TORONTO – Toiling away at your work desk eight hours straight isn’t considered a good idea but a new study suggests working through lunch may be beneficial to your well-being, but only if you “choose” to do so.
“The autonomy aspect helps to offset what we had traditionally thought was not a good way to spend break time,” said John Trugakos, associate professor in the Department of Management at the University of Toronto Scarborough in a media release.
A joint University of Toronto, Wilfrid Laurier University and University of Texas-San Antonio study on employee well-being found that relaxing activities during lunch, freely-chosen by workers, led to the least amount of reported fatigue at the end of the day.
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The study looked at administrative employees at a large North American university who were asked about what they had done during their lunch breaks over a 10-day period.
Researchers probed participants’ co-workers to report how tired their colleagues appeared by the end of each work day.
The study further discovered that socializing also led to higher levels of fatigue, which is attributed on whether or not employees made the choice to interact with others.
“You’re hanging out with people who you can’t necessarily kick back and be yourself with,” says Prof. Trougakos.
Trugakos says organizations that don’t provide enough opportunities for employees to recover from work during the day risk lower employee effectiveness and productivity.
The study is set to appear in the Academy of Management Journal.
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