at home fuels the fire to our nemeses in productivityーprocrastination and distraction. So, to keep your work efficiency in check, here are 7 things you can do during your extended lunch break to refresh and revitalise your spirit get the most work done from the sanctity of your home.

1. Take A Nap to Refresh Your Mind

Since there’s easy access to your bedroom, you have the perfect opportunity to leverage this opportunity and take a quick nap during your lunch break. Naps are great for you—they have myriads of benefits that improve your overall performance and health such as increasing your alertness, concentration, and even accuracy. Make sure not to nap for too long though, because you might end up feeling groggy instead afterwards. Stick to shorter naps that last ideally around 20 minutes to wake up feeling refreshed.

2. Grab a revitalizing lunch meal

Staying at home gives you a plethora of food options given that you have access to not only your whole fridge but also limitless delivery options. Since you have a wider selection of meals to choose from, why not opt for lunch with omega 3 fatty acids or magnesium? These nutrients can be found commonly in seafood, nuts, vegetables and are proven to boost your focus, concentration, and productivity. With that, you’ll find yourself all set to continue work after the break. You should also avoid carbs because they tend to be the main culprits of our post-lunch food comas.

3. Prioritise Your Important Tasks

Since half the day has passed, you probably have a good grasp of the workload you have for the day and how quickly you need to get things done to avoid overtime. With that said, you should create a checklist of critical assignments you have to complete first. To put it into simpler terms—settle your priorities—and stay on task. To help out, you can even set up scheduled reminders on your phones and laptops to make sure you’re not subconsciously wasting time.

4. Stay connected to the world through social media

To feel more attached to the outside world—do a quick run-through of your social media and stay connected with your peers. Try your best to do this during your break while avoiding it completely when you’re doing your work. This is especially because social media tends to rid us of our focus while trying to get things done. If you must, do a quick facetime and interact with your colleagues or conduct meaningful discussions to get your brain running.

5. Diffuse your favourite essential oils

Since nobody’s around to complain about the strong aroma of lemongrass lingering around the office, go crazy and breathe in whichever oils you please. For your general knowledge, citrus or spicy scents stimulate the nervous system and re-energize you. Eucalyptus and rosemary can also have a similar effect. Find what works best for you to allow yourself to breathe in the aroma and regenerate your brain during your break.

6. Stretch all the stress out

If you’ve been sitting on the same spot laboriously doing your work for the last few hours, now’s a great time to stop and stretch yourself out. Stretching calms the mind and releases physical and mental tension. Moreover, it helps to increase your energy levels, reduces fatigue, and leaves you feeling invigorated. Hence, if you’re starting to feel slightly sluggish, set a few minutes aside from your lunch break and dedicate the time towards increasing the blood flow around your body.

7. Get your engine running with brain-stimulating games

There are several brain-teasing games available both online as well as in the form of applications. You can download games such as sudoku and crosswords or do a quick google search to find them online. They’re available in varying degrees of difficulty so you can precisely select the level of stimulus your brain would like. These games aren’t as addictive as other games found online or on our phones so you can rest assured that you can start on your work soon after you’re done refreshing your brain.

We don’t know how long the dangers of the COVID-19 virus are going to persist, so it’s of your best interest to strictly uphold to the work from home notices that have been given out. Find what works for you and stick to it so you can have a fruitful and productive work from home environment.

Let’s not allow this virus to stop us from completely living out our daily lives in the way that we used to by ensuring the work we produce still comes out in prime quality. I hope you stay safe, sound and sanitised through this unsettling period as well all strive to be socially responsible and tackle the virus as one nation.